Rating: 
Summary: Embrace the Salmons
Review: The third book on my summer reading list (after The Devil Wears Prada and Bare) was by far the best; Sebold could teach the other two authors a thing or two about an engaging story and character development. Between a self-centered New Yorker, and a bitter stripper, I'll take a 14 year old savoring her first kiss.
Rating: 
Summary: Appreciate Your Life!
Review: A book that is gentle enough to deal with a sensitive topic, but strong enough to write it well. The Lovely Bones will keep you spellbound while touching on the nerves of raw human emotion. Reading this made me appreciate the people in my life. It will touch you deeply.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificently read audiobook
Review: Other reviewers have expressed the sheer loveliness of this story. Having it 'read to you' by someone as adept at the job as this reader is an absolute joy. It did not feel like someone was reading a book aloud...it felt like Susie was sitting next to me, telling her story.Read the book. Listen to the audiobook. Do one, do both, you will not be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Original, delightful but not enduring literature
Review: Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones (LB)" has been touted as THE debut novel of the year. Richly praised by book critics, the public has embraced it unreservedly by buying large quantities of it to ensure that it stays high in the bestsellers list. What's so special about it ? I've read it, yet I can't say I know the answer. Perhaps it is down to Sebold's comforting feel-good message of hope to us mortals that when our loved ones die or leave us unexpectedly, they don't disappear forever from our lives but hover above to protect the living like guardian angels. But Sebold doesn't stop there. According to her, the spirits in Heaven hanker to return to planet Earth to experience what's unfinished in their lives and it's that yearning that connects the living with the dead. Sebold takes a horrid subject and turns it into magic, the kind that is seductive and all too willingly embraced by readers. Suzie must be the most cheerful victim of rape and murder in the history of fiction. She's not bitter because she continues to live in the hearts of her family and friends and vice versa. It doesn't hurt that Sebold has lined up a luminous cast of characters to enthral us with. Suzie's father is the big-hearted loving father that anyone could ever wish for. Her mother, more distant and frigid emotionally, hurts more, so goes AWOL in search of herself. Brainy sister Lindsey and cuddly brother Buckley make up the nuclear family, to which is added the charmingly eccentric Grandma Lynn. Ex, coloured boyfriend Ray, oddball girlfriend Ruth, policeman Len, Ruana Singh (Ray's mother) and Mr Harvey, Suzie's creepy murderer complete the novel's colourful cast. In keeping with its feel-good orientation, LB isn't about exposing the killer and bringing him to justice, so readers needn't fret or feel disappointed that Mr Harvey isn't finally apprehended, handcuffed and marched into prison. Sebold entrusts this to the icy hand of Nature. Instead, Suzie "returns" to take care of some unfinished business of her own, thereby learning to let go. "The Lovely Bones" is an enchanting story, one that will warm the cockles of your heart. Yet I found LB oddly unexceptional. Despite its delightful take on death and the afterlife and some fine characterisation, Sebold's prose is deliberate and forced and frustratingly less than smooth. Her constant references to all-American objects and symbols is also unnecessarily reductive and deeply annoying, which is a great pity. I enjoyed LB well enough, but it's no great shakes. I don't think it'll find its way anytime soon into the portals of Enduring Literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong, but creaky "Bones"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2/3 of this haunting, well-paced novel. It begins as a suspense filled mystery in which a family, torn apart by the death of the oldest daughter attempts to discover her killer, heal their own wounds, and move on with their lives. However, two thirds of the way through the book, the tone changes completely and the mystery is, for the most part, dropped. Instead the story follows the family members as they grow and change in the ten years following the daughter's murder, and this was a far less compelling story to me. Regardless, the novel is a page-turner and an emotional roller coaster for the reader, and I admire Sebold's skill at bringing what you might think would be a cliched plot contrivance to an engaging unfolding. The narrator is ever present in the lives of her friends and family and so the reader gets an incredibly personal and detailed account of the events of their lives and the inner-workings of their minds. This book is a favorite of middle and high school students and I now know why. It is a book in which an adolescent watches how her effect on her loved ones plays out over time despite her absence, sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" redux, and what adolescent has not thought about that at some point? I look forward to more from Sebold after this promising debut.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Type of Book
Review: I actually enjoyed this book. It was uniquely written and surprisingly held my interest. Though I enjoyed it and think everyone who reads it will enjoy it, I was disappointed in the ending.
Rating:
Summary: Sent from Heaven
Review: This book is hands down the best book I have ever read. It evoked a whole array of emotions that I never thought possible and in the end left me with the warm comfort that our loved ones live on with us after death. Anyone who does not read this is doing a dis-service to their soul. I loved this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not at all what I expected
Review: After hearing great things about this book, I decided to read it. It starts out about a girl who is murdered and can watch what's happening on Earth from Heaven. The book takes this narrative point for a while, switching back and forth from Earth to the girl. After a while though,the narrative stays on Earth, rarely going back to the girl. It gets very boring at this point, because they basically stop the murder investigation and the book just becomes about these people's lives. Very unsatisfying ending. I high DISreccommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: From the very first sentence I could not put this book down. I initally thought I wouldn't want to read about such a grim storyline...but Sebold creates just the right balance between sad facts and future hopes. Sure, there are a couple parts that seem almost too coincidental...but I found myself too wrapped up in believing and hoping for things--right along with Susie--that it didn't matter. When I got to the very end, I actually found myself missing Susie Salmon. I can't remember too many books having that kind of effect on me. This is one book you don't want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant book
Review: I avoided this one for over a year because I didn't want to read a book that made me cry. I had to steel myself to read this, and, while it is a tough, emotional read, it is quite simply the most brilliant book. It rates with the very best literature. Thank you Alice Sebold.
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