The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Lovely Bones
Book Review: A great debut book!
Summary: 3 Stars
When I was first offered this book, I read the title and was told it was about a girl who was raped and murdered. Well, there is enough of that to be found in real life, one doesn't have to seek it out in fiction. "No thanks!" I replied and the book went on down the line.
However, with the big Blizzard of 2006 on it's way, I wanted a book to read. So off to the library to borrow a book. I came home with this book.
First off, although the rape and murder of Susie Salmon happens within the first 20 or so pages, it is not overly graphic. Thank-you author! Nor does the book really dwell on this horific crime. It does dwell on the aftermath, which is the death of a 14 year old girl and how it affects her doting dad, loving mother, younger sister, baby brother and a circle of friends, including a young man who was just starting to be brave enough to express his love.
Susie is safe in her heaven as she watches her family cope with her probable death - her body is never found - and watches as the family slowly disintegrates from the emotions and stress that result.
The book is tinged with sadness, as Susie watches her younger sister and friends grow up, and experience what she yearns to experience also, and never will.
And yet, when the family is scraped to the bare bones , the healing begins. Not a goody two shoes, unrealistic conclussion, you will be satisfied with the ending, as the Salmon family and Susie's friend's build a new life on The Lovely Bones.
Mary Bennett
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Book Review: A heart wrenching story, told in a beautiful way.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was given this book by a friend to read not long after it was released and because of certain events in my life it was a very difficult read to say the least. It took me over a month to finish it, but once I did I told my friend she wasn't getting it back. It was passed around a group of friends and family and everyone had their chance to read it. I appreciate Alice Sebold attempting to write a book with such a difficult story and doing an wonderful job in the process.Book Review: A lovely book and beautifully written
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough about how wonderful this book is. The Lovely Bones is one of those books that when you finish it, you want to take what you've gleaned and put it somewhere special and close to your heart. This book is touching and heartfelt and you can't help but feel sympathy for all of the characters involved. Susie is 14 years old when she is brutally raped and murdered in her small New England town. The effect is devastating for the neighborhood when no suspects can be found, for her family who struggles to pick up the pieces of their loss, and for Susie who looks down on them all from heaven. Sebold's writing drew me in to the point where I was actually had to sit up and turn on the lights in my house because I was beginning to get creeped out. Her characters are vivid and the grief that Susie's family is feeling is palpable. I think it's next to impossible to read this book and not feel something. Sebold's writing is descriptive and her characters are haunting. In fact, it was so good that even though I borrowed it from a coworker and have already read it I'll still buy myself a copy. Also, according to imdb.com the book is being made into a movie to be directed by Peter Jackson. I'm both hopeful and doubtful that the complexities of this book will be translated well on screen.
Book Review: A novel of life, loss, and love
Summary: 5 Stars
In the first chapter of this amazing novel, we find that our narrator, a 14 year old girl named Susie Salmon, has been murdered. Susie's life is brutally ended by her neighbor who is actually a serial killer. But this is not a story of death or the hunt for a serial killer, although that is in this story. This is a story about the healing power of love.
Susie narrates the story from heaven, a place much like her home town with a high school like the one she didn't live to attend. From heaven, Susie can watch her family, friends, the detective trying to solve her murder, and the killer himself. Susie tells us a little about what heaven is like but the real story is in the world she has left behind. We watch as her family slowly dissolves and evolves from the pain of losing a child. Each person in the story deals with the tragedy in their own way. Her father tries to solve the murder but soon finds that solutions will not bring back his daughter. Her mother discovers that this loss only intensifies another loss that she has been avoiding dealing with for years. Her younger sister and brother each find their own way of dealing with the loss of a sibling that they loved deeply. Ray, the boy Susie wanted desperately to kiss and Ruth, the girl who was never close with Susie but who Susie passed on her way to heaven, find their lives forever changed because of the murder.
The narrative is built by the melding of these stories into a patchwork. As the years pass, we see how Susie has changed so many lives both through her life and through her death. And as all these people deal with the events of that tragic winter day, they all find that only through love and forgiveness can real healing begin. It is the absence of love that drives Mr. Harvey to rape and murder. It is the desperate avoidance of love that drives Susie's mother into the arms of another man. It is the need for love that pulls a family back together and opens up heaven.
I found this book hard to put down, but at the same time I found it hard to pick up. There is so much pain in this story that it is hard to endure at times. But ultimately the story is uplifting. This is a story of how love can overcome any obstacle. Sebold writes beautifully and her characters seem to come to life, even those who are no longer living. I can strongly recommend this book.
Book Review: A so-so Read.........
Summary: 3 Stars
without giving to much away....this was definetly a different read for me,Not as sad as I thought it would be...I would reccomend it for fans of this authors work or for a summer read or for traveling. Over all not a bad read I would try this author again.