The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (ISBN:0316168815)

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		The Lovely Bones
	
				(6831 reviews)			
(179349 Readers)

			Alice Sebold		
	
On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in...more
 On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer--the man she knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue." 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 like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife.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." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish, and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons   less

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Showing 10 of 6831 reviews

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
WORSE BOOK EVER - Ashamed I even own it.

I am an avid reader, never one to harm my novels. I've often heard that some people become so emotionally tied up with a novel that they end up throwing it across the room at points. I could never understand what would possess them to do such a thing, until I read this novel. I have 1 rule when reading a book, if I've passed page 15, whether...more
 WORSE BOOK EVER - Ashamed I even own it.

I am an avid reader, never one to harm my novels. I've often heard that some people become so emotionally tied up with a novel that they end up throwing it across the room at points. I could never understand what would possess them to do such a thing, until I read this novel. I have 1 rule when reading a book, if I've passed page 15, whether I am into it or not, I have to keep going. The Lovely Bones nearly made me claw my eyes out so I would no longer have to read it. I cannot say that I am a fan of the authors tactics. The story line was so unbelievably unrealstic at points. I understand that the author is said to be a rape victim but such a topic is very disturbing to write a novel about. I was so disappointed beyong belief after being told this novel was a popular one. The author gave up all the mystery in the beginning, there was no suspense in it what so ever. The only thing that drove me on towards the finish line was to see how the child predator was to be caught/killed off - when coming to this point in the story, it finally happened. I was so angry that I finally threw the book not caring if I damaged it one bit. If I ever have the chance of meeting Alice Sebold I will be asking for my money back, and if I ever have the honour of meeting her editor, I shall slap them with this book because in no way have they done their job. What on earth was Bay Back Books thinking when they picked up this project...oh, wait a minute, THEY WEREN"T!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
This book is beautifully written, which does help the disturbing subject-matter seem a bit more palatable. 
The narrator is a 14 year-old girl that is brutally raped and murdered by a serial murderer in the 1970's. 
She spends most of the novel looking down from heaven upon the family she has left behind. 
The poignancy of her revelations after she dies makes for an emotional,...more
 This book is beautifully written, which does help the disturbing subject-matter seem a bit more palatable. 
The narrator is a 14 year-old girl that is brutally raped and murdered by a serial murderer in the 1970's. 
She spends most of the novel looking down from heaven upon the family she has left behind. 
The poignancy of her revelations after she dies makes for an emotional, imaginative journey.
I was sorely disappointed by several pieces of the ending, but we can't always be pleased by endings anyhow.
It's really hard for me to decide how I feel about this book. The writing is eloquent and well-crafted, but the subject matter is disturbing. The story of a cunning rapist and murderer that preys upon young girls is only made palatable because it is the backdrop for an imaginative tale of fourteen-year-old Susie, who having fallen victim to the serial killer, finds herself in Heaven. I like to read different interpretations of the afterlife, so dwelling there with Susie and watching with her as her family lives and grows, was what kept the pages turning. I was very annoyed by certain parts of the summation, but we can't always be pleased by endings.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Susie, a young and a happy girl, was raped by a weird man from their neighborhood.  After the crime, she reached and lived in her heaven, where she looked after the lives of her family and close friends. 

It took me so long to finish this book, I think about a month, maybe because I wasn’t that hooked. However, the way Alice Sebold describe each and every scene from each character’s lives...more
 Susie, a young and a happy girl, was raped by a weird man from their neighborhood.  After the crime, she reached and lived in her heaven, where she looked after the lives of her family and close friends. 

It took me so long to finish this book, I think about a month, maybe because I wasn’t that hooked. However, the way Alice Sebold describe each and every scene from each character’s lives made me believe that that kind of heaven exists. She combined words perfectly imaginable like this line 

“...the human smell of the body coming at me where deep inside there were organs suspended by a chemistry separate from mine.”

Lovely Bones also made me weep a bit at the latter part.

