Rating: 
Summary: Lovely Story, forget the bones....
Review: The Lovely Bones is actuall a good story. Yes, it is a bit graphic in the beginning. However, I have been thinking about the novel since I read it in December 2002. The main theme seems to be that both heaven and earth have their beauty. In heaven, the beauty expands as you go on. On earth, things can get ugly. "Susie" is in heaven watching down on her family. The story concentrates on how a family moves on, how friends move on when someone they love dies. The book was, I thought, lovely, because instead of concentrating on the actual death of Susie, it was more focused on the beauty of her afterlife and how she watches over them. She looks down at her sister: "Lindsey's face flushed mine flushed up in heaven...it was glorious. I was almost alive again." And Susie sort of is more alive than some of the people who are actually on earth, the people who go through the motions, who cannot live and move on with their lives when tragedy strikes. The book creates a revelation that maybe, just maybe, there will be an afterlife as beautiful as Susie's heaven. Just as lovely.
Rating: 
Summary: hm...
Review: "The Lovely Bones" was great, absolutely fascinating in the beginnings of this book. but then it seemed to go on and on. The idea was good and i believe the author is talented, yet it dragged a bit while i was getting into it. the end, though, is worth it almost. just read it whether you love it or hate it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but SLOW
Review: This book started strong and full of great story..and then all of a sudden, it lost hold of my interest to finish the book. I did in fact finish the book, and it wasnt bad. Im glad I read it, It just was not one of my favorite books.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lovely Novel
Review: Alice Sebold presents to us a unique perspective of viewing characters...from "heaven". No book I have ever read has captured an outsiders view on their life, yet still being outside. When the main character is raped and murdered, we are drawn into the gorry details of her death, but also the horrific nature of how her family and her murderer deal with this gruesome death. This book had be drawn from cover to cover as "Lucky" is proving to do so as well. I highly recommend this book...except maybe those who have a sensitive stomach.
Rating: 
Summary: much ado about nothing
Review: A middle that sagged under repetitious near-appearances of the narrative ghost propped up by a first person rape account at one end and a trite redemption at the other. Look elsewhere for a satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: A view from heaven
Review: Well, I must say, I really like "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. I kept waiting for the book to turn, but it never did. I had heard disparaging remarks, such as the gruesome way the death was written and the abandonment by the mother. I think the topic of grief can be overwhelming for some. The Salmon family is fractured by the death of Susie, 14. But even a badly broken bone eventually heals, and so does this family. Maybe because I knew what to expect in the first chapter, but honestly, I expected it to be so much gorier. Written from Suzie's perspective, the emotions rang true without being sensational. For the rest of the book, we see Suzie's view of her family and friends coming to grips with her death. I have found that I was able to sympathize with just about every character. I was deeply touched when the father finally told his four-year-old son that his sister was dead. I was forgiving of the mother's need to find her own path of grief. I find Sebold's concept of heaven an interesting one as well. Not much to begin with, it becomes what the dead person imagines it to be. Suzie's began merely as high school, a place that she never got to experience. As she matured, so did her heaven. I found it to be a moving, well-written story.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't sustain my interest
Review: The author did a fine job with similes and strong verbs. I enjoyed her writing style. However, after 53 pages I got bored with the story and gave up. The setup was fairly interesting, but neither the characters nor the story hooked my emotions. The fantasy about Susie's heaven was dull fluff. I can't believe this was the top fiction seller of 2002. Was this an Oprah recommendation?
Rating:
Summary: Warning: Do not read if you want to feel good
Review: Despite what the reviews on the dust jacket and in many publications, this book is full of angst to the point that many readers may have to go on Prozac to finish. DO not believe the review that states the book has "funny" moments. This is a depressing read that even the supposed try at a "happy" ending does nothing to diminish. Maybe I am shallow, but I raced through this quickly to try and start reading someting that makes me feel something other than sad. It is a fairly well-written book, although you could probably skim through much of it and get the same effect in less time. Let the buyer beware in this case.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel That Stays With You
Review: In Alice Sebold's debut novel, The Lovely Bones, emotion emits from each page. From the beginning we are torn by the brutal murder of young Susie Salmon and her perspective of her family's life as she watches from her own personal heaven. We get to know the Salmon family as they cope with their loss and attempt to move on with their lives. We are also filled with a sense of renewal and joy as slowly the Salmon family is urged to move on with their lives and Susie learns to do the same with her after-life. Sebold has produced a very thought-provoking novel that stays with the reader long after they finish. I have recommended this book to many of my friends and teachers. It's truly one of those books that come along every once in a while that is a "Must-Read!" My only regret about the book is that the beginning is somewhat slow but after the first 50 pages or so it becomes impossible to put down. My other regret is that I can only give this book five stars when it deserves a hundred! Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Lovely Bones today. Five Stars!!!
Rating:
Summary: So-so at best..
Review: For this book to even have appeared on the NY Times bestsellers list was impressive, for it to STAY on the list for so long was very impressive. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to read it...that, and the reviews written here....most of which were glowing. I was bitterly disappointed in this book, and cannot, for the life of me, understand how it ever made the Best sellers list in the first place. To me, it had zero depth. But then, an awful lot of people loved it....they MUST have seen something in this book that I failed to see. I would advise anyone considering reading this book to do so....everyone's taste is different and you may love it. Me? I found it an overlong waste of time. The closest thing I can compare it to, in depth and interest is a magazine story....OK to read while trapped in a doctor's waiting room....but not worth taking you time otherwise.
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