Rating: 
Summary: Poignant, fresh, fantastic.
Review: Bravo! This book was poignant, funny, fresh, and despite its imaginative, almost fanciful, premise, real.
My only problem is trying to imagine how Sebold will top this debut novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting concept of afterlife, but all-too-ordinary story
Review: When junior high student Suzie Salmon is killed and her body disposed of by a peculiar neighbor in the early Seventies, it has a profound effect on those who knew her. Her younger sister must relearn to trust others, the only boy to kiss her must deal with the suspicion despite his ironclad alibi, her father suspects the right person for the wrong reason, and his efforts to mete out justice on his own will have unimagined consequences.Yet Suzie is hovering over them all, in a teenager's heaven--with a high school like the one she never got to attend, but where she never has to go inside except for art class. The heaven contains ice cream parlors and packs of cute dogs, and other people share it to the extent they share her vision. There's even a guidance counselor to help her along. Suzie soon learns that she can look down on the living, and we see their story through their eyes. Once the initial heavenly stage is set, the story is almost entirely that of the people on earth. But as time on earth goes by, Suzie learns that she can touch the lives of those dear to her--and perhaps even more . . . The major flaw of this book is that almost no attempt is made to explore the ramifications of the afterlife concept the author hands us, and, really, that's the most interesting part of the book. The story is that of the people left on earth, and it isn't THAT interesting a story. It's worth a read, but maybe not worth the investment in a hardcover. Library or paperback? You decide.
Rating: 
Summary: A meaningless, empty book!!!
Review: This book left me totally cold. It's hard to feel sad about a girl's death when she is the narrator AFTER it. She seemed very alive and not really suffering too much. Especially with the assertion that in heaven you have only to wish for something to make it happen. The story of her murder is equally proposterous. It seems impossible for the murderer to have done everything that he did and never be seen by anyone especially given the location of the crime scene. Her parents reactions seem forced as if the writer had a list of the steps that a grieving family goes thru and went down it one by one checking off emotions. The ending left me completely unsatisfied. It was totally contrived and obviously constructed to tie up any loose ends without thought to wether or not it made sense.
Rating:
Summary: Alice Sebold is a genuis!
Review: Wow! What an astounding gift from the literary Gods! Alice Sebold's profound understanding of human beings and grief is obvious from the first bittersweet word to the last. As for those readers who picked apart the plot and didn't get the metaphors, all I can say is, "This isn't an episode of Matlock, folks! This is a LITERARY novel!" (Some of us get it, some of us don't.) I happen to be an author, too, and tend to read with a critical eye. I was blissfully lost in "The Lovely Bones." Thank you, Alice Sebold! I will read all of your other work!
Rating:
Summary: Why I decided NOT to buy this book.
Review: After reading all the positive professional reviews, I was looking forward to reading this book. But, after reading the "real" people reviews, I decided not to. Especially after reading one review that said this book was "as shallow as Bridges of Madison County". THAT book received rave professional reviews as well, while I thought it was the most inane piece of drivel that had ever wasted printing paper. Though I enjoy fiction, I still like substance in my reading. I'll pass on this one.
Rating:
Summary: I thought it was just me
Review: A friend of mine literally forced this book on me to read this weekend, raving about it. The bad reviews here have just confirmed my own impression and I'm not going to bother finishing it. The major flaws are a dull, pallid writing style and characters as flat and cliched as the cast of a fifties' sitcom. There is not a single person in here I care about, least of all the murder victim. People ask why this book is such a hit. Because many readers can't recognize decent writing and like the idea that even the most heinous tragedy can be made painfree and feel good; after all, the victim is telling her story from heaven and the people she's left behind are getting on with their lives. If Oprah wrote fiction, this would be it. I loved the title by one of the reviewers, 'Touched by an Elbow.' That sums it up, perfectly. Atleast, this book was lent to me. Paying money for this? Now that's pain.
Rating: 
Summary: Bittersweet and Poignant
Review: This is the first book I have read in a long time in which I actually ached for the characters. Susie's family becomes so alive and real for the reader. After the first chapter (the most painful one to read) I was hooked. The cover of the book pretty much sums it up, with a single house hanging from a charm bracelet. Even after Susie's death, her focus is on Earth and her family, not on heaven. This is not a book about heaven--it's about life. Sebold's depiction of heaven is unique and fresh, but most of the novel centers around what's happening on Earth to Susie's family and friends. The poignancy of the book lies in her dilemma--trapped in heaven, she experiences the Alice in Wonderland phenomenon--she can watch her family as they begin to heal and move on without her, but she's forever stuck on the other side of the glass, the divide between the living and the dead. This dynamic creates a heart-wrenching, bittersweet narrative and a truly memorable piece of literature. I'll agree that the end of the novel seems a bit of a stretch, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. However, I still think that ending was necessary to tie up some thematic loose ends. Overall, Sebold's writing is top-notch. I recommend The Lovely Bones to anyone who ever muses about life after death. This book has a lot of substance to it. If you thought it was pointless, try rereading it, because you probably missed something.
Rating:
Summary: Ridiculously Wonderful Book
Review: I think Alice Sebold did a wonderful job when she wrote this book. As a senior in high school, it is hard to find a book at that is both easy to read but interesting. And Ms. Sebold accomplished that.
Rating: 
Summary: With or Without Oprah's help...
Review: While reading this book, I couldn't help but surmise that Sebold had her eye on Oprah Winfrey, in hopes that Winfrey would pick this book for her (now defunct) book club, and make Sebold's debut a best-seller. After all, the book is a paint-by-number exercise in writing an "Oprah Best-Seller" with all the main ingredients: a brutal rape and murder of a child, the 'distant' mother paired with the 'too-loving' father, the un-gluing of a suburban family in the face of tragedy, alcoholism, despair, and of course, dysfunction. At times, I thought I already read this book; indeed I did, only it was Oprah's pick "Fall on Your Knees", "We Were the Mulvaneys", etc. Without a doubt, Sebold had her eye on the Oprah trophy while writing this. However, Sebold's book was published in July, 2002...months after Oprah closed her Book Club for good. No matter; her audience was thirsty for another depressing novel - with or without Oprah's help - and this book seems to have fit the bill. Can the movie (starring Michelle Pfeiffer as 'the Mother') be too far off?
Rating:
Summary: I wish someone would have told me
Review: This book was absolute pointless nonsense. Ms. Sebold's storyline was sophmoric at best, and a thorough waste of my time. My only reason for finishing her novella was that it took no brains to read and was sort of like a car wreck (horrible to look at, but in its horror, fascinating). I'm sorry I bought it and cannot believe that it was as highly recommended as it was. Bring back your book club, Oprah!
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