The Lovely Bones

Reader reviewed by hey there

The Lovely Bones is a book of a girls passion for life while she herself is dead and I thought it was amazing. To know what a dead person is thinking and experiencing is genius. No one really knows what happens before and after a murder and I liked that we knew in this book right away. I thought all the characters were very real and descriptive. Susie was my favorite character. She was different and bright, although I did not like the fact that she was stupid enough to let her curiosity get the better of her even when the warning bells went off in her head. I also liked the fact that Susie didnt completely dismiss her old life while in heaven. She watched life progress without her. Some may say thats bad since shes not moving on but I think that was her way of moving on. Watching and accepting life as she knew it helped her grow and understand the world she left. I thought the book was very good and I highly recommend it.

Reader reviewed by Sara E.

Absolutely by far one of my favorite books ever. Alice Sebold has such an amazing mind and her writing style is so unique. Despite the dark nature of this book, it really wasn't always all that depressing while reading it. In the beginning of the book you meet Susie Salmon, a young 14 year old girl, who is dead. She was raped and murdered by a man in her neighborhood, after which, she goes to "heaven". Susie's heaven isn't filled with her family members who have died, but other people she's never met. One of my favorite things is that her heaven smells of skunk. Most of the book isn't really about Susie though, it's about her family and friends, as she watches them live their life without her.

Reader reviewed by Hillary Krajewski

Susie Salmon was raped and murdered by her neighbor. She is now up in heaven watching all the people she knew. Her father, who is determined to find her killer. Her mother, who can't handle it as well as she should. Her sister, who keeps it to herself. Her brother, who doesn't really know what's happening. Ray, who had a crush on her while she had returned his affections. Ruth, who wanted to know what happened to her as well. The neighbors and classmates who can't believe something like that could happen where they live. And finally, Mr. Harvey, the one who murdered her. As her family and friends try to cope with the awful situation, Susie watches them.

I really enjoyed this book. It was exciting form the beginning and was so sad. It is such an amazing book, even if it is pretty old. I loved it. I would really recommend it for ANYONE to read.

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

In 1973, a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon is raped, murdered, and dismembered by a neighbor. Over the next few years she watches from a personalized heaven as her family and friends deal with their grief.



This is one of the most excellent novels I have read in a long time. The writing is really just incredible. The characters are very real. From the time of Susie Salmon's murder the wonderful novel progresses about 13 years. Sebold details of the pain that goes through each member of her family and friends in Susie's point of view. It's incredible how even though through the whole novel the narration stays with Susie, you still know what the others thoughts are.

Ms. Sebold has created a beautiful and dreadful story. Most of this novel just makes you want to cry and it makes you want to kill yourself because you feel like you can never really deal with what the characters in this tale. That's the dreadful part.

The beautiful part is the characters descriptions and the beauty of going through the lives through about 13 years and just knowing how much they have grown up from that terrible day in December of 1973. The ending was a beauty, too. I could not have made or described a better way to put it. Sebold leaves nothing out that makes you question, "What next?" But that does not mean that you will ever forget this beautifully crafted piece of work.

Being on The New York Times best seller list for over a year and having people trying to get the film rights for this novel before Sebold was even done, is an amazing achievement. I just want to say that I wish I would create a novel almost nearly this good once in my life...

...and I bet her other works are also amazing.

Reader reviewed by Mindy

This is a book that will first keep you up at night because you want to keep reading and second because once you read it you are haunted by the characters.

Sebold does a phenomenal job off drawing us in. I raced to find out whether Susie's family was ever going to recover and hoping that her killer would be caught!

Reader reviewed by Pat/Patsy

I have just begun to read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, but am already lost in it. It is one of the best of its kind I've ever read. It confirms my opinion that there is life after death. That we will meet our loved ones when we die.

Alice has a very keen imagination. It is a hard book to put down, but I have to, or I wouldn't get any sleep, or be able to get onto the Internet, to tell you what I think about the book.

The characters are very believable. You can almost see what they look like, by Alice's description of them.

This is an important book for all parents and teenagers to read. More books like this should be printed. I think it will make more people aware of the fact that there are people like Mr. Harvey in their neighborhoods, who pretend to be friends with children of all ages, when they are at the most vunerable ages. They get the kids to be friends, to trust them, then to murder them.

Susie's father seems to be psychic when it comes to Mr. Harvey. He seems to know that the man is not what he seems to be, even though the rest of the neighbors think he is harmless. Yes, he is harmless, just like a rattle snake. Waiting to strike at the most opportune moment. Opportune for him, but inopportune for the poor children.

I hope Ms. Sebold continues to write more books about the Salmon family. Even though we know Susie is gone, there still are her parents, her sister, and her brother. I would enjoy reading more about Susie, and how things go with her in Heaven. Will she ever get in touch with her family and friends?

Good work, Ms. Sebold, keep it up. I can't wait to read more of her books.

Reader reviewed by Emily

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, in my opinion, did not have one bad quality. Well maybe one, it ends. This book provides insight on a young girls journey, dealing with her death and the fact that the world is continuing. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

Reader reviewed by Jenny

This story is far the best book i've read so far. It's sad what happens to the main character. But you will love the way she talks about everyone in her family. She tells you and takes you to each of the people that took part in her life. Even her killer. She talks about what happend after she died, how everyone coped with it and how she wished they would find out who killed her. In a book of sadness she finds out stuff she never wished she sould of know. THis book is really good and i recomended to everybody to read. If anyone has everlost someone they have love. This book takes you in a little bit of what they might think after they died.

Reader reviewed by Val

There are certain books when a reader comes along and reads them that are so well written and amazingly told that it's almost hard to describe the novel. The reader wants to tell the whole world read this book because you'll like it! Well, I can't tell the whole world but if I can convince one person to read this book than that would be great because this book is almost indescribable. This novel tells the story of fourteen year old Susie Salmon who narrates the story from heaven as she tells of how her family and friends suffer and grow from her tragic death which was rape and murder from a nighbor. Susie watches helplessly as her family grows apart, grows closer, grows together cracked but not broken. She watches her kiler, pities him and grows to understand that her family and friends like her must move on.