The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. That was before the milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. This story of tragedy is transformed into a touching, even funny novel about family, heaven, and living.

My Review:

This was a story with a lot of potential, but then I found it to be long and unnecessarily drawn out. I found many times I had continued reading but had not retained what I read. Usually at that stage, I will go back and re-read what I didn't comprehend, but I found that I just didn't care, and it really didn't seem to matter.

I thought the Detective was a sleazeball, along with Abigail. Harvey needed justice, way more than what was doled out to him in the end. I am happy that Lindsey, Buckley, and Jack had found their way in life. I liked how Samuel treated Lindsey. Grandma Lynn was a cute and crazy ol' bat, and Holly was a strange and unnecessary character. Ruth was interesting and I really liked Ray, but he really needed to move on. Now, about the love making scene between Ray and Suzie, who was in Ruth's body (despite the fact that Ray and Ruth fooled around while they were younger, she preferred women) was just a little too much for me. It seems like that would be a violation of Ruth's body to the extreme. Even though both Ray and Ruth are in their twenties, Suzie was still 14 years old, I mean, sure she may have wised up while viewing the world from her heavenly perch, but it was just too weird.

In closing, this wasn't a bad book, I just couldn't see myself recommending it to anyone.

Update: I have since seen the movie and I have to say that I now understand Holly's role. Although the movie wasn't that great either, I'd have to say I preferred it over the book. So, although I had mentioned I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, I would recommend the movie over the book if you are intrigued.

Favorite Quotes:

“Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.”

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

“Our only kiss was like an accident- a beautiful gasoline rainbow.”

“Loss could be used as a measure of beauty in a woman.”

“Life is a perpetual yesterday for us.”

“Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.”

Read from October 07 to 14, 2014

Top 5 Genres*: Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy
*According to Goodreads
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My ratings system
5 stars - I absolutely loved it
4 stars - Good book and would recommend
3 stars - Decent book, but wasn't spectacular
2 stars - Not good, but was able to finish it
1 stars - Did not finish (DNF) and I don't usually rate a book I haven't finished (just to be fair to the author)

View all my reviews