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kadyofbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Alcoholism
that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The first 20 or so pages were good, the build up and introduction was shockingly gripping. Parts of this book was good overall, but then some of it was just so cringy and bad that It didn't really balance out with the good parts.
This book literally put me into a reading slump for a couple of months as I tried to drag myself through it thinking that the beginning was so good that surely it would get better. But nope, it somehow got worse.
Some of the writing is that which I would expect to see on accounts that feature men that write women badly, except instead, this is written by a woman.
I had high hopes, but the hopes were crushed and burned and buried by the end of this book.
This book literally put me into a reading slump for a couple of months as I tried to drag myself through it thinking that the beginning was so good that surely it would get better. But nope, it somehow got worse.
Some of the writing is that which I would expect to see on accounts that feature men that write women badly, except instead, this is written by a woman.
I had high hopes, but the hopes were crushed and burned and buried by the end of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
jazzjhg's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
quinn24's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
authorannafaundez's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
{Warnings for The Lovely Bones: sexual and physical violence}
The Lovely Bones is about moving on, both after death and for those who are still living and have experienced a death or trauma. Its message is sound and practical, and leads with a semi-omniscient narrator, Susie. The point of the book isn’t actually the murder; it’s the after. The family. The friends. How each person deals with the trauma and how much time it takes to be “okay” again.
I liked that aspect of the book most. Sebold does create relatable and imperfect characters who clash and grieve over long periods of time. As a reader, you get to see the little effects the death of the narrator had on the people around her.
Truthfully though, this book wasn’t my cup of tea, and I kind of had to make myself read it at certain points. It’s the type of slower drama that also tries to be a mystery, but you have all the answers already, so there’s no real stakes.
My biggest beef is with the ending, and it’s something I can’t make completely spoiler-free to talk about, so spoilers beyond the cut.
————————————————
I want to speak for a second about unfairness: Sebold does it well. The murderer is never caught; instead, he dies by complete accident. There is no justice here. The Lovely Bones has false accusations, ostracism, unfair beatings, affairs, and abandonment. It is real, it is gritty, and it is everything Susie wants now that she’s lost it.
But I’m not annoyed with any of that in the least. The realism of the living’s everyday is one of the only things that kept my attention while reading.
What is rather annoying is how Susie is finally able to let go and move on to actual heaven. Of course, the entire book centers around some magical realism, but Susie is never able to change what’s happening on Earth. She can’t affect anything. She has no control. Part of her life after death is being doomed to watch but never interact; some of these instances in the book actually help Susie understand and accept her circumstances.
The end suddenly gives her that control. In fact, Susie outright possesses another character and proceeds to use that girl’s body to have sex with her school girl crush before being pulled back to her heaven. For a character that was raped and brutally murdered, you’d think Susie would have some strong thoughts about consent. Not to mention the psychological trauma she would have from her experience. The whole set of pages in that section felt out-of-character and notably cheapens the entire novel.
On top of that, Susie doesn’t think to use her last few hours to check on her family? Say goodbye? Tell them she’ll be okay? Sure, Susie is forever fourteen years old, but the book indicates some level of maturation after death. To see that ripped from her the second she moves back into a physical body makes no sense in that Susie herself is the same person she’s been and grown into after she died.
In short, this book isn’t one I plan to pick up again anytime soon. Possibly ever.
~ Anna
Read more great book reviews on my site: https://annafaundez.com/blog/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
eulrch's review
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Rape
scottyreadsstuff's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This might've been a 5-star read if the author didn't include a couple of scenes that made me wonder how they were relevant to anything.
Edit: I just finished watching the movie adaptation of The Lovely Bones, and this is one of the few times where I can firmly state that the movie was better than the book! It's not perfect, but if anyone was vaguely interested in reading this novel, I'd point them to the movie instead.
Edit: I just finished watching the movie adaptation of The Lovely Bones, and this is one of the few times where I can firmly state that the movie was better than the book! It's not perfect, but if anyone was vaguely interested in reading this novel, I'd point them to the movie instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny
james1star's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
TW: this book mentions rape, murder, grief and loss of a child/sister, mental health among others.
