Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Lovely Bones

Okay, why the hell did I think this was a young adult book?? I swear that it was mis-shelved at my library growing up because what was I doing reading this as a pre-teen??? I was just in love with this. It moved me and disgusted me and made me feel for these characters like entire whole people. Emotions are extremely complicated, as is grief. And there are so many beautiful lines in here. What a triumph of a novel about how survival is the most innate human urge. I wish I could speak in beautiful words like Ms. Sebold.

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pumpkinmasterug's review against another edition

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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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mysimas's review against another edition

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dark hopeful sad slow-paced

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

1.5

And I thought that terrible sex scene from Stephen King’s It couldn’t be topped… Haha, how naive! (Of course I’m not referring to Susie’s murder, talking about the other, supposedly positive scene…)

Anywho, this book is overall weirdly obsessed with sex. Also it features a questionable lesbian and Asian representation (the Asians are fetishized, the lesbian sort of enjoys sex with a guy).

The characters are flat like a board, and there’s not really any plot — the murder isn’t being solved, it’s just about the family dealing with the grief in a series of disjointed scenes that generally don’t have much emotional impact, not to mention the rapid and massive time skips in the last third of the book. Also there’s nearly no cool or spooky ghost scenes. So much potential, unrealized.

Would round up to two stars if pressed because there were moments that I liked

(the group therapy in heaven, the strong if grim beginning, the positiveness of Lindsey and Sam’s relationship…)

and also I do feel kinda good about finishing a book in German. :)

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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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