The Lovely Bones

Overall, this is an okay read. I thought it was pretty well-written and it definitely held my attention. However, the subject matter was ultimately not for me. At times, it felt as though the writing was a bit too flowery for the narrator (a middle school girl), and some of the plot choices were a bit confusing. The concept was interesting, but ultimately, I wouldn't read this again.

⭐⭐⭐
This book is good and worth reading. I enjoyed it but it felt a little lacking. I may recommend it to a certain audience. It gave me mixed feelings, possibly with potential it didn't quite live up to. It's a good experience, not amazing, but not bad.

Beautifully sad

One of the most original books I've ever read. There's a sense of melancholy running through the entire book that is almost oppressive, but this is a book not to be missed.

I only marked this down for my own records because I'm terrible with tension. However, if you aren't, this is a very moving, scary, tense story, told from a unique viewpoint. 

All I could do was talk, but no one on Earth could hear me.


In violence, it is the getting away that you concentrate on. When you begin to go over the edge, life receding from you as a boat recedes inevitably from shore, you hold on to death tightly, like a rope that will transport you, and you swing out on it, hoping only to land away from where you are.


The truth was that the line between the living and the dead could be, it seemed, murky and blurred.


“Sometimes I think clues find their way in good time,” he said. “If they want to be found, that is.” It was cryptic, sort of a Confucius-says answer, but it worked on almost every civilian.


Odd girls who had found each other in the strangest way—in the shiver she had felt when I passed.


This is just a temporary hell, not a permanent one.


“When the dead are done with the living,” Franny said to me, “the living can go on to other things.”


Late at night the air above hospitals and senior citizen homes was often thick and fast with souls.


When Buckley stood on the iron chair—“Now scoot up my back,” my father said, stooping forward, “and grab on to my shoulders,” not knowing if he'd have the strength to lift him up from there—I crossed my fingers hard in heaven and held my breath. In the cornfield, yes, but, in this moment, repairing the most basic fabric of their previous day-to-day lives, challenging his injury to take a moment like this back, my father became my hero.


Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained.


Murder had a blood red door on the other side of which was everything unimaginable to everyone.

...small forgotten moments with Buckley, the accidents of love that happened with his son.


I felt, if I were to say any word, churned. Not as a verb but as an adjective. Happy + Frightened = Churned.


I hold up bones; I wish like broken glass they could court light... still I try to place these pieces back together, to set them firm, to make murdered girls live again.


In some way I could not account for—had they reached a state of bliss? were my parents back together forever? had Buckley begun to tell someone his troubles? would my father's heart truly heal?—I was done yearning for them, needing them to yearn for me. Though I still would. Though they still would. Always.


These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections—sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent—that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events that my death wrought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous body had been my life.

I both liked and didn’t care for this book. The way the book is written with the perspective of the dead girl in the afterlife is creative. What I don’t like is the actual writing.

The descriptions are weird and off-putting. The author often describes movements in a way that makes no sense. At the same time, the author doesn’t give enough details on this in between place. It was a fascinating part of the book that is overlooked.

With such a clever idea for the book and a strong start the book lacks personal connections to keep you embroiled with each character’s struggle. This is hard to take as the intricacies of surviving the loss of a loved one is the main focus of the book. If we got more information on each character’s feelings that would have helped develop a better connection to them. This is not to say the author doesn’t get across how this has affected each person, but we are told in a way that takes the empathy out of it.

What puts this book into the territory of not liking it was the ending. The resolution of many arcs is done terribly. Each felt worse then the last. Also, the sex scene was utterly wrong. Taking over the body of a lesbian to have sex with a boy you dated for a week isn’t right. Why is that the thing that lets he move on!

For the most part the story is good. But better descriptions and more focus on feelings would have made this a better book.

Not what I thought it would be.
It starts with a horrible rape and murder of a 14? 16? years old girl and the book is narrated by this dead girl. She follows her family's life after the murder.
It is surprisingly kind, soft, gentle, and warm considering the subject.

I'd heard good things about this book, see the raving cover quote, yet I found this only an okay read. Its biggest success is making several horrific incidents bland and mundane, unfortunately it does the same to those moments that should be magical.
It's quick and easy to read but mostly because the words don't stay in your mind, melting away to let the next sentence pass through. It wanted, very much, to be deep but felt more like those books designed to be read on a sun-towel and instantly forgotten. The omniscient viewer from heaven was a nice touch for a narrator but quickly grew stale. Finally, I had no emotional bond with any character and was left “meh” when I finished the book.

que pasada. el principio me caló hasta la médula y durante una semana entera no pare hasta consumirlo. la autora te deja en constante suspense y con más ganas de resolver el caso. final algo decepcionante, pero entiendoque habia que dejar a la família Salmon deshacerse del fantasma de su hija.

