the luminous outset became the interminable middle

I feel you on The Book Thief. I had heard about it three times before a post of YA books everyone should read had it on there and I figured why not. I even bought a copy of it when I saw it in the store. It's not all tragedy, there were definitely parts where I laughed, but I think that balance is what made the sadness so much more for me. I really wish I had made a post about it right after I finished it, but I will say that the narrative device enabled a distance that really helped the book for me.

Of course everyone reacts differently to a book, but I highly recommend giving it a shot.