Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful beginning...excellent story
Review: The first several chapters of this book are touching, heartbreaking, and also hilarious. Susie's intitial descriptions of "her heaven" are spiced with a 14 year-old's imagination and cynicism. However, the story gradually loses some of it's opening orginality and freshness. Still a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: A pretty good read.
Review: I have to agree that this in not the best book ever but it is a good read. The writer could have done a better job with the story line. Some parts of the story are filled with fluff that I scanned over to get on with the story. The ending of the book was disappointing and could have been better. The characters could have been developed more. All in all I did enjoy the book though. I'd love to see Alice Sebold rewrite some of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Macabre and tedious at the same time
Review: This is a story that indulges a taste for the horrific details of a loathsome crime, the capture, rape, murder and dismemberment of a young girl. The storyline is, on the surface, awful indeed, but the hype surrounding the book led me to believe that the novel rose above that to deliver some uplifting message. Acquaintances who had read the book said it was pretty good.Why? Can people be so insecure about their own mortality that they are willing to grasp at straws such as these for reassurance? This story just made me feel bad. If I could give it less than one star, I would.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment of a Novel
Review: I too fell for the hype. So much has been mentioned over the past few months about this novel and I fell for it and bought it. As stated in previous reviews, after the first chapter or two, where the shock and horror of the experience of the murder and rape of a young teenage girl has you focused on the events as opposed to the writing, you find yourself surrounded by poorly developed characters, a non-sensical story-line and page after page of silliness. This novel doesn't know what it wants to be... a serious crime-solver novel, a teenage soap opera, a romance, a supernatural thriller... too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: This is worth it
Review: If you have read a glut of chick lit and need to change gears, this is the book for you. It opens on December 6, 1973, when 14-year-old Susie is killed on her way home from school. Susie herself narrates her death and the aftermath, and watches her family for years as they progress (or don't) without her. Particularly she watches her sister Lindsay, only a little younger than herself, as Lindsay grows up and she doesn't. But she does it without jealousy, instead almost with pride, as if Lindsay is doing it for the both of them. Susie also watches her neighbors and friends, as well as the dtective on her case and the man who raped and killed her. It is a sad story, sick at times, and chilling in the fact that such things do happen.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: This book was by far the best book I have ever read. It had such a creative portrayal of life and death and heaven. I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone who has a few hours to spare, but I'm warning you now, its hard to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Looking Down On Life
Review: The situation in this book is so realistist. Rape happens all the time, and the scenerio in this book is something that could really happen. Its sad to read about how much of life she missing out on, I can't even imagine dieing. It's hard to believe they didn't know the murderer at first. It was hard for family and friends. Reading this book makes me think twice before I do things.
Rating:
Summary: What an amazing book!
Review: I read this book based on a recommendation. It was awesome, and I couldn't put it down. There were times during it that I was so caught up I actually started to tear up. Buy this book, you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: A real page turner, well written with a unique perspective
Review: I started this book without having any idea what the story would be. What a delightful read it was. The main character writes in the first person from heaven which made the book interesting. I really enjoyed the book but I only give it 3 starts of of five, because it seems the author got lazy at the end and just wanted to wrap everything up nice an neat. The ending is stupid but I still enjoyed the book and would recomend it.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not a classic
Review: I read this book to see if it could be possibly as good as it has been hyped, and because I heard the author interviewed on the radio and felt sympathy for her horrific experience. One of the blurbs proclaimed that this book would be as classic as To Kill A Mockingbird. I don't think so. A classic is a book that transcends time, whereas this is a book that very much speaks to our anxieties of the moment, while the Jon Benet and the Elizabeth Smart cases are still in our minds, and our nation has been terrorized by an evil man just like this child was. It seemed to have too much that was unnecessary to the story. What was the point of Ruth's meandering around New York?
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