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The Lovely Bones
 

The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope. In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life on Earth continuing without her-her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  mystery,  murder,  grief,  contemporary fiction (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Michelle B
  • Rated 5 stars

“I guess my view of this novel is different than some of the reviews that I have read. I have NEVER read a more powerful novel than "The Lovely Bones". I work in the Criminal Justice field and I was finally glad to see a story that wasn't wrapped up tightly, where like reality, sometimes the bad guys get away with the crime.

The novel is narrated by a murdered 14-year-old girl. Not bitter about her death, but simply watching the nightmare that the survivers are experiencing play out....”

Michelle B’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
dawna
  • Rated 1 stars

“I didnt actually like this book. it was highly recommended to me by quite a number of people (in fact I am shocked that 11166 members of shelfari have read this! AND rated it four stars!). So I was disappointed to r4ead it and find it was not only it written badly, but the characters just weren't realistic enough to like or sympathise with.”

dawna’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 3.922705 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.166667 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Lilly B

    lilly b said:

    “i really injoyed this book but then it is sad what he did to her i wounder if it would have been him in that situation that happened would he take a minute to think is this right and should i be doing this if he was then to do it to someone.”

    posted 7 days ago
  • ::Angel D::

    ::angel d:: said:

    “Oh my! I loved The Lovely Bones so much! Alice Sebold is such an awe-striking and talented author!”

    posted 9 days ago
  • eric b

    eric b said:

    “Hmm. What varied responses we have! I really liked the book. I can't say I agree that the book felt disjointed or that the ending was hokey or disappointing in any way. The story was completely engaging and I didn't want to put the book down. Every debut novel seems to get heaped with praise, but this one deserves it.”

    posted 2 weeks ago
  • Connie C

    connie c said:

    “I enjoyed it as a novel but it seemed overrated. It felt like Susie had woven this tapestry of the lives of the people she had left behind but didn't quite know how to wrap it up. I enjoyed it for what it was: a good read. But it is not, like one critic claimed, the next 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. It was a snapshot of something we can all relate to: a family living dysfunctionally in suburbia. The fact that it was the narrator's death that triggered the premise of the story served its purpose in hooking the reader but does not really make the most of its potential. Because she is no longer a part of the action (until the end), the novel seems disjointed.”

    posted Saturday, August 23 2008
  • Trista

    trista said:

    “Yes, it may be disturbing...of course! But, the fact of the matter is, this horrible stuff happens all of the time and I think it took Alice a lot of courage to write this after what she went through herself. If you haven't read her book Lucky, you should.”

    posted Monday, June 23 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
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