 I love the start and the end of this book but it seems to me that the middle part is boring but it is a good read!!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Odd and maladroit combination of cloying, sugary sentimentality and grisly bits. The murderer is very unconvincing for all the detail paid to his background; I didn't like the mother at all, though I think you're supposed to take her selfish running-off to be free-spiritedness. It's also only able to preserve its cuddly idea of death and heaven by skimming over and studiedly avoiding all the...more
 Odd and maladroit combination of cloying, sugary sentimentality and grisly bits. The murderer is very unconvincing for all the detail paid to his background; I didn't like the mother at all, though I think you're supposed to take her selfish running-off to be free-spiritedness. It's also only able to preserve its cuddly idea of death and heaven by skimming over and studiedly avoiding all the questions it raises (like; how come Susie shows no religious curiosity whatsoever despite being in (Sebold's) heaven?). Messy, cloying and shallow.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

What happens after you die?  There are so many theories and no way to prove any of them.  One is just as plausible as the next.  This book explores one of these many possibilities.

When we meet our main character, 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already dead, the victim of a murder, and in heaven.   She has to deal with no longer being a part of what was...more
 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

What happens after you die?  There are so many theories and no way to prove any of them.  One is just as plausible as the next.  This book explores one of these many possibilities.

When we meet our main character, 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already dead, the victim of a murder, and in heaven.   She has to deal with no longer being a part of what was her life, and she is exploring the place in which she now resides â€“ heaven.

Throughout the book we learn what she learns as she watches her family and friends from above.  The stress of her murder, the dealing with the unknown location of her final resting place, the ongoing speculation on who the murderer isâ€¦  

She watches as her parentsâ€™ marriage suffers in the wake of the tragic events that have unfolded.  She sees her sister distancing herself from friends and family in an attempt to be strong.  And she watches as her baby brother struggles to understand what â€˜goneâ€™ means when all he really wants is his sister back.  She is witness to her friends going on without her and the boy she liked moving on as well.  

And she investigates this place called heaven.  It looks a lot like the world she left behind with playgrounds and new friends and anything she wants appears, just by thinking about it.  It is in this place that she grows up and matures, where she learns to leave her old life behind knowing that they will be ok without her.

Truly an inspiring novel, regardless of your belief, or lack thereof, in an afterlife.  This story turns a tragic, painful event into one of hope and understanding.  I would recommend it to anyone interested in a non-demanding read that touches the heart and makes you believe in all sorts of possibilities.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Not a bad book to read.. I found it to be the type of read that grabs your attention in the beginning and then the book kinda slacks off around the middle and grabs your attention again at the end of the book. So, basically as long as you can get passed the middle part of it (roughly), you will enjoy the ending....Definetely different, and definetely not what you expect to happen at the end. I...more
 Not a bad book to read.. I found it to be the type of read that grabs your attention in the beginning and then the book kinda slacks off around the middle and grabs your attention again at the end of the book. So, basically as long as you can get passed the middle part of it (roughly), you will enjoy the ending....Definetely different, and definetely not what you expect to happen at the end. I also have to let you all know before you pick up this book to read it, the story line was very sad in its own way, the story lets you feel what the main character was feeling and also what her parents and her sister and the murderer were thinking and feeling all through the story line......
I would suggest that you go ahead and pick up this book to read maybe a nice rainy day...
I read it all!!!!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
There are millions of children missing in the world and so this book dealt with a very difficult topic that many parents never want to face. In this story, Susie Salmon is brutally raped and murdered and watches her family, friends and even some unexpected visitors from her school deal with her departure. Susie narrates from what the author portrays as heaven and watches her parent’s marriage...more
 There are millions of children missing in the world and so this book dealt with a very difficult topic that many parents never want to face. In this story, Susie Salmon is brutally raped and murdered and watches her family, friends and even some unexpected visitors from her school deal with her departure. Susie narrates from what the author portrays as heaven and watches her parent’s marriage falls apart, her sister fall in love, and even observes her killer taking more innocent victims. Although a grim issue, each character had a special connection to Susie and you couldn’t help but see how her presence greatly affected them in so many ways. The author has a symbolic way of showing change and inspiring the reader and I liked how certain concepts were written in a way that acknowledges spirituality and the idea of the afterlife. It was not just a traditional religious view of heaven where Susie was and hell where her killer should be. Once you finish the book, the initial focus on whether the killer was found and justice served doesn’t seem to matter. It’s all about how life really can go on and instead of a lifetime of tears of sorrow, there can be tears of joy again.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
"The Lovely Bones" is one of those books readers will find hard to put down once they begin reading it. The story is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl, named Susie, who is brutally murdered by her neighbor. After her death Susie must come to terms with what happened and is stuck "between heaven and earth" until she can accept her death. Susie watches her family,...more
 "The Lovely Bones" is one of those books readers will find hard to put down once they begin reading it. The story is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl, named Susie, who is brutally murdered by her neighbor. After her death Susie must come to terms with what happened and is stuck "between heaven and earth" until she can accept her death. Susie watches her family, friends, and neighbors as they try to deal with this terrible crime. She also watches her murderer as he tries to cover-up the murder. Alongside Susie, the reader witnesses the overwhelming grief that almost kills her father, her sister's resolve to go on with life, her mother's efforts to face some truths she has tried to bury, and her murderer's past and secret life. This story is mesmerizing. The frailty and randomness of life are clearly felt. I enjoyed reading this book because the author does not provide easy answers, which makes the story line believable.   hide