3.5

For the most part I enjoyed this book. Put me out of my comfort zone. Made me wonder how many children met similar fates through the years. It was interesting to see her stuck in a sort of limbo while she watched everyone else move on with their lives. It was also interesting to see how each character processed the MC's death. Her father was obsessive. Her mother ran. Her sister shut off emotions. The potential boyfriend. The cop. The murderer. The perspectives were the strength of this novel. Unfortunately, it all fell apart towards the end. Pieces tied up too neatly and the possession is absolutely ridiculous. First of all, the possession itself was unnecessary, but the actions during the possession was far worse. Imaging the girl who was possessed. What would she be feeling? No, because MC trumps all and she needs the closure. The beginning is the strongest part of this book. The rest went on too long. And honestly, though the movie wasn't perfect, I preferred some of the changes they made. Especially the ending.

This isn't really my genre, and I am not the target audience, but this is what happens when on holiday, and you read what you have. Actually I have owned this for ages and never been tempted to pick it up... but circumstances were read it or nothing. A lot of people rave about it, it was interesting, but for me, not fantastic.
I won't try to summarise the plot - this a book with plenty of reviews to explain about the story in a better way than I would manage.

For me 3 stars - fence sitting.

Este libro me llevó por un remolino de emociones muy interesantes y diferentes todas.

Lo primero que pensé fue que sería como la película, pero me dejó callada en muchos momentos donde se volvió más explícito que la misma y dijo en palabras lo que uno entendía en la película sin necesidad de tanto detalle, cosa que creo que preferí en la película porque me desagradó mucho (Más bien me dolió mucho) leer lo que sufrió Susie, demasiado.

De ahí en adelante transcurre un largo camino similar a la película, pero más explicado y que me gustó bastante porque soy de esas que ama conocer un poco más a los personajes, especialmente si es de historias que me gustan mucho como esta. Pero luego de un momento me dan un final perfecto para la historia sin alargar más nada, y aún así te das cuenta que aún te faltan por lo menos 12 capítulos más lo que se me hizo super pesado y cansino, y aún más, innecesario, sin embargo los acepté y seguí leyendo con el deseo de acabar pronto; entonces la autora te sorprende con un momento que no sabías que necesitabas hasta que ocurre, pero lo lleva a un punto que, de nuevo, me desagradó en cierta parte porque sentía que no era necesario todo aquello en la historia, que iba bien hasta ese punto; de nuevo tienes la sensación de que todo podría acabar perfectamente con el final de ese acontecimiento, pero luego notas que aún te quedan unos 4 capítulos más, que, aunque esta vez no son tan pesados e innecesarios, podrían haber sobrado en la historia perfectamente.

Sin embargo llega el final y te deja un mensaje muy bonito y triste al mismo tiempo, te encoge el corazón y te deja pensando con lágrimas en los ojos, cosa que para el punto en que me encontraba de la lectura creí que no ocurriría aunque me ahogué en lágrimas cada vez que vi la cinta.

Esta mezcla de sensaciones y momentos de la lectura fueron los que decidieron que aunque me gustara mucho la historia, sintiera que no se merecía realmente muchos puntos.

Y de todos modos es un libro que no pasaría de recomendar porque aún con ello sigue siendo una pequeña y delicada joya de la literatura, especialmente juvenil.

I've had this book on my to-read list forever, and I finally did it. After reading Sadie by Courtney Summers (5 stars), I went on a true-crime-ish binge, and this book fits that category to a T. Spoiler alert:There is no HEA here. Duh. I found myself disappointed with the story at times-not because it wasn't good or thoughtful-I just wanted something different, something better to happen for Susie. Maybe that's unfair, but I can't seem to help it. A must read for true-crime aficionados. I'm glad I read it when I was in the right mindset–definitely NOT a picker-upper.

Narrated by a very intelligent fourteen-year-old, Susie Salmon, this story opens with her violent death in a cornfield at the hands of a quietly deranged man, George Harvey. She narrates the story from heaven, a place that continually changes as she matures and watches her family's struggles and accomplishments on earth. Reeling from the grisly crime and not having closure to their daughter's death, Susie's parents have a difficult time coming to terms with this situation, and as a result, their marriage and relationships with their other two children suffer.
This story is compassionately told, and the reader quickly feels close to Susie and her family. All of the characters in this small town are interesting and add their own flavor to this intriguing story. Although there's a sad undertone throughout, there are also hints of humor, hope, and love. At times, this was a difficult book to stomach, because of the gruesome nature of George Harvey's life. But overall, it was an excellent book with memorable characters and a masterful plot. It's a quick, mesmerizing read, that leaves you wanting to learn more about Susie's life in her heaven–a mysterious and very interesting place. I'd recommend this book for its unique perspective and its honest look at the effect death has on the people a deceased person leaves behind on earth.

This was either recommended or I read a review. It seemed, from those recommendations, that it would be the type of book my wife might like. Anyway in my book shops haunts I found a copy for a few dollars and thought I would get it for her. That was last Friday and now on a Sunday I have finished. The only fiction that I tend to read as I approach my old age is the “classics” (whatever they are) so I have surprised my self by actually ripping into this over the weekend.

A few things spring to mind 1) it is an easy read 2) it was not as good as some of the reviews 3) it is certainly not as bad as some of the reviews 4) it made me realise that I am getting on in age.

