The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: A Magical Experience
Review: An avid reader, I began reading The Lovely Bones ready to critique. But this critical gaze I soon lost track of, because reading The Lovely Bones transcends clever language and even beautiful metaphors. It is an experience. It reads like a pofoundly adult fairy tale - the events that take place are not what we might call real-Susie's heaven, out of body experiences, and the more than perfect use of the icycle. And then again, it's oh so real -the quiet sad longing of Susie in heaven, the multi-faceted portrayal of the mother, the beautiful strengths and weaknesses of the Salmon family and even the death-obsessed Ruth. This play between the "real" and the "unreal", like the split between heaven and earth is both charged and calming where the mere act of being alive becomes a magical experience. A miracle.

Rating:
Summary: Moved to Tears!
Review: I just finished The Lovely Bones and I can honestly say that it is one of the most beautifully written, heartbreaking - and healing book I have ever read. Incredible is not a stong enough word. I will never be the same - it was truly a book that moved me and changed the way I will always think about heaven, earth, the living and the dead. Bravo, Ms. Sebold and Thank You!

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!!!
Review: I am not normally a recreational reader...but when I picked up this book I could not put it down. What I thought would be a morbid tale turned into a moving story. Alice Sebold's depiction of a 14 year old girl and her view of the world couldn't be more accurate. This book is not only about how Susie saw her family deal with the pain of her loss on Earth, but how she also came to terms with it. I have loaned this book to 3 friends now and all have the same reaction. This book will bring you laugher, tears, and peace.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary. A very rewarding experience.
Review: I find myself recommending this book to more and more people. THE LOVELY BONES is like a symphony with not a note out of place. It's very well written and well edited. I appreciate all the finish work put into this, which is all too rare these days in publishing. Everything about the book is finely polished. And it is beautifully put together. The language reminds me of WHITE OLEANDER in which the author used words and metaphors in new ways to make us see in new ways. What an experience, to look at life and death from this whole new perspective. I hated to see it end. In fact, I found myself crying. I read it basically in one sitting -- I simply couldn't put it down. Such a good read! I can't get over how excellent this book is -- it's a fine, fine work of art that will last a long time in the literary world. Fun, tense, quiet, reflective, horrifying, sad, peaceful, joyful, loving. And it makes you think. And feel. And think again. An astounding book.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I think all the hype behind this book set me up for a bit of a disappointment. The premise of the book had a lot of potential, and I feel the author followed through pretty well. Although I thought the book might go in some other directions, and could have been a bit longer, I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it is a good sign when you feel a novel is too short, it means you wanted to read more!

Rating:
Summary: Did not expect to become so emotionally involved in a book!
Review: I picked this novel up at an airport yesterday having already heard something about it being good and just expecting something to pass the time on the plane. I would like to say that once picked up, I never put it down, but I found myself often having to stop to get control of my emotions (which was mostly silent tears running down my face). Afterall, I was in a crowded plane.
I do not usually enjoy books that try to manipulate my emotions (a good example is that despicable Bridges of Madison County-ugh), but this book seemed to be so sincerely written and without guile. I was immediately transported to Suzie's heaven and could identify with her sorrow at missing out on life. Not many books are written from the perspective of the victim and there is not one of us alive today that can say for sure that heaven does not exist or that the dead don't live on in some way. Anyway, this is not a philopsophical review, I just wanted to say I found the book touching and unique. As for Suzies friends and family - I know of other families who have broken up after the death of a child and do not feel it is uncommon at all.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't live up to hype
Review: I admit I'm one of those people who bought "The Lovely Bones" mainly from hearing all the great reviews. Well, I feel this book does not live up to the hype.
"The Lovely Bones" started off promising, but went downhill from there. The book jumped from 1973 to 10 years later too quickly. I agree with A Reader from Massachusetts who stated there seemed to be no mourning over the loss of Susie except for the Dad.
There were too many extra characters in this book that where unnecessary, especially Ruth. I felt she had no reason to be in the story at all. Who cares about Ray's Mom? What was the point of her character? Hal, Samuel's brother is another unnecessary character. I found it hard to believe a guy like Hal would be wasting his time baking with Susie's grandmother. Ms. Seabold should have axed these extra characters and spent more time developing Buckley.
I was really bothered by the end where Susie takes over Ruth's body. To me, that sequence just didn't seem to fit into this book.
I was expecting something totally different when I started this book. "The Lovely Bones" wasn't the worst book I ever read, but it certainly was a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Unique, Don't Miss It
Review: This book is both well conceived and well written. I like the way Alice Sebold presented the whole story within the framework of a fantasy, beginning in Heaven. To me, that's what makes "The Lovely Bones" unique. And, if you can't get enough of "heavenly" presentations such as this book by Alice Sebold, maybe it's just me, but I think Norman Thomas Remick's book, "West Point", is another such "heavenly" presentation to read after you finish "The Lovely Bones".

Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon was murdered. Rather than that being the end of her story, however, it is only the beginning. She has gone to "her" heaven and is now looking down to Earth watching her loved ones attempt to go on with their lives.

In Susie's Heaven, she lives in an apartment with a roommate. She can go to the high school that she so longed to attend on Earth. There are many dogs . . . because she wants there to be. Susie can have anything she desires in her Heaven . . . except the return of her life and the experiences she would have had while growing older.

All she can do now is watch from above. She sees the investigators trying to solve her case as her murderer destroys evidence. She watches as her first love struggles with the feelings he still has for her, and a young girl she brushed past on her departure from Earth becomes obsessed with first Susie and then others like her. And she is the silent witness to the slow descent of her parents' marriage.

Life goes on without Susie, but do those she left behind actually live or are they just going through the motions?

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Alice Sebold has chosen to tell this story from a very unique viewpoint . . . that of a murdered young girl. In this way, the reader is able to feel not only what the "survivors" are going through, but also share in the emotions of a girl plucked from existence before she had the chance to really live.

The characters are given dimension and become easy to identify with on many levels. That, matched up with the subject matter involved, makes this a story that will stick with the reader for some time.

Rating:
Summary: Buy This One
Review: Sad, very well written. A lot better book than "The Shipping News" which one a Pulitzer (go figure on that one). Personally I didn't find any humor in it, which the jacket promised, but nicely done. I don't want to know how long she took to write it because if it was anything less than 6 months I'd kill her (pun intended).