Rating: 
Summary: Page-Turner
Review: Alice Sebold attended Syracuse University in 1981 and University of California Irvine in 1995. She married Glen David Gold in Novermeber 2001. She wrote Lucky published in 1999 and The Lovely Bones in 2002.
The Lovely Bones begins with Susie Salmon in heaven. She was walking home from school through the cornfield on December 6,1973. She is raped and murdered by Mr. Harvey in the cornfield. Mr. Harvey covers his tracks by dumping the body into a sinkhole. When she is leaving earth to go into heaven the last human that she touches is Ruth Connors.
The Salmon family receives news of the disappearance from detective Len Fenerman. Mr. Salmon suspects that Mr. Harvey murdered his daughter. He becomes obsessed with finding clues that link Mr. Harvey to the murde. Lindsey Salmon becomes sheltered from the world, because everyone sees Susie in her. She also doe sthis to be strong fo rthe family. Mrs. Salmon begins to have affair with detective Len Fenerman. After not knowing what to do through the familiy's trouling times she abandons them. Buckely Salmon does not understand the meaning of gone because of his age.
The main characters in The Lovely Bones are Susie Salmon, Mr.Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, and Mr. Harvey. Susie Salmon is the narrator. She is 14 years olf when she is brutally raped and murdered. Mr. Salmon i sher father and believes that he knows who killed her daughter. Lindsey Slamon is Susie's sister and tries to protect her family. She goes into Mr. Harvey's home and steals a picture of where Susie may have been murdered. Mr. Harvey is the murderer and collects objects from the victims for his collection.
The theme of The Lovely Bones is that after death the lives of our loved ones continue. I recommend The Lovely Bones because it is a page-turner. The novel makes you become aware of your surroundings. It also makes how things should be appreciated because you never know when your last breath is. It helped me see how to apprecoate the time that I have with my family because they might be gone the next day. Appreciate the time that I have on earth and live life to its fullest because we never know when we will be gone.
Rating: 
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: The lovely bones by Alice Sebold was told by a fourteen year old girl from heaven. Susie Salmon was raped and murdered by someone very close to the family. She gets to tell the story explaining how she can see her parents after the big tragedy. Susie salmon was very detailed and overall a great book. Although toward the middle of the book the pace slows down it picks right up an dkeeps you guessing all the way till the end. Its a great book and I would recommend it to everyone. I give this book two thumbs and a toe up! Great indepent reading book.
Rating:
Summary: Grief healed by love.
Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is told by a fourteen year old girl already in her own heaven. Taken early from earth, Susie Salmon¡¯s life ended before it even began. She watches life going on without her: her family struggling to accept her disappearance, her friends talking about her death, and her killer trying to remain undiscovered. It consists of loss and hope, adjustment and growth, but most of all, grief accepted by love. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reached into the depths of my heart as I realized Susie went through hell only to end up in her perfect heaven filled with swing-sets and anything she desired to be surrounded with. Susie¡¯s family reminds me of my own; ready to risk everything to find the one they lost. Determination set in her father¡¯s eyes, he only thought to find the man that killed her little girl. This book cleverly teaches healing through grief filled with humor and love. It captured my full attention as I was transformed into that little girl ripped from life. Her only wish was to be with her family; something I am grateful that I have. Lindsey Salmon locked herself inside her heart when she found out that her big sister couldn¡¯t be found. Her undying love for her sister enabled her to move on and accept the fact that her sister will always be with her. I realized, now even more after reading this book, how much I appreciate my family. The sacrifices they make, though sometimes insignificant, shows how much love they can give. Susie¡¯s family never let her go because she was a part of their love, something that can never be erased. Because this love still existed, Susie was unable to let go of Earth and accept her heaven. She witnessed her family grow apart only to realize their love will force them back together. It becomes a learning experience from heaven to earth.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely story
Review: This is a very enjoyable story although its subject matter is sad. I like the way the author ties everything together, a very nice job writing. The parallel stories work well together and the sad emotions are touched on be not dwelled upon. You recognize the sadness is there but its presentation does not detract from telling the story. Well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Review: This book may not be print perfect, there are a few typos and the language structure is sometimes lacking, but I found this book a good read. It begins quite brutally and because the victim is writing from her point of view, 'dead in heaven', the actual rape is quite hard to read through. I found the book a struggle until about the middle, I almost put it down, but I kept on reading and finally finished the book. The ending really gives you something. It's a hard book, not from the point of view of the reading, but the coming to terms! Hope you enjoy this book, I eventually did!
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: The tragedy of death in a family is well-trodden ground. But Sebold's book is so creative and honest in its treatment of horrific events, you're moved to tears even as you find yourself laughing out loud. Sebold writes convincingly about the supernatural, and her talent saves it from being hokey. This is a great book for pleasure reading. It will also make you reflect more deeply on the tenuous threads that hold a family together. All those words you see on the back of books apply here: moving, deep, heartwarming, etc. But don't mistake this book for just another cliche.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly Beautiful!
Review: 'The Lovely Bones' works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book - Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on earth as "like an accident - a beautiful gasoline rainbow".
