Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Lovely Bones

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

11 reviews

pumpkinmasterug's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Not the best novel I’ve read, but definitely not the worst. It presents grief through a range of perspectives and is definitely dark and uncomfortable at several points. I enjoyed majority of the book, however

the possession scene spoiled the tone of it all for me, especially since the argument for Susie sleeping with her crush instead of tracking down her killer is her reclaiming what was taken from her during her murder, but after she hopes her father dies to be in heaven with her TWICE she let’s her family suffer in grief when she could’ve caught her killer or unveiled the location of her body and helped them. Of course that would’ve been very cliche so I understand why Seabold avoided this, but it just made Susie come across very selfish and quite unlikeable.

It’s a bit corny in some places and I don’t think the writing style will suit everyone, and some of the characters are so flat and predictable they read more like AI trying to blend in than actual human beings, but I honestly didn’t mind that too much in this case. Overall though, it’s a good read with a hopeful message and I did enjoy it for the most part.

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deshanejt's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The premise was dark, heartbreaking and sweet; The reality was, almost halfway thru the book, the plot seemed lost to me.

Painstakingly, you watch the family struggle to accept their grief while a community never stops moving forward.

I guess the message the author wanted to leave us with would be life goes on. Remembering those you've lost along the way doesn't have to be painful... Lastly, it's a stark reminder, that justice isn't always served, but monsters still meet their end.

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elektra_xo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Couldn't put it down!!! Very emotional and dark. Love that it has a 'true crime feel' to it. I could read this over and over

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eelizard's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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leeshisreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I wished to complain about how the ending doesn’t fulfil me. But I can’t, because life isn’t fair- it isn’t perfect, and therefore I cannot sit here and complain for an unrealistic perspective. Susie Salmon is a cool, compassionate and genuinely kind character- her personality so intrinsically sewn into her narration that I struggle to come to terms with the fact that she is not real. And I believe Sebold had a similar experience in what must be the best, most heartfelt afterward I have ever read:

“Susie has turned out to be more powerful than I could ever be. I may have created Susie Salmon, but I hold no doubt that it is the act of letting her go that redeems me.”

Overall, it was beautiful- i didn’t like the relationship between Samuel and Lindsay to begin with, but I will blame that on the sisterly bond I felt with her- this underlying need to protect her, just like Susie. It only increases my love for the book more that it was able to make me feel such a way.

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juleskr02's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

i wanted to love this book. i really did. however beautiful the beginning and end were, what filled the middle section of the novel moved at such an odd pace i found myself often bored and uninterested. alice sebold is able to connect heaven and earth in such a unique fashion, which is fun to read about. however, i wasn’t a fan of her vernacular and use of run-on sentences, as they left me often confused.

i have always loved the movie, but this is one book where i enjoyed the movie adaptation a lot better than the novel. i think the murder was so well written, but it happened so quickly, that everything that came after it had so much unmet potential in terms of entertaining writing.

i will say though the middle chunks of the book were quite dull, i enjoyed experiencing ruth’s and ray’s relationship and their conversations about susie, as well as the family dynamic after losing a member. there were many highlights but not enough to save the overall enjoyment of this novel.

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