Search - The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones
Larger
The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold

Book Information
Publisher: Little, Brown
Book Type: Hardcover
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780316666343 - ISBN-10: 0316666343
Publication Date: 6/2002
Pages: 288


Other Versions of this Book: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD

Book Description:
When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn't happen.

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. (It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swingset.)

With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief--her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor--and begin the difficult process of healing.

In the hands of a brilliant new novelist, and through the eyes of her winning young heroine, this story of seemingly unbearable tragedy is transformed into a suspenseful, touching, even funny novel about family, memory, love, heaven, and living.

Members who requested this book also requested:

Similar books to this author and title:
The Secret Life of BeesLife of PiThe Five People You Meet in HeavenThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


Genres:

Top Member Book Reviews

Paula D. (MamaPaula) wrote on 5/2/2007...

14 member(s) found this review helpful.

This is a great book. It was difficult for me to read, because my sister died at the age of 14. Although she was not raped or murdered, it still gave an eerie perspective of the possibility that she may have watched us dealing with the grief and aftermath of her sudden and tragic death.

If you have lost a loved one at a young age, this is a difficult book, but you won't be able to put it down!

Ginny F. (Ginnyf) wrote on 9/22/2007...

12 member(s) found this review helpful.

This novel requires much suspension of disbelief, as it is written from the perspective of a child who had been brutally murdered, and who is watching what is happening to her family and friends from her own heaven. I couldn't put the book down, I was hooked from the first page.

Leigh R. (iwannaread) wrote on 6/2/2007...

10 member(s) found this review helpful.

Well, this was different. I almost put it down, because the beginning was just a little too much, but I perservered - perhaps because I forked out the money for a hardcover book (which I rarely do) and I'll have to say that while being somewhat freaky, it was a pretty good read. Her characters were interesting.

Glo G. (asunsetchaser) wrote on 7/7/2008...

9 member(s) found this review helpful.

Though this story dealt with horrid violence, it may leave the reader feeling a sense of... peace. I'm not sure if peace is the right word, or if there is another word that could define the feeling exactly. Whatever the word, it replaces the anger,the unfairness,the heartache that bubbles up after reading the first couple of chapters. Sebold slowly takes you by the hand and leads you through a tragedy of a young student and how it affects her family and friends. More remarkable, she lets you see it through the victim's eyes and heart. Great book, soon to be a movie in 2009.

Alyssa F. (afritt) wrote on 9/23/2007...

7 member(s) found this review helpful.

Written from the view of a dead girl in heaven looking down on her family. I actually read this book while in a Living, Death and Dying class. It was a WONDERFUL book!

Charlie M. (bookaddicted) wrote on 5/27/2007...

7 member(s) found this review helpful.

Perhaps it was all the hype about the book that made me expect something more from it. I felt it was flat and the characters just didn't seem fully developed. Maybe because it is written from the perspective of a 14 year-old and her lack of maturity colors the way she views her family as she looks at them from heaven.

Jessica P. (jpeeps) wrote on 5/1/2007...

7 member(s) found this review helpful.

I could not put this book down!! The kind of book that helps you to appreciate what you have in life.

Sharon C. (readfleur) wrote on 10/8/2007...

6 member(s) found this review helpful.

Found this book to be dark and troubling, even though I usually love mystery novels. Perhaps because it involves a child it was unsettling.

Tara R. (taratiara) wrote on 9/6/2007...

6 member(s) found this review helpful.

Loved it until the last couple of chapters where it got really stupid. The ending seems too easy. Sebold can do better.

IONE L. (zaneygraylady) wrote on 11/15/2007...

3 member(s) found this review helpful.

couldn't put it down


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Patricia P. (pcphibbs) wrote on 11/1/2009...


Hard to keep reading. Slow...but the store was good.

Liana L. wrote on 9/17/2009...


The best book I'd read in years. Total turn pager; couldn't put it down. Affects a person deeply. The ending gets a little far fetched, but otherwise excellent.

Natalie M. (natalie29) wrote on 7/15/2009...


An interesting perspective of a sad story. I really liked it.

Wendy J. wrote on 7/6/2009...


Perfect. Breaks your heart and exhilarates at the same time.

Carly R. (carlyroy) - Stephenville, TX wrote on 5/10/2009...


unlike anything i've ever read before. an amazing book

Kathleen L. (noisynora) wrote on 3/16/2009...


Fantastic - could not put it down . . . amazing read - I had a daughter this age when I read this book - made the subject matter a little more real.

Rosalyn KarmaEssence - Medina, OH wrote on 3/1/2009...


I loved this book!! Alice Sebold is awesome!!!! I couldn't put it down!!! Great read!!

Amber C. (amberlicious) wrote on 1/5/2009...


Great book, full of supense until the very end.

Sheryl V. (bibslady) wrote on 10/18/2008...


This review is from: The Lovely Bones: A Novel
Alice Sebold has written a remarkable debut novel. The narrator, Susie Salmon, was raped and murdered in 1973 and now resides in her heaven; yet, her voice contains none of the bitterness one would expect. She is able to see into the lives of those who touched her in life and death. At times wistful - for she will never be able to experience growing up - and others matter-of-fact, Susie witnesses the changes and growth within her family and small circle of friends. Her story is not one about death, but about loss and affirming life in its face, about moving on not only for those she left behind but for herself. The reader won't be able to escape the sadness in these pages - I came close to crying several times - but the overall tone is hardly grim. Because Susie is secure and happy in her heaven, she keeps the story full of light and optimism.

Karen A. (Kayloa) wrote on 11/11/2007...


Good book. Strange, due to the way the story is presented, but that's part of what made it interesting. However, the ending seemed a stretch, even for this book.


Book Wiki
Series
Original Publication Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
People/Characters
Susie Salmon (Primary Character)
Lindsay Salmon (Major Character)
Real Places
Fictional Places
Important Events