If anyone is looking for this or wishing for it I have it available...I noticed that it has several ISBNs for the paperback and it looks like there are people wishing for it.

I don't like it and I really would like to give it to someone who would...

EDIT: just cause I no longer have it available :)

I din't like it either and couldn't finish it.  I know it was a best seller, but I just didn' t get it.

I liked it much more than I thought I would.  I bought it ages ago when I heard the author on NPR, but I didn't read it for probably a year because it's not my normal fare.  It's on my keeper shelf now.

Nope, didn't like it either.

Couldn't even get to chapter 2.

I read it (and her other book) and loved the both.  I just got her third book and can't wait to read it. 

I definitely don't think this book is for everyone.  Usually my mom likes the same things I do but she had a hard time with this one.

I can't stand her writing.. the book of hers that I had was awful! There were typos and horrible grammar to the point where I couldn't understand what she was trying to get across.

I just finished this book a few weeks ago and although it was slow in parts, I found myself wanting to read on.  It became one of those books that I couldn't walk away from.  I really did enjoy it.  I agree though that this book is not for everyone. Seems to be that you either hate it or love it.

I agree that many people won't like it.  I enjoyed it for what it was but I have definately read better books.  It will interesting to see how the book is adapted for the upcoming film.

Wow, I loved that book. It's one of my favorites and I can't wait to read Lucky and the other one.

This was a hard book to read.  Much like one of my favorites, The Kindness of Strangers.  Abuse of children is a topic that is hard to perceive as a topic for entertainment.  But as most people who read a great deal of fiction, I also want my imagination stretched by books.  I want the stories to make me think of things in life in a new way.   The part that got me about this book was the author's ability to get me to see a new way of imagining heaven.   When I thought about the afterlife as Sebold wrote it in this book, that was a new way of thinking for me.  When her dog found her in heaven, then I could cry and cry for this little girl.  I couldn't read it when it was popular, but I am glad that I finally did.

Like Cosmina,

I enjoy books that require me to look at things differently and stylistically, the book isn't typical. It wrapped up neatly and that was disappointing, but I understand the appeal of the book and for many YA readers, it's easy to understand why it's popular. I like the book for what it was. It's not as if the author was trying to write the great American novel. She was telling a story based in part on personal trauma in her own life.

I read the book and enjoyed it. My mother read the book a week later and did not like it at all. She thought it was too slow. At times I also found it to be slow, but as I read more I found myself enjoying the book. My mother did not like the book because of the outcome regarding the killer. She wanted more. I liked the way the killer was handled. Like the posts from Cosmina and blackeyedsusan one of my favorite parts of the book was a different way of viewing life after death.

I've read all three I read worse and I've read better if thats saying anything..

I din't like it either.. But , I forced myself to finish it and I was sooooo Dissapointed.

I thought it was just ok. There was so much hype about this book. All of my friends who read it said it was so good and that I would just love it. But I didn't. I found the ending to be a little unsatisfying. Harvey gets off by getting hit in the head by an icicle...he should have gotten a lot worse if you ask me.

I read the Lovely Bones and really enjoyed it.  I tried to read her other 2 books and could not get into them at all!  That was really weird bc usually if I like a book I read everything the aurthor has ever written.

This is one of my all time favorite books. I really like books that show me a different point of view, that make me think and contemplate. It took me a whole week to read this book because I kept stopping and thinking about what I read before I could go on. I have lent it to several friends and they all loved it. I won't let it off my shelf now.

I liked this book enough when I read it, but not enough to cart it all the way across the country!  I just posted a hardcover edition of this book if anyone is interested.

Second fave book of all time after The Time Traveller's Wife.

Both require a lot from the reader in terms of style. Those who read only for fun or escape will not make it through this book. It's work in a good way but many readers either don't like to be challenged or simply don't get it and prefer more straight forward writing.

Her book, Lucky, is the true story of her rape as a college student and is magnificent and brave. It is written quite straight forwardly and has such a good message. I read them sequentially because it felt right to do so.

From what people are saying, I don't think it's the topic they don't like. I think it's the writing style. What some perceived as slow felt to me like she was advancing the story to parallel the melancholia in the family. It certainly gave me that sort of mood.

Other than the reader who did not "get" the sexuality/abuse survivor/thriver concept and did not like that concept, I think most readers read a lot more graphic violent stories in thrillers and probably don't a have a problem with reading about the basic concepts/plot lines in the book (ie abuse, violence, loss, affects on sexuality).

I kept reading in the hopes that something good  would happen. There were several moments when the author could have taken the story to a climactic level and turned this book into a thriller, but she let the plot drop in the sink hole with Susie's body, I think.

SPOILER WARNING:

I was disappointed in how it ended. I think we're supposed to realize the theme is about moving forward  in the aftermath of loss and in the absence of justice.

But who the hell wants that? We encounter that everyday in real life. I wanted Mr. Harvey to really get his and that's not what this book is about. DISAPPOINTING.

"Nothing is certain" was repeated three times in this book. Yeah we get it. Justice, inner peace, sex with a boy you kissed once, heavely bliss, family unity is not certain.

Sebold's vision of heaven boring as hell. (is that a pun?). Besides it's not really heaven, it's the "Inbetween" which is pergatory, is it not?

I probably will not read another Sebold book. Her premises are great, but that's about it. After cringing through a horrific rape,murder, and mutilation, I think readers deserved more than a stupid icicle justice. YKWIM?