The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: I culdn't put it down. I knew this after the third page so I made a pot of coffee and stayed up til 3am to finish it. It was direct, thoughtful, gentle. The good guys win, but that is not the point of the book. A whole new approach to death and life.

Rating:
Summary: Good beginning...
Review: The beginning of this book was great! It had me thinking I wouldn't want to put hte book down. But after a while, it just dropped off and turned into a so-so read. The ending was downright boring. I wish the whole book was as good as the first few chapters.

Rating:
Summary: BEDEVILED BY ANGELS
Review: Alas, it seems that we are all bedeviled by the "angelmania" that
has prevailed on TV and in Hallmark stores over the past few years. What else could account for all the negative reviews of this imaginative and well-written novel? It's not ABOUT angels, fellow readers; not ABOUT Heaven, with or without a LandLord. And as for Suzie's "Heaven" seeming flat, well, um, see--that's the point. (Not that HEAVEN is flat, but young SUZIE'S HEAVEN is
premature. Metaphor, you see--just as harps and pearly gates and gold crowns are metaphors.) Well, in our Father's house there are many mansions.... But you know, sooner or later our culture is going to be obligated to deal with the growing body of evidence (and I'm not talking about the movie GHOST here!)that there seems to be some verifiable connection between the world of the living and the world of the departed.
Let's not label as "sentimental" or "New Age" every novel that
grapples with the implications of that possibility for mortals.

Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones is not so Lovely
Review: Awful book. Ms. Sebold should just quit now. There is no story line and the ending is god awful. I am an avid reader and this is the first book in my life that I had to skim through because I could not take the boredom any longer. Do not waste your time on this embarrassing addition to the bestsellers list.

Rating:
Summary: ehhhh......
Review: I thought it started out with an interesting concept but then I lost interest right away. Did not care for this book.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Out Great, Ends Wierd!
Review: When I first started reading this book (after waiting 2 months for it at my local library), I thought it might end up being one of the best books I've ever read. Towards the end, however, it got just too sentimental for my taste. I was hoping that there would be more on the investagation aspect of the crime for one thing. I liked the characters a lot and thought they were well-developed despite what some reviewers have said. In my opinion the writer should have ended the story with the safe being found (this should have been the lovely bones), maybe by Ruth at the sink hole and catching the killer so that the father would have been proven right. It would have made the bones a "lovely" closure. Susie should have never come back down to inhabit Ruth's body. It would have been better to have had Susie keep her beautiful memory of her time with Ray as it actually happened in real life. I especially liked the interesting relationship between Jack and Abigail. I can relate to some of that. The grandmother character was a nice addition too. The only part that made me get teary was when Jack wrapped the sheets around Buckley. I really lost it. All in all, I enjoyed it very much but was disappointed by the ending. Too sappy!

Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. You feel as if you are in heaven with Susie looking down on earth. You want to help her family and friends find the killer. It is a great depiction of how each person handle's death in a different way. I enjoyed the author's take on heaven. I thought it was quite original. Very good.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting, comforting...a must-read book.
Review: I didn't know quite what to expect from the author or the book itself. Surprisingly, it was compelling and I couldn't put it down. Read it within 48 hours and I have a business with my husband, my own job, and a toddler! I disagree with a previous reviewer that this book is contrived. I felt it was an open honesty, a use of words one wouldn't expect - Sebold allowed the main character to really push past the passages and reach out to us. I felt I was behind her eyes, looking down to Earth with her.

Rating:
Summary: Loved It
Review: I really loved this book. I admit that some of the sentences are overdone but Sebold must have done something right as I cried for the last 50 pages. Sebold's rendition of the character's feelings is so magnificant. I did not feel as if I knew the characters but I knew their pain. The sorrow that I felt for the dead daughter is still, even after I finished the book, breaking my heart. I did not find the ending pat but profoundly sad. I believe this is a book not to be missed. That being said, my sister read it in five hours and felt it was good but not profound. Hence the existence of Baskine & Robbins thirty-one flavors.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Wonderful!
Review: After reading hundreds of books one acquires the feel of the writer, the strengths and weaknesses in the telling of a story. Unfortunately, after awhile almost all the books seem to follow a pattern in style, and the sharp imaging once enjoyed following a story seems to fade away almost to the point of distraction. My joy and amazement came when I read "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. After so long a time, I once again have been able to immerse myself into a thoroughly wonderful story, well written and told in a manner fresh and insightful. No bland filler to pad the story, and a delicate detail somewhat astonishing. I can't imagine anyone not only reading this wonderful book, but several times, and then looking for more from Alice Sebold. The Lovely Bones deserves all accolades and I'm sure will be a classic far into the future.