Rating: 
Summary: Susie's all-seeing perspective
Review: I was first drawn to this debut novel because my first novel was published at the same time, covering very similar subject-matter and themes. Kudoes to Alice Sebold for an interesting first effort. I found the story premise very original, and the story does linger in the mind for quite some time after you've read it. This is the story of a teenage girl named Susie who is raped and killed one day on her way to school. She goes to Heaven and is able to observe all the events around her dead body--her family's grief, her killer's footsteps, her friends' gossip about her murder, etc etc. I kept guessing if they would catch the killer. The ending surprised me. David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"
Rating: 
Summary: Teenagers, Beware!
Review: I did not enjoy The Lovely Bones at all. It seemed as though the theme was mixed up in dull mystery, fantasy and twisted romance. The book was about a girl that was murdered, and went up to heaven to watch her family. Heaven was portrayed as an unhappy and boring place in this book. Why would it be called heaven if it was not in anyone's liking? That is one aspect of the book that I particularly did not agree with. Life back on earth was severely and insanely wrong. The once loving mother of the girl that was murdered decides to have an affair while her husband does not even recognize it! I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys singing in the rain, but if you're a teenager, like me, chances are, your opinion will be close to mine about this book. In the beginning, the book did a slightly good job of keeping my attention, but in the middle, it all seemed to be confusing and dragged out. The ending was bittersweet, and if you don't like happy ending; then this book is a dream come true for you. In a way, it was like a salad with no dressing,and constantly being tossed:always bouncing back and forth between ironic ideas and never really saying anything at all. This was definitely not a rock my sox off kind of book, especially when, I have to force myself to read it just to get it done before the dead line. Teenagers! Stay away from this book!
Rating:
Summary: Easy to Read. Hard to Forget
Review: Having also come from a small town where a murder of a teenage girl took place, I felt as if I was taking a front seat in this journey created by Sebold. It starts off gut wrenching, and yet I could barely put it down. You'll watch your children more closely after reading this novel, but don't think it is just about death and the evil mind of the killer, but about love and family and the delicate fabric of time that holds us either in this earthly plane or in Sebold's "Inbetween." I hope you enjoy your life too.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Beautiful
Review: I was actually asked to read this book by a close friend of mine, who stated that the way it was written is something that I would enjoy; I decided to take her on. I opened the first page of this book, only to find my favorite prose (now an introduction to my nearly-existent journal). I was enthralled by the first chapter, and continued reading long into the night. Alice Sebold's outspoken words are something that I cannot explain -- since reading this, I have recommended it to a countless number of others. Alice writes what others dare not say, with a twist of logic as a young girl overlooks her living family, after her brutal and ruthless murder. She contemplates just what life is about, while watching the family she once spent each day of her life with overcome many obstacles. This novel is simply one of the most beautiful reading experiences I've ever had! Nothing less! Don't deny yourself the pleasure! You'll treasure this book! Another Amazon quick-pick I recommend, somewhat more peculiar, is THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Having heard wonderful reviews on this book from various sources, i was excited to be using it in psychology class. I began reading immediately...racing through over a 150 pages in the first sitting. In these first pages i was moved by the plot and intrigued by the perspective from which Alice Sebold was telling this tale.However, this was all that appealed to me, i found the writing style extremely immature and rather tedious. There were numerous times where i just wanted to put the book down amd give up on it...the only thing that propelled me forward was the prospect that perhaps the latter part of the book would live up to it's raving reviews...unfortunately i was let down as the book ploughed on with it's prosaic narrative. And so for it's monotony and it's frivolity, i give this novel 1 star.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising, but Disappointing
Review: The Lovely Bones is a very uneven work. At times touching and memorable, at times monotonous, at times pedestrian, the prose of Ms. Sebold needs more polishing before it can be called great. Some of the plot turns are silly and forced, and the effect on the reader is one of annoyance. This would have made a superb first draft. I hardly know how to account for this book's phenomenal success; perhaps, as in the title of her first book, Ms. Sebold got "lucky."
Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: The Lovely Bones is about a girl name Susie Salmon. Growing up in the sixties, Susie lead a normal life until she was thirteen years old. On her way home from school one day, Susie was kidnapped and murdered in the field near her school. That is where the story begins. The story is about Susie, watching from heaven, her family and friends cope with their loss.
The Lovely Bones was a very worth while read. The author is very good at drawing the reader in and fully discribing the emotions or the characters. It's an excellent book with many twists and turns that will make you want to keep reading.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: Having read both "The Lovely Bones" and "Lucky", I am enthralled with Alice Sebold's ability to weave an enchanting story about such difficult topics as murder and rape. "The Lovely Bones" is a fast, entertaining read that hooked me from the very first sentence. I highly recommend this book, and would suggest that the reader become acquainted with Sebold's memoir as well ("Lucky"), which tells much more about why Sebold chooses to write about such difficult issues. "The Lovely Bones" may seem to end too perfectly to some people, I was left feeling like all of the wrongs that had been committed were in some way righted. Characters like these deserve to have a happy ending, and Sebold did not fail to deliver what seemed to be the fairest ending possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging Idea Takes the Easy Way Out
Review: Like many people who picked up this book, I did so to see what the hype was about. Not only has it been a bestseller, but it received outstanding reviews when it was first published. I think the praise it has received is only somewhat deserved. Ms. Sebold certainly deserves enormous credit for creating a story that seems, in the world of contemporary American writing, original and daring. And she took on an extremely difficult subject, on top of that--it's not easy to write convincingly about loss and grief as it is, let alone from the viewpoint of a 14 year-old. But Sebold gives us a narrator in Susie Salmon who is convincing and memorable, and paints equally impressive portraits of the Salmon family, devastated by the young Susie's loss. The writing, toward the beginning, comes across as simple, straight to the point, tight, and this is exactly the way to render a portrait of grief without delving into the traps of sentimental lyricism or philosophical musings on death and human nature. The first half of the book is very good at avoiding those traps; the second half is not. I found myself cringing more and more as the book progressed, finding more moments that felt a little too much like Oprah "remember your spirit" moments than I would like in a good novel. They occur when Susie makes annoying observations about the dead--that their souls are like snowflakes, that they are the air we breathe, etc.--and when the narrative hits the reader over the head with the notion of "letting go." These examples and more struck me as a simplistic way to deal with the subject matter. They seek to comfort us, but true comfort would come with understanding; Ms. Sebold should have stuck with her exploration of the situation at hand instead of trying to make us feel comfortable about that situation. The turn toward the supernatural at the end, which is fine for a story that's supposedly narrated from beyond the grave, managed to feel unconvincing, a device that allows for yet another tender moment (the novel is filled with them, not all of them work) and not much more. The appearance of all the major players (save the murderer) in the same room at the end is another cliched and unconvincing way to wrap things up all too neatly. My one hope for a higher level of complexity, as I flipped through the last couple pages, was for the murderer to get away--which would at least be realistic, as many murders go unsolved and some murderers do get away--but even here Sebold takes an easy way out, allowing Susie to give in to a harmful impulse for which there are seemingly no consequences--strange given everything that the book has been about. Still, the story is structured ingeniously, and again the characters and situation are certainly memorable, even, in many places, powerful. But it would be interesting to see what Ms. Sebold comes up with when she challenges herself more with her narrative and doesn't rely so heavily on the easy way out.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I don't understand why there are so many people on this website who found this novel terrible. There are flaws oviously, but every novel has its flaws. I have never been so touched by a book before. The emotions every character goes threw comes alive. I believe every character is realistic, but then again that's my own opinion. The Lovely Bones, in one sentence, is the kind of novel that reminds us why we read books. Even as beautiful as the novel was to me, I don't recomend it to everyone. Because the subject is oviously not for everyone. As a reader I believe the novel will become a classic. But if anybody asked me if the book was good I would tell them... to me it was phenominal and beautifuly written. And it is my all time favorite book. Give it a chance. I loved it.
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