Rating: 
Summary: Clever idea, poor execution
Review: I started off reading this book with much enthusiasm and interest. The premise was captivating and Alice Sebold is a good writer. I could really sense the pain of the family and Sebold does a good job of providing hints of what it must feel like to be dead while watching the world go on below you. I even liked her basic concept of heaven (it jived with some basic concepts found in orthodox Christianity, meaning it had some elements of truth).However, the book soon descended into a typical, baby-boomer lamentation about the plight of repressed suburbanite women (and their justifiable adultery), the superiority of smart and artistic people, and the absolute normality and goodness of sexual encounters, no matter what age or what circumstance. Every author has an agenda, but not only did I disagree with Sebold's post-modern feminist outlook on life, I was annoyed by the ham-handed way in which she injected it into the narrative once she ran out of good story ideas. Great premise, poor execution.
Rating: 
Summary: A generally good book
Review: I read this book in fairly short amount of time. I didn't want it to be over, I liked it that much. Some of the characters and ideas are a little predictable, but still a good book. Readers may like it who have just experienced a death in the family and are looking for some hope.
Rating: 
Summary: A MUST READ!!!!!
Review: This is one of the bost books I have ever read, and it has now been leant to many people. It is emotionally very difficult to read, and I don't think I would have ever picked up this book if it had not been asigned in a psychology class. I am one of thoes people who usually has to make themselves read, but this book was so good I couldn't put it down. Thoes of you who have given less than a five to this product have not bothered to read it front to cover and if you have, you just don't know a good thing when it is put right infront of your face! I would recomend this book to anyone mature enough to read explicit context.
Rating:
Summary: Very emotional; ending too compact
Review: Before i get critical, i would like it known that i absolutely loved this book. It brought out strong emotions, and i admit that i cried though alot of it.
NOW
I agree that the first half was VERY good. Sebold had the reader, and you really felt for Susie.
I HATE that her mother left the family
I don't understand why her brother cussed so much
and WHY didn't Harvey ever get caought? I was sincerely disa[pointed that he met his end with an ICICLE!!!!!!!!!!! he should have died kicking!!!! the family should have gotten compensation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After all her father went through, don't you think they should have caught the killer?!?!?!?!?!!?
Oh, and i'd have liked to have known more about the other victems. What were they like? and HOW DID Holly die?
Remember, this from someone who Loved the book
(wouldn't read it again though, it hurt to much. then again, i'm definitaly a crier)
Rating:
Summary: pleasantly suprising
Review: The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold A little girl name Susie Salmon (yes like the fish) was a fourteen-year-old girl murdered one night coming home from school in December. The book is written in an intense fashion from the beginning then it goes in to slow motion. We are reading about her life as she is looking down from heaven in what would have been her life. Susie is telling us about what her family is going through as she sees it from her heaven. The man she was murdered by had killed other girls and she met them is heaven as well. According to Susie there are many heavens hers happens to be her Jr. High school years. Being a woman I enjoyed this book but to some it might seem a little boring and out of reach. I believe Alice Sebold has a great imagination and to be able to write a novel that is sad from the beginning and gets happy is just amazing to me.
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginning - Sucky Ending
Review: I thought that this book was a great quick read. The author made us feel confident in her depiction of what happens after death. However, I think that the last 1/3 of the book was really disappointing! The author took us to a place that was not believable and I didn't like the way she handled George Harvey...
Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: I fell in love with this book! I read the first one Alcie Seabold wrote, "Lucky", so I figured I should read "The Lovely Bones." I reccomend this book to everyone. From page one I couldnt stop reading it.
Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones Review
Review: I only read occasionally but if all books were like this I would read more often. This book is a wonderful story that is funny, extremely sad and makes you want to continue to read more.
