Rating: 
Summary: I'd give this a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5...Memorable
Review: This book starts with an unusual and intersting premise: the narrator, a girl named Susie, has just been murdered. The reader will travel through the book, and the next few years, viewing Susie's family, town, friends and murderer through her dead eyes.
I liked this book and I read it in one sitting. Sebold creates a memorable character in American fiction (though she doesn't rank as its greatest writer) with Susie. Susie is fun, somewhat popular, and intelligent. She shouldn't have had her life cut short and she really doesn't want to be in heaven.
The best parts of the book for me detailed the impact of her death on her family. Susie aches to be with them. Each family member, in his or her way, aches to be with her. Each goes off in different directions with at times dire implications. I found these parts poignant and (given my knowledge of families who have lost a child) brutally realistic.
My main problem with this book lies in the fact that several different writing styles seem to have been employed throughout it. I wondered if the author started and stopped at various times.
I read "The Lovely Bones" for a book club of well educated suburban women. About 65%-myself included-liked the book. Another 35% didn't-either they couldn't handle the child's murder (they were mothers) or they felt the story meandered.
I would recommend this book for most people (men and women) who enjoy contemporary fiction. However, if a child's rape and murder will bother you, I would not recommend it. For such readers, the writing isn't that great to justify the pain.
Rating: 
Summary: The most moving book I've ever read
Review: This is a magnificent book in every way. I was moved to tears several times as I read it, and it still haunts me nearly a year after I finished it. This is one to buy, enjoy and then share with all your friends. One of the best I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Good but Disappointing . . .
Review: This book was a wonderful & interesting story told through the eyes of a young girl who was brutally murdered. Her "heaven" and her past earth life are beautiful intertwined to make this both sad and uplifing at times. My only disappointment was not the ending itself, but as the book came to an end. In one of the last chapters, it seemed the author took a page right out of "Hollywood," (since I can't divulge any of the plot in my review, I can't divulge the movie, unfortunately!). It clearly deviated from the originality of the story & gave it a "schlocky" feel at this point. Normally, I read the books I love over and over. This one will be donated to the public library.
Rating:
Summary: Really makes you think.
Review: This book grabs you from the first paragraph. I don't want to ruin any of the story line, so I won't go in to what the book is about. I will just say that Sebold approaches death in a different way than any other author I have read. Good character development, too. I really enjoyed this book. A good summer read, and I would recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't live up to the hype
Review: I read this book after many recommendations (from friends who have the same taste in books that I do.) and found it almost unreadable. None of the characters held my interest at all. I kept waiting for the book to get better, but sadly it did not. I am still wondering what so many people see in it. I had to skim to end it was so boring.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This is a classic illustration of a failed work. The book should be mandatory reading at writer's wrokshops, for it teaches that a facility for writing pretty sentences does not imply an equal facility in creating a readable (never mind great) novel; just as a superb skill in laying bricks does not endow the bricklayer with the capacity to design and build a house. The first couple of chapters of THE LOVELY BONES are not only readable, but exciting and fine; but soon the reader is dragged through a shapeless, pretentious, and silly meandering that leads to a bland and pointless finale; all along, however, encountering gracious and often gorgeous sentences. Central to the book is the image of a large sinkhole that swallows cars and refrigerators and a safe that contains the bones of the title. Well, not all the bones of the title but most of them. In a way the book itself becomes a sinkhole into which hours of our time and attention are sucked up in a muck of decaying cliches, simplemindedness, and pretentiousness. Perhaps a strong editor (was any kind of an editor involved in this production?) could have cut through the self-indulgence and imposed on the writer the discipline needed to produce a fine novel. As it stands, THE LOVELY BONES is a most unsatisfactory reading experience.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Novel
Review: Susie Salmon was a happy girl who was just about to enter high school, was. She was raped the brutally murdered by Mr. Harvey. In heaven is where Susie now resides and she now watches over her family and her murderer.
Alice Sebold creates a compelling story of a 14 year-old's desperation to hold on to her family in The Lovely Bones. She takes you on a lonesome road with Susie Salmon on her search for justice. Alice Sebold makes you feel all of the emotions Susie is having in heaven when rumors go around about her death, as her parent's marriage fall apart, and as she watches Mr. Harvey live without guilt.
I enjoyed The Lovely Bones very much. Alice Sebold created amazing world of characters that almost anyone could relate to. Her writing style was unique and the fact that it was written in first-person made it easy to just get into the mind of Susie. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who really enjoys reading a truly movie story.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced, entertaining, deeply moving, well-written
Review: I read this book in just a few days. I couldn't put it down. I really liked that the book was narrated by the main character who is telling her story from heaven. Her candor, wit, and sadness come across very well to the reader. This book should come with a box of kleenex because it is a tear-jerker! Schmaltzy-ness aside, the story is original and there are passages that really are beautifully written. The author does wrap things up nicely at the end of this novel, but why not--the story begins tragically and there are a ton of emotions that run through this story. By the end of the novel, you NEED a happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorites
Review: This extraordinary book is definitely one of my favorites. It's an inspirational and emotional book that gives you a new look on life. It's about a 14 year old girl named Susie, who got raped and killed and in this book Susie tells the story, while she's in heaven watching over her family and her love ones. Susie introduces to you the pain that her family goes through and that's what makes the book unforgettable. There were points where I mourned with her family and points where I was angry with her mom and the killer. When I read this book I felt like I was every character in the book. I understood what each character was going through and it made me cherish my life more. The Lovely Bones was a lovely story that you couldn't put down until you know that the killer had his consequences. I would recommend this book to people 13 years old and up.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book!
Review: Can anyone truly imagine what life would be like without them in it? What goes on when we are gone, both on earth or in Heaven (or in the realm of death in general)? I found this book truly extraordinary in that it takes a tragic situation and builds a dramatic and sometimes light- hearted story of one girl's experience in answering these questions. It is a must read! I could hardly put it down, and it also left me with some things to ponder. This book stays with you because it focuses on issues that we all will have to eventually face. Beautifully written, too!
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