Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
File Size: 433 KB
Print Length: 352 pages
Availability: Kindle | Print
Genre