Name: The lovely bones
Rating: 3.760869565217391 (1150 reviews)
ISBN: 159413023X

Alice Sebold

The lovely bones

Natalie Unsinn 

“That way of missing would mean that I had accepted that I would never be with them again.” 

Charlote

When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, “Don’t worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He’s trapped in a perfect world.”

 “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.”

Hannah Alexander 

He knew I was away, but when people left they always came back.

lex 📖

I knew he was going to kill me. I did not realize then that I was an animal already dying.

The spirit of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon describes her murder, her surprise at her new home in heaven, and her witness to her family's grief, efforts to find the killer, and attempts to come to terms with what has happened. Reprint.

The Lovely Bones

Anjali

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.

Lovely Bones

Everyone grieves differently. Lovely Bones beautifully depicted grief and love simultaneously. I am unsatisfied that Susie’s body was never found, nor was her killer. Unsatisfied, I still found that this was the best scenario, as a big theme in the book is “letting go.” Not forgetting, but accepting things for what they are. Being able to continue through life while holding loved ones close — the dead and the living.

Charlotte Wentworth

Cara Stegemann

** need to add quotes to Notebook. ** <br /><br />(Please note that my reviews are intended to be notes to myself - my memory is failing, and I need reminders about books I want to reread and books I didn’t finish. My reviews are not intended to be particularly useful for other readers.)

Heartbreaking every single time. Even more so when reading vs watching the film

Jamila Grace

Amelia C 

absolutely heartbreaking! but great.. read it on vacation!

it was extremely hard for me to finish it, not because it was badly written, but because it was tragically depressing and emotional. i read it after i watched the movie and i liked that i got a better glimpse of susie’s character. though i wasn’t satisfied with the approach towards the ending. 

Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world. "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

The Lovely Bones means a lot to me. It’s heart-wrenching, eye-opening, beautiful, and deep as it can be. It’s truly special. What other books narrate to you as a child spirit as she watches her family coping with her gruesome death from the afterlife? I don’t think I’ve lost a loved one before I read this book. It was my first time vicariously experiencing the life of those left behind, and learning about the horror of child rape and murder. It hurt, and it was so so real. I ached so much for Susie, and equally so for the Salmons. I read some reviews again to refresh The Lovely Bones introduced me to several strong emotions I never had at that time. It really helped me grow up.

★★★★☆
4.00 

I am actually expecting that the story would focus on the lives of Susie Salmon's family, friends and those people whose lives were entagled with her after her tragic death. How Susie's death affected each and every one of them in different ways, how they handled it differently. I just loved how realistic the way they grieved and the way they tried to cope up with their loss. It was heartfelt and hearbreaking at the same time. 

I knew even before I started reading that this would not be focus on the pursuit of the creepy perverted perpetrator. It just threw me off on how Mr. Harvey paid for all of his hideous crimes. He died, because of icicles. As simple as that. I just couldn't believe he didn't suffer for so long after all of his vicious acts. It was not exactly the punishment he deserved. He deserved more and more of it. But then, this is one of the realities of life. Not everyone can get the right justice they deserved. 

I am not sure, exactly, what I liked more. This book or the movie version. Regardless of a vast difference between the two, Jack Salmon's way of love and devotion for his daughter will always and forever be my most favorite thing in the world. The purest thing a parent can give to his/her children. The purest and most genuine emotions of all.

Laura Mauler

I read this for a bookclub, and frankly the discussions that came from it were better than the book itself. This book did raise a tantalizing question I had never thought to ask: what does heaven smell like?

Melissa Palmer

This was a powerful book about a young girl kidnapped and killed by a psychopath. She cannot rest until her family knows what happened to her. The movie was decent too.

Katherine 

This book scared me so badly I couldn't finish it the first time I started to read it. 


Enough said.

Lamia Hajani

Honestly, I bawled so badly that I had to force myself to finish it. Something about this book hit me. I loved it so much.