Susie Salmon was murdered when she was fourteen years old. Don't get angry with me just yet, I know you are probably thinking I gave away an important fact. The story starts off with Susie already in heaven, so I didn't spoil your fun. Susie watches her old life, which is filled with friends, family, teachers, neighbors etc. Susie witnesses how their lives change without her. She watches how they deal with her death. Susie has a younger brother named Buckley and a younger sister named Lindsey. Buckley is too young to understand the idea of death and Lindsey tries to cover her emotions and stand strong. Her parent's marriage quickly changes. Susie's grandmother comes to stay with the family. When she first appears in the story it does not seem like she will be a big factor, but towards the end of the story you realize that she plays an important role in the family's healing process. She has a way of helping even though her arrival is not what the family originally wanted. Susie also has to deal with being in heaven. She goes into detail about "her heaven" and the people she shares it with. Months go by and she watches, as her killer still has not been caught. She watches her family and friends struggle with her death and eventually start to accept their loss and try to move on with their lives. Before her death Susie and a boy named Ray share one small kiss. He is still trying to mend and move on. He is also involved in an event that is a major detail in the story's ending. This event is really all Susie wants from her heaven, but you will have to read the story to discover what happens.
This book makes you want to be with your loved ones. It makes you think about your own life and making the most of it. Whether you believe in heaven or not, no matter what your opinion of heaven might be, this book gives you an idea of what the author might think heaven is like. I had a wonderful reading experience with this book. It made me actually cry at times because as I said earlier, this book makes you appreciate what you have and it makes you want to be with the people you love. For me, it made me want to spend more time with my parents. I think the roles of Buckley and Lindsey were very important. Lindsey is forced to grow up very quickly; she takes on a great deal of responsibility. This book shows her life step by step without her sister being there. At first, Buckley was too young to understand Susie's death, but it shows how the affect of his mother leaving, his grandmother's influence on him etc., helped mold him into the person he became. Susie's parents struggled the most with her murder. Her father takes on the responsibility to find her murderer. Susie's mother undergoes some dramatic changes before she finds her way back to the family. Some people might think the heaven situation is unbelievable, others may not. The most unrealistic part of the story takes place towards the ending.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Even if you are not a fan of reading, its worth the time and effort. If you love to read then I would be surprised if you haven't already read this book. It is definitely worth looking at. It is not a book that you get tired of and have to take a break from. You won't want to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't quite deliver
Review: "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold holds the promise of an exciting and creative premise. Teenager Susie Salmon has been raped and murdered in the field near her home in the 1970s, and she is telling us her story from heaven, as she watches the world go on below her. The premise is fascinating and the first 100 pages or so offer a new possible insight into such crimes and such deaths, the idea that Susie has to let go of life as those alive must let go of her is strangely comforting as well as pitch perfect. But as the story went on, I became disappointed and thought some of that promise was not fulfilled. As my friend Sarah said, "It's a big responsibility to write about life in heaven." I felt to an extent that Sebold didn't hold up her end of the bargain. Some of the story lines seemed a little too neat or trite, and sometimes pretty unbelievable. The attraction of the book and its beginning are compelling because one wants to believe (and is willing to suspend one's disbelief over exactly what heaven might be like), but some of the plot lines came too easily, and some of the promises of the opening, I believed, were not fulfilled. Susie's letting go of her family, seemed to happen very suddenly, and without adequate focus leading up to it. But even with that complaint, I recommend the novel. Some of the main points are in no way predictable, and what it gives one to consider is meaningful, even if you quibble with plot points.
Rating:
Summary: Surprising
Review: I was actually surprised that the narrator is dead. The narration is shocking because it's the point of view of a dead girl, something I had not yet encountered before reading this. This also shows the cruel reality of raped and/or murdered children. It also shows the impact that it gives to the family. We don't know if what happened here would happened to those in a similar situation, but it's close. This book is suprisingly good because it's unexpected. We don't expect the narration to be from a dead girl. We don't expect the twists in this story. and aside from the dark reason of this book (I mean, there wouldn't be a book if Susie Salmon wasn't raped and murdered, right?), it is a heartfelt story that would touch your heart.
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