From the get-go you are bombarded with the brutal and harrowing plot line that The Lovely Bones follows: a 14 year old girl in heaven is watching over her family and friends as they attempt to get to grips with her kidnap, rape, murder and dismemberment of her body by a neighbour. This graphic retelling is told and further alluded to throughout the book but the key themes penetrating the novel is how grief and the impact of Susie’s death has on those who knew her. The book is wholly from Susie’s POV up in heaven as she watched over all these people and how they get along with their lives without her. It is a rather slow-paced and character-focussed account as little happens but instead we try to understand people’s emotions and interactions. These all range from sad, depressing, tense, angry, harrowing, hopeful and many more. Obviously they are saddened by the loss of a daughter/sister/ love interest/acquaintance but we also are able to view this grief through each character’s lens. For example, Lindsey (Susie’s sister) is forced to take on more responsibility and is seen by many characters to be a replacement as such for her dead sister with the idea of having a ‘susie shadow’ which is referenced also in the father’s perspective. I believe this is done exceptionally well.
Sebold’s writing is very vivid and lifelike I’d say. She portrays very real characters and themes despite the central plot line being a girl in heaven (a contested place - if you can even call it that) and having some supernatural elements. I personally didn’t like this certain part in chapter 22 as was quite unexpected and unnecessary. However, I must admit the revelations Susie gains is a prominent message left to the reader. On this note of what we take from the book: before reading I was hoping to have a more ‘live in the moment’ attitude pronounced and to live every day to the fullest as we don’t know what will happen, but instead it didn’t give me this. I can’t quite articulate the impact of this book I guess it’s more a telling of the nuanced feelings and emotions that grief and loss of a loved one has on us. And for this, Sebold presents a hard to read account that eventually leads to a redemptive type of love. I really liked this part of the Daily Mail’s review that the authors “words are strung together like the most delicate of charm bracelets” which - if you read the book - are a returning message.
This was certainly a difficult book to read, wholly due to the content and graphic accounts of her murder and others committed by this man. But all in all it was written well, flawed but relatively loveable characters who do develop over time and a raw telling of the impact of grief. From not believing and hope she’ll come back through to acceptance and having to move on in a world without someone you love being there anymore. And likewise, from Susie’s viewpoint of letting your loved ones go no matter how much you want to come back to them and experience life again. Well written just with some personal ‘ehh’ moments. A solid 4 stars.
From the get-go you are bombarded with the brutal and harrowing plot line that The Lovely Bones follows: a 14 year old girl in heaven is watching over her family and friends as they attempt to get to grips with her kidnap, rape, murder and dismemberment of her body by a neighbour. This graphic retelling is told and further alluded to throughout the book but the key themes penetrating the novel is how grief and the impact of Susie’s death has on those who knew her. The book is wholly from Susie’s POV up in heaven as she watched over all these people and how they get along with their lives without her. It is a rather slow-paced and character-focussed account as little happens but instead we try to understand people’s emotions and interactions. These all range from sad, depressing, tense, angry, harrowing, hopeful and many more. Obviously they are saddened by the loss of a daughter/sister/ love interest/acquaintance but we also are able to view this grief through each character’s lens. For example, Lindsey (Susie’s sister) is forced to take on more responsibility and is seen by many characters to be a replacement as such for her dead sister with the idea of having a ‘susie shadow’ which is referenced also in the father’s perspective. I believe this is done exceptionally well.
Sebold’s writing is very vivid and lifelike I’d say. She portrays very real characters and themes despite the central plot line being a girl in heaven (a contested place - if you can even call it that) and having some supernatural elements. I personally didn’t like this certain part in chapter 22 as was quite unexpected and unnecessary. However, I must admit the revelations Susie gains is a prominent message left to the reader. On this note of what we take from the book: before reading I was hoping to have a more ‘live in the moment’ attitude pronounced and to live every day to the fullest as we don’t know what will happen, but instead it didn’t give me this. I can’t quite articulate the impact of this book I guess it’s more a telling of the nuanced feelings and emotions that grief and loss of a loved one has on us. And for this, Sebold presents a hard to read account that eventually leads to a redemptive type of love. I really liked this part of the Daily Mail’s review that the authors “words are strung together like the most delicate of charm bracelets” which - if you read the book - are a returning message.
This was certainly a difficult book to read, wholly due to the content and graphic accounts of her murder and others committed by this man. But all in all it was written well, flawed but relatively loveable characters who do develop over time and a raw telling of the impact of grief. From not believing and hope she’ll come back through to acceptance and having to move on in a world without someone you love being there anymore. And likewise, from Susie’s viewpoint of letting your loved ones go no matter how much you want to come back to them and experience life again. Well written just with some personal ‘ehh’ moments. A solid 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Self harm
mallory10100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
god this was so sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Medical content, Child death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Stalking
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Self harm
wow 😭😭😭theoceanrose's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual assault and Abandonment