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							taylor
						
							few weeks ago						
I was draw to this book from the moment I began reading it. This book has a wide range of vocabulary and symbolic meaning that makes it easy to connect with all the many interesting characters. With an unusual method of narrating, the story is told by the main character Susie looking down from her version of heaven. She looks down on her grieving family and friends and watches them in the...more
 I was draw to this book from the moment I began reading it. This book has a wide range of vocabulary and symbolic meaning that makes it easy to connect with all the many interesting characters. With an unusual method of narrating, the story is told by the main character Susie looking down from her version of heaven. She looks down on her grieving family and friends and watches them in the struggle to be ok and move on but she can read their minds making it hard for her because all she can do is watch them grieve. She watches her family not only grow older but grow farther away from each other.  This book gives the perfect amount of detail it doesn’t drag on but it always keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Soo good. Little Suzie Salmon (like the fish...) disappeared after school one day and was brutally murdered by her creep of a neighbor.Her father is instinctively suspicious of the strange man but his accusations are only scorned at by the town and police as there is no evidence supporting his theory. The murder goes unsolved for years and Suzie witnesses it tear at the hearts and relationships...more
 Soo good. Little Suzie Salmon (like the fish...) disappeared after school one day and was brutally murdered by her creep of a neighbor.Her father is instinctively suspicious of the strange man but his accusations are only scorned at by the town and police as there is no evidence supporting his theory. The murder goes unsolved for years and Suzie witnesses it tear at the hearts and relationships of her surviving family. Only a piece of her elbow is found in a cornfield. She narrates the novel and part of her remains on earth with her loved ones in spirit every day. She is creatively suspended in her own peice of heaven where she meets others and can only look on patiently and await the necessary closure of her death for herself and loved ones on earth. She lingers in the minds of many who's lives were impacted by the loss of the little girl. The deceased Suzie remains with them, however, and watches with a bit of envy as her sister and friends grow up to greet the oncoming years that were so violently snatched away from her. They are granted the opportunity to fully live experiences that she can only dream of and observe from afar. The book resembles a suspenseful murder mystery. It keeps the anxious reader hoping that her family and friends can solve the mystery and catch the man who continues to commit perverted random crimes leaving his young dead hidden away and those still living with painful wounds to mend.   hide

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the lovely bones!!! over-rated

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Lovely Bones

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