Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Release Date: August 29, 2006
Pages: 372
Buy Here: Amazon|Barnes & Noble
Rating: 4 Cats (Really Good Book!)
The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.
The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.
Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.
You have no idea how many times throughout this story I wanted to say, THE KILLER IS RIGHT THERE!!! Okay, so now that that’s out of my system here are my thoughts on The Lovely Bones.
I watched the movie before reading the book and LOVED the movie and after reading the book I loved it more than the movie… more detail. This story was about a girl named Susie who was murdered and it shows how she watches her family as a ghost falling apart after her death. This was a really touching book to me, and I definitely think that everyone should give it a try. I was required to read it for English class and thought I was going to hate it but I really ended up loving it!
Susie’s dad thinks he knows exactly who murdered his daughter but everyone thinks he is crazy and Susie’s mom ends up having an affair. Their Grandmother moves in and tries to help keep the family together and to help them through the death of Susie. Susie is watching all of her family as a ghost throughout this whole story which allows us to see what she is feeling as each of her family members take certain actions.
I won’t spoil the ending for you, but you should read the book to find out how it ends! I really enjoyed the book and cried several times throughout reading it… yeah yeah I’m a crier haha! If you love reading books that feel like they could actually happen in real life and are realistic, touching, and sad at the same time you will love “The Lovely Bones”. Alice has done such a great job at making this story flow together perfectly!
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