Reviews

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

remia1996's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

kpounce's review

5.0

This book was very well written and it wasn’t what I expected at all when I started it. It left me with a feeling of a story that is complete, and I don’t feel that often.

tigerxwasp's review against another edition

3.0

I have to say that for such a depressing subject this was a story that was very uplifting. I enjoyed the characters and didn't find my interest waning, saying that I can't put my finger on why but I was disappointed with the ending slightly.

lucindapearson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

sarawildoosen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Violence

ellennewall's review against another edition

5.0

devastating. the ending with ray and ruth was a bit dodge but amazingly written

midwifereading's review

3.0

Her writing style is gorgeous, and I loved the lilting prose. The premise was intriguing, and there was enough detail left out that I could tolerate the storyline. Violence against children is incredibly disturbing to me, and I picked up this book after watching the movie, knowing that I might not be able to finish it because of that factor.

She does a good job drawing you into the story without adding unnecessary detail. I felt her depiction of grief over the loss of a child and sibling in a family was realistic. My heart broke over and over for her parents. I felt angry at her mom for the decisions she made, though I understood why she did what she did. I felt horrible for her dad and little brother, and admiration for her sister.

I didn't love the book, though, and one scenario nearly ruined it for me.

****SPOILER ALERT****

There is one scene in which the main character, Susie, essentially "possesses" another female character's body temporarily, so she can have sex with the boy she had a crush on at the time of her own murder. I found that scene didn't contribute to the story at all. In any way. It was very "meh."

rozenaut's review

2.0

The book wasn't bad, really - it kept me interested throughout. Telling the story from the point of the view of the victim was different and kind of neat. Unfortunately the ending left me feeling deflated and as if I'd wasted my time. There was no justice. Cosmic justice, perhaps, but not very satisfying. It shows that life goes on, which is true to real life, I suppose, but real life is kind of miserable sometimes and I don't want to spend my time reading a book that leaves me feeling kind of bad and hopeless about that real life.

vanessa_12's review

2.0

2.5 ⭐️

would’ve been three but removed half a star for the scene of ray & susie towards the end of the book

livrawds's review

4.0

beautiful really but I have my reservations I may re read this to get more understanding but I don’t love THAT scene with Ray wasn’t needed However I love the real ness of this book and the teenage innocence of Susie shown in her character and perspective I love that there’s an in depth of the family and the kind of unsurprisingly wholesome feeling it leaves you with