The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: What was the point.
Review: This book made no sense. It was not even a good murder mystery. If that is the writer's view of heaven, I feel sorry for her. She has nothing to look forward to except an eternity of what equates to real life television shows. Everyone suffers and the murderer is never brought to justice. Maybe that is what life is like for some, but who wants to read a fictional novel about it. I rate this right up there with Oprah's pick...House of Sand and Fog.

Rating:
Summary: an incredible first half
Review: The first half of this book is fantastic. The kind of book that you can't put down. It makes you think and turning the pages is a delight. The second half falls flat. It loses something and gets flat and dull and I ended up having to force myself to read it to the end. It's worth reading for the first half of the book. If the writer had given me the book asking for my opinion on it before it was published, I would have told her to throw out the second half of the book, take a break and rewrite it. This book had so much potential, it's sad that it flops the way it does.

Rating:
Summary: should have had a better ending
Review: I wasn't thrilled with this book because I was hoping for a different ending and was disappointed. Also she jumped about 5 yrs down the road and I was confused for awhile, it was a good in that I couldn't put it down. I just wish it was a little better.

Rating:
Summary: Earth is like Heaven
Review: In "The Lovely Bones," Sebold weaves a story told through the voice of a young girl in heaven as she watches her family go on in their lives after losing her. We learn that Heaven and Earth are very much the same. As time goes on, we grow smarter, learn more...our heavens expand as our world does, we gain wisdom from experience, and even though we are happy, the things we want -- both in heaven and on earth -- are not attainable.
well...a minor "experience" that the main character has at the end defies the message of the book, which was enjoyable until that point.

Rating:
Summary: The Lovley Bones
Review: The novel, The Lovely Bones, by, Alice Sebold is a story about a fourteen- year old girl, Susie Salmon and how her life ended. As she was walking home from school on a snowy December day, her neighbor, Mr. Harvey, had lured her into his underground fort in a cornfield. Inside of this underground fort, she was brutally raped and killed, by this man Mr. Harvey. Then, she finalized her life story from a unique perspective, heaven.
Throughout the book, Susie is telling her story from heaven, as she keeps close watch on her friends, family, and her killer. She watches two younger siblings, her thirteen-year old sister, Lindsey and her four-year old brother, Buckley. She sees that her father is very determined to find the killer of Susie. However, she sees her mother handling the death differently. For example, her mother left her two remaining children and her husband. Her brother, Buckley was confused of the concept of 'gone.' Soon he understood the meaning. He too, was devastated that he would never again see his big sister, Susie. She watched her sister, Lindsey who was having difficulty moving on experiencing her teenage years. Everyone in the family was devastated.
Devastation of loss was this book's main theme. All the characters had to accept the fact of death. In heaven, Susie can do anything she wants accept for the one thing she wants most, to be with her family and friends on Earth. For her family and friends the one thing they wanted most was for Susie was to be alive again. The conflict was a constant separation between loved ones.
This book is about separation between the living and the dead. It brings us closer to the truth. In our deepest thoughts we long to communicate with each other forever, instead of never again.

Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: "The Lovely Bones" brings a new flavor to writing. Alice Sebold has expanded her originality in her stories. It starts out with a fourteen year old girl who explains her life. "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie Salmon, an average girl living in a suburban town, was lured away to be raped, and killed. The murderer was her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. She arrives in her own heaven, where there were no teachers, and schoolbooks were magazines. As she watched her family deal with her death, she watches their lives heading towards a different direction. Her dad is trying hard to find who the murderer is. His investigations bring himself to believe that someone in the neighborhood, possibly Mr. Harvey, may have murdered her daughter. Her mother is having a secret adultery with the detective of Susie's case. Her sister Lindsey is now dealing with boys, facing the fact that everybody pities her for her sister's death. She can barely face herself in the mirror, because every time she sees herself, she looks like her sister. Susie's younger brother Buckley finds out that his sister died, being young and careless, is all alone. In heaven Susie misses her family as well as being with them, but if she promises to leave everything behind, she is granted a wish that allows her to fulfill one of her dreams. I think that this book brings tears to your eyes. Once you start picking the book up, you'll find out that you never want to put it down. This book influences what life is all about, that it's unsafe in this world, and that tragedy will happen to anyone. I recommend this book to older kids such as teenagers. This book will lure them to read this because it talks about a young girl their age being raped and murdered. Later on this girl explains what happens to her up in heaven. Dealing with family issues, friendship, and gossip at school is what every child will experience. This genre fits into the fictional category. Alice Sebold also wrote another book called "Lucky". I really enjoyed reading this book. It reminds me of happy endings. It made me realize that nobody has a perfect life. And things can occur to be complicated on the inside for everyone. The theme of this book is that if you think you've given up, and the whole world forgets about you, there is still a chance you can succeed. If you are not around your family, they will still love you for who you are. It is a very uplifting book. I hope for many people to read it and enjoy it as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: This book drew me in from page one. I finished it in a day. It was so compelling for the first half, but I have to say that I think it dragged on a little longer than needed, and started to jump all over the place. I was a little disappointed at the ending, but overall a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging
Review: This is supposed to be a sad book but the writer gives you reasons to rejoice. A chilling tale of a sad event with a gleam of hope. Sebold is an enganging writer.

Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer-candidate book
Review: This book is written on a highly interesting and intellectual level, exploring the dimensions of both the living and the dead. The fact that makes this book superior to others of its genre is that it is written from a unique perspective, that of a dead girl in her version of heaven, viewing the lives of all those who were important and remain so, while she was living.

Rating:
Summary: The Empress Has No Clothes
Review: Why have so many luminaries and reviewers jumped on this bandwagon? I just finished reading this novel (though I almost abandoned it several times), and find it one big missed opportunity. Great concept: murdered girl narrating from heaven the evolution of her surviving family and friends. But amateurish execution: (1) much of the book is underwritten, in that the characters are mostly cardboard cutouts draped with pathos, and (worst of all) Sebold dangles an intriguing version of heaven and then virtually ignores it for the rest of the book; (2) numerous passages are painfully overwritten; and (3) the story moves forward only with the help of cliche contrivances (e.g. mom comes back after 8 years because dad has had a heart attack? why? we don't know, because Sebold has barely mentioned mom since she left). Only in the talk-show age could this book garner this degree of favorable notice. If you want to read something compelling and really ravishing, try "East of Eden."