Caitlin Moore

** spoiler alert **
           I could not put this book down. Sometimes the stream of consciousness was confusing, but I ended up loving it. There was one scene however that I didn’t really like or understand - when Ray has sex with Ruth but is actually having sex with Susie? I felt like this made the book less real (although I have to remember that I’m reading it from the eyes of a DEAD girl). Other than that scene, I loved this.

So strangely comforting in its ache. Painfully cathartic and poignant. Left me sobbing but like in a good way. 

Bowie 

Nouf Fallatah 

The story was ok but i didnt like the fact that whos telling the story is a dead molested girl and i didnt like the ending very much he deserve worst

The spirit of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon describes her murder, her surprise at her new home in heaven, and her witness to her family's grief, efforts to find the killer, and attempts to come to terms with what has happened. A first novel. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 750,000 first printing.

Lacy W

3.5 stars

I had originally read this book when I was just starting high school. I loved it but I don't think I really understood it. Now that I am older, I understand it and I realized that maybe I didn't love it as much as I did. But I still really like it. 

This book is a lot. I know that sounds incredibly vague but it is. You essentially watch a family nearly get destroyed by the tragedy of one of their loved ones being killed. You watch them go through the grieving process and not fully knowing what happened to them. 

Alice Sebold made a good choice in having Susie be the MC and having this book in first person. It makes the book that much harder to read. Susie has to live in Heaven, knowing that besides her family, people will forget about her. She would become just another girl who disappeared. 

Susie also has to watch everybody else grow up while she will never get that chance. Can you imagine how painful that must be? To know you will forever be a young girl while everybody gets to grow up and do the things they wanted to do in life? 

I was going to write more but I think this will be all. This book is incredibly slow paced up until the last 30% or so, when things start to pick up. Don't expect it to be a fast paced drama where the family finds the killer and get closure and all that jazz. This book is going to hurt and it will make you think about life and death. How life can be taken away in an instant. How your family will hurt and grieve for you for a long time. How they will never ever forget you. God, this book hurt.

Stefanie Viens

One of the most beautiful and saddening books I've ever read. It is written with a genuine and graceful voice, despite the subject matter, and it leaves the reader with a sense of peace, anger and love all at once.

Jade Iveson

This is my favourite book of all time and I have so many reasons why!
Please if you want to know why I love it click the link below to my book blog, this is my first review on there because it holds a special place in my heart.
It would mean alot but if you're not down to read it just know this book is amazing and you should read it.
Link to my Blog: greenivybooks.wordpress.com

Thank you so much!
Jade x

Talia Dominguez 

this book is awesome!!!! i loved how it tugged all my emotions! i mean the story plot is about a dead girl watching from her "in between heaven and earth" reenacting her death and telling us how her world reacted to knowing what happen. Even tho it is a sad story, there are happiness portions in this book. It had a very good realistic ending. thus the reason why i gave it five stars!

Alyssa 

wow! completely loved this book! full of suspense, despite the tragedy of the situation. happy to see that the villain got what he deserved at the end. though, I would have preferred to have him caught by the police rather than killed by a freakin' ICICLE for pete's sake! geez...completely weird. also, a bit confused about what happenend to Ruth while Susie was possessing her body...did she die temporarlily and go to heaven? it kind of implied tht she was in heaven for tht time period but it didn't explain why...other than tht...amazing book! can't wait to see the movie!

Jack and Buckley are icons and i love them both :)

Niamh Gibbs

I CRIED WAY TOO MUCH OVER THIS SHIT 

Jack and Buckley are icons and i love them both :)

Marcie Allen

Taryn Quigg

I absolutely loved the movie adaptation so this was a definite read for me. Keep in mind I haven't watched the movie in years but from what I remember there are quite a few parts of this book that are different from the movie as it is easier to fully get into Susie's head and hear her thoughts and emotions when it is written. I loved this book very much, it has very dark themes but I enjoyed every second. This is a book that I can definitely see myself coming back to and re-reading. 10/10 would recommend if you're a) a fan of the movie or b) into books that question our reality and what heaven might be like. This book is a coming of age without with main character bring able to age anymore.

Elissa Bowe LeBeau

Beginning was strong but quickly went downhill. Not sure if there was even a plot originally.

The lovely bones

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