Rating: 
Summary: just okay
Review: It started off interesting. It lost something along the way.It was long in the tooth. It did have some moments of great writing, but I felt like it went on and on and not much took place. I would not have wasted [$$$] for it, but if a friend passed it on, I would say read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely Bones is lovely book
Review: As a 14 year old girl living in suburbia, I could relate to the main character very closely, right down to the fact that we share a passion for photography and have a somewhat estranged family. Alice Sebold is such an amazing author and tells this story from such an interesting viewpoint, up above in heaven.Filled with love & hope, and yet despair & sympathy this book will blow you off your feet. I COULD NOT put it donw until it was finished, and then I wanted more.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!!
Review: One evening, I was going to start this book and had planned to read the first couple of chapters. 200 pages later, I refused to put it away. This book captures your heart and your soul, allowing you to experience Susie's incredible adventure of life, death and the hereafter. I implore you to read this amazing tale. You will not be sorry you did.
Rating:
Summary: A different approach
Review: Expectations sometimes work against a book, and that probably was the case with me. This book is written from the viewpoint of a murdered girl, Susie Salmon. And, her viewpoint is sad and touching, violent and scary, and funny and wistful. I found her part, very engrossing. But, I thought Ms. Seybold resorted to stereotypes, and things we've seen and read before, for the rest of the characters. The father's anger and behavior is understandable, but expected. And, what does the grieving wife and mother do? The same here, as in many of those other sad and meaningful? books. Then there is the wise grandmother, the weird friends. And Susie returns to earth, to do what? She was 14 years old when she was murdered. Finally, the ending wasn't one I would hope for. Too neat and quick a resolution, for me.
Rating:
Summary: What's the fuss...I agree!
Review: I agree with the comment from KY, I, too thought I had hit the jackpot after being the first to check the novel out of my local library, and after reading half the book, I realized I was in for a dissappointment. It was okay, but not great. I've read alot better, such as N.Sparks, "The Notebook" - now that for me was a tear-jerker. I guess everyone is different, but in my opinion the book was fair. I definately won't be re-reading it as others have commented. Didn't enjoy how the author kept jumping back and forth from past to present, from heaven to earth. Skim one topic, then a chapter later go into detail about that same topic.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read.
Review: What a wonderful last 3 days I have had getting lost in this story. I can't get Susie Salmon out of my mind...nor the loss for her family. What a wonderful picture of heaven Alice has given me. Just a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: An instant classic---beautiful, poignant, and well-told
Review: I'd never heard of Alice Sebold, so when People magazine raved about her new book, I was a little skeptical. But when I read the review, I was instantly intrigued, so I bought the book. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. The characters were so real and alive, even Susie who was supposed to be dead. They were dynamic and active people with flaws and cracks. To see how Sebold characterized Susie, which I believe would be the hardest part, was uplifting to a blossoming author---it can be done! I had never read a book with a story quite like this. This is real stuff, and it's wonderful. I encourage everyone to read this book---it was absolute genius, very enjoyable, and heartbreaking as well.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best!
Review: I have to agree with "What's the Fuss". It was an ok read. however, hasn't this all been done before?
Rating: 
Summary: Memorable and haunting
Review: Sebold's novel is one of the better ones I've read recently, along with Berg's True to form and The Secret LIfe of Bees (don't remember author's name! sorry!). Recommended, particularly with the other two novels, for book groups. I hope Sebold has more stories to tell. Its only flaw is perhaps the deus ex machina handling of the neighbor, but Sebold's metaphor of bones is more important, and so I overlook that.
Rating:
Summary: A amazing novel about family, love and heaven
Review: Fourteen year old Susie Salmon's short life is stolen from her when a man from her neighborhood rapes and murders her. After she dies Susie, while in heaven, watches all the people she loves on earth. She watches her younger sister Lindsey build walls around herself to numb the pain, and learn how to grow up without a sister. She watches her parents' marriage collapse and her father's desperate attempt to find Susie's killer. She watches her almost-boyfriend whom she shared her first kiss with get over losing his first love. She watches Ruth, a girl she barely knows, connect with her death and become obsessed with it. She watches her 4-year-old brother Buckley try to understand things he is far too young for. And she watches her killer get away with her murder with very little questioning. As the years pass by people forget about how little Susie was murdered, but no one ends up unaffected. After being suggested this book by a friend, I quickly went to the nearest bookstore to buy it. I was not disappointed. The Lovely Bones is a new near perfect novel about heaven, love, family, and how people react to horrible situations. The simple style and writing of this novel manages to created an original story that I really enjoyed. I highly recommend this book to teenagers and adults alike.
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