The easy read is occasionally a good thing for the likes of me considering some of the hefty history I read and enjoy. It cleans the mind I suppose. The gushing raves about the book itself are a bit over board. This is light fantasy in the end and I thought that the author almost lost her way at times. Chapter 22 for example. But it is not the poorly written book that others elsewhere have accused it of being. There are at times thought provoking prose and ideas that had and still have me thinking. And yeah it made me realise I am a late 50's male who likes history and in truth will never be part of the world that this book will appeal to and that kind of bothers me in an unexplainable way.

I hope my wife likes it.

Reading this book was like being in an eerie, sad but yet wonderful dream. The content of The Lovely Bones was very sad and I don't think I smiled at all while reading the book. Alice Sebold was able to create vivid pictures of the scenes she wrote. Most of the time when I read books I seem them in my head as if they were movies, but with The Lovely Bones this was not the case. When reading this book I felt like I was seeing the book in my head as different photographs and snapshots of the events. Overall, I recommend this book to those who like books with more of a surreal read and want the story to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Loved this book, thanks Aunt Mary for the recommendation!

Very interesting look at how the afterlife could work. I thought it was a very good read.

I previously rated this book three stars. Later when I decided to read it again I could not help but wonder what “possessed” (you will realize after reading the book that this is in fact, a pun. ) me to give it three stars.

The idea behind the book is brilliant. A girl Susie is raped and murdered on her way home from school by her neighbour. She is then stuck somewhere between Earth and Heaven, watching her loved ones cope with the grief of her death while her attacker goes unpunished. The blurb was interesting enough for me to read in spite of not having any romance in it. It sounded like such a promising read.

And it was too, for the first ten pages or so. It starts with Susie being attacked and the scene is powerful and realistic. This scene is probably the highest point of the whole book beacuse it goes entirely downhill from here. There are a bunch of flat cliche characters with equally flat thought sin the head. Susie's father starts to neglect his family and his wife finds comfort in the arms of the detective with a tragic past. And then there are metaphors that make no sense : “The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands...” Hands. Not cotton or clouds or a million other things that are white or cold or both. I previously rated this book three stars. Later when I decided to read it again I could not help but wonder what “possessed” (you will realize after reading the book that this is in fact, a pun. ) me to give it three stars.

The idea behind the book is brilliant. A girl Susie is raped and murdered on her way home from school by her neighbour. She is then stuck somewhere between Earth and Heaven, watching her loved ones cope with the grief of her death while her attacker goes unpunished. The blurb was interesting enough for me to read in spite of not having any romance in it. It sounded like such a promising read.

And it was too, for the first ten pages or so. It starts with Susie being attacked and the scene is powerful and realistic. This scene is probably the highest point of the whole book beacuse it goes entirely downhill from here. There are a bunch of flat cliche characters with equally flat thought sin the head. Susie's father starts to neglect his family and his wife finds comfort in the arms of the detective with a tragic past. And then there are metaphors that make no sense : “The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands...” Hands. Not cotton or clouds or a million other things that are white or cold or both. And a lot of people have already pointed out this quote in their reviews but I will do it again because of its sheer ridiculousness: “Her pupils dilated, pulsing in and out like small, ferocious olives.”

But the worst part of it was the ending. I'm ashamed to admit that I did not catch it the first time I read it. What would you do if after you died you were given few more minutes to live by possessing someone? Would you like to say goodbye to your family? Help catch your murderer preventing other from suffering your fate? Or maybe you would take advantage of this wonderful situation by
having sex with your childhood crush. That's right. Susie Salmon, victim of rape and murder, uses her precious last few minutes to have sex, with her childhood crush, Ray by possessing the body of a lesbian friend, Ruth. And this is not the kind of voluntary possession where you need to ask permission or anything. So after an out of body experience, Ruth awakes to finds herself raped in a bike shop (I'm not sure why Susie chooses to go there). You would think that being raped herself, Susie would be a tad more considerate. But, obviously the path the true enlightment and nirvana by forgetting all earthly pleasures is by taking in the most earthliest pleasure of all.

The book was much better than the movie, which is surprising, as the movie was great!

This book was like whatever. Maybe two and a half stars. Why is it so popular? I DON'T KNOW.

Her name is Susie. Last name Salmon, like the fish. She is fourteen. And she is telling us a story. The only thing is, she's dead. Yep, she's dead. She's telling her story from the Heaven.

From some of the reviews I've read, some people shed tears reading this book. Maybe I'm not too sensitive because I could not find a reason to cry, even after I finished reading. Just that I found the story to be kinda disturbing. And different.

I felt a bit impatient towards the end of the book. And there's a bit of “Ghost” (as in the movie) going on. It's disturbing, really. If reading a story from the point of view of a dead person is not disturbing enough, I don't know what is.

That being said, I think The Lovely Bones is a lovely read. If you want something different.

I have started this book more than once, and as predicted by others, I could never get past the first horrific chapter. This time, I perservered. Sebold wrote a very popular novel that is lyrical, compelling, and interesting. Getting through that first chapter is still a trick, though.