Sebold has managed to lighten the gruesome, gritty subject matter in an uplifting way with a lively read, which is often very funny at times; bringing tears of joy as well as sadness; and helping the reader to step back a little, (just like fourteen year old Susie in her heaven), as the tragic, traumatic events unfold in front of us. We struggle with Susie as she struggles. We watch with her as she watches those she loves. She has been snatched from earth, cruelly raped and murdered by the seemingly normal neighbour. Her family are torn asunder in their own private ways following her untimely death. We watch with Susie as she watches her first love Ray, wishing she could kiss him again.
The descriptions of the love and friendship between a parent and child are beautifully constructed and painfully moving. It describes the kind of love that is so strong it almost aches. This is a book that will not fail to touch people on so many levels, those dealing with grief, loss and guilt. A book that is all at once harrowing and stunning, keeping you on a knife-edge throughout.
Its beauty lies in its simplicity; a love story tainted by grief but surmounted by humanity with an ethereal presence.
Sebold offers a comforting picture for anyone that has ever lost someone close, where they are at peace and watch over those they have left behind until they are ready to let go.
Although a fictional piece of work, this was story that had to be told. It speaks volumes and will linger hauntingly with you long after the final page is turned. Susie Salmon deserves to emerge as one of literature's true classic characters as her story has tackled the realistic, chilling horrors of child rape and murder and the loss of a child in a world where this occurs on an hourly basis. Her ordeal is told in such a terrifying yet tender way that it will render you speechless in places, reduce you to tears and chill you to the bone. This is one of the most powerful, thought-provoking and disturbingly beautiful books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: lovely bones is a creative and suspenseful novel
Review: Alice Sebold's book entitled "The Lovely Bones" depicts a young girl named Susie Salmon, who was raped and murdered in 1973 by her neighbor on her way home from school. She struggles to watch her family from heaven live their lives without her in it. She observes as her parents grow apart, her sister deals with the downside of being a "dead girl's sister", and watches her first crush grow up without her. The plot was simple and easy to follow, but very different and creative. Instead of forcing the reader to guess throughout the novel who the killer may be, it is revealed almost immediately. This allows us to concentrate more on Susie's story than worry about who it could have been that killed the poor girl. Throughout the book the strong connection between Susie and her father is evident, and his life is consumed with finding the killer of his little girl. The book is suspenseful at times, and does not drag on with unneeded wordiness. It is relatively short in length, which seems to be just long enough to tell the story. It was more of a simple than challenging read and once again easy to follow. Overall, the book was interesting and more creative than the typical suspenseful murder-type novels, and it was quite enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Very bad book
Review: The Lovely Bones is told in sixth-grade level prose by a banal character named Susie, who gets murdered and then watches everyone from heaven. Susie is a snoozer of a character who speaks in the wannabe drippings of a bad Confessional Poet - not like a fourteen-year old- (the age at which she supposedly was murdered). Often she makes trite comments about her younger sister as having "creamy skin" and "round breasts" with "rose-petal shaped eyes." Dead or not, I don't know any fourteen-year old who would speak that way about her sibling. Not only that, as though this mediocre crime-cum-wannabe literary novel isn't enough, Sebold obviously wasn't content with having a novel actually dealing with grief in a realistic manner, so she had to have the mother engage in an affair with the detective who is a moron and can't find reasons behind any of the clues. All the characters are morons except for, wouldn't you know it, the younger sister, who can see through it all and unlock the mystery behind The Lovely Bones. But by then the revelation is a big shrug of the shoulders "so what"? And really the last straw for me is when Susie enters the body of this depressed poet wannabe (who reads The Bell Jar no less) so Susie can have sex with the first guy she ever kissed. And the funny thing is, that this novel had a blurb comparing it to the masterful To Kill A Mockingbird- one of the prime examples where criticism attempts to make a connection between a book of bland writing with that of a Modern Classic when there isn't one. But then again- I have higher expectations than most people. If maudlin, bathetic and self-pity peppered with woundology (I am the author and I was raped so be nice to me. Love my book/ love me)are what you go for, there is nothing I can say in this review that will change your mind.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss It!
Review: This book is really like no other book I've ever read. If you enjoy reading true crime, you might enjoy this novel. If you are a person who doesn't like reading grisly murder details, this book isn't for you. As a writer, I'd also recommend this book to other writers because of its uniqueness. Due to the graphic scenes of Susie's rape and murder, I recommend this book for ages 16 and up. There is also some light swearing here and there. I put this book off for two years because of the hype that surrounded it. I did the same thing with the Harry Potter books and to this day I'm still on the third book because I'm taking my time and enjoying them. If you are like me and haven't read The Lovely Bones because of the buzz, don't wait much longer. The story is sad; but Susie Salmon's story is urgent. Alice Sebold does a wonderful job of telling a heartbreaking story not only of a death but also about a young life that touched many others. The Lovely Bones is a wonderful book! Another book I'd like to recommend is The Losers Club by Richard Perez, a short little personal novel that got under my skin.
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