The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: As an editorial assistant at a major publisher, I read hundreds of books and manuscripts every year. I try to keep up with the books from other houses that make the bestseller lists, so I dutifully picked up THE LOVELY BONES, expecting a dreary and upsetting story of violence and bereavement.
THE LOVELY BONES is not that. It is brutally affecting in its depiction of the violence Susie suffers, and the different ways her family members cope with her death; but ultimately, it is a joyously life-affirming story.
It is, quite simply, one of the best books I have read.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: Sebold gripped this reader's attention from the first word -- none of this taking a few chapters to "get into" this book. Heart-wrenching and heartwarming simultaneously, I didn't want to put it down! Hope to see many more works from this gifted, in-touch author!!!

Rating:
Summary: Beyond belief
Review: A perfect book. Exquisitely, achingly beautiful. Agonizingly painful. Fresh without ostentation. Generous. A seemingly simple but intricately woven story embracing loss and love through the sensations and narrative of a life. Delicately, but unforgettably, a voice for people horribly lost, headlined, quantified, and the people who love them. I stopped reading, only sometimes, to catch my breath. And look around.

Rating:
Summary: Just a great novel
Review: Its been a long time since i have read a book for the sake of my own enjoyment. A friend of mine said here you should read this. I took it and figured ok, this can't be horrible. Well, all i have to say is i read over half of it in the course of two days and the rest during the week. It was something i looked forward to reading. I'd pick it up instead of doing my work for school!! It was a great escape from the intense biology, chemistry, and calc classes. I really began to feel for the family and for Susie. Overall it was just a great book. I can't wait for more from Alice Sebold.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book. Insightful and Thoughtful.
Review: I really connected with this book. I enjoyed every minute I spent between those pages and never wanted it to end. It was thoughful and provocative. The characters were so well written and detailed I knew them all. I work in criminal psychology and this book did a good job of dealing with the criminal mind, without distracting from the real point of the book. It really was a fantastic book and a most excellent read. Bravo, Ms. Sebold!

Rating:
Summary: Oprah is written all over it.
Review: Slighlty interesting. Not a fast past novel. Defintely a chick book.

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent and suspenseful
Review: This is a beautiful suspense story, marred only by it's promotion debased sexual encounters between teenagers and adults. It is the tale of a child who watches over her family,friends and murderer from a imaginary, secular perspective of "heaven" and describes their grief and development over time.

Rating:
Summary: lovely indeed
Review: What a unique read this was. At first I found it a bit difficult to read. The whole premise of the book, losing a child, was heart wrenching. But once I kept reading, I found it difficult to put down. Sebolds ideas of heaven were wonderful and refreshing. Instead of being sad I found myself smiling. When I finally finished the book, (which was in just a night or two), I found myself missing it! I was intrigued from the moment I saw this book on a book review on tv. If it spoke to you, listen to your heart, you wont be disappointed it.

Rating:
Summary: A Graveyard
Review: What is all the hype about this book? The Lovely Bones is a very bad novel. It is riddled with odd , pointless plot twists, not the least of which is a zombie-like love scene with bizarre necrophilic overtones.
Characters are at best cardboard cutouts of people. Buckley, the Salmon's youngest child, is more of a pet than a young person. Alcoholic Grandma Lynn (alcoholism in the elderly is always an endearing quality ) is supposedly a wise, semi-matriarchal figure who knows what's best but unfortunately never has much of anything to say. Susie's parents, her sister Lindsey and fiancee Sam, neighbors, high schools friends, Hal, detective Len, Susie Salmon.....none develop into characters who have anything to tell us. Do we ever really care about any of them? Ironically, Mr. Harvey , Susie's murderer, is the most intriguing of the lot...and we are meant to despise him.
Shouldn't a novel that deals with the horrific death of a young person offer up to us glimpses into the human heart?
Instead, as page after page goes on, we get the sensation of slowly sinking to the bottom of a bottomless ocean.
Susie Salmon and The Lovely Bones sleep with the fishes.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: I started off weary of the entire subject. It is now one of my favorite books and none like you will ever read. The whole subect is one that isn't written about very often and even if you think it is something that wouldnt interest you, give it a try. You may find you are like me and actually found yoruself wondering if heaven and our lives after death might be like this. It is an incredible read and one definitely worth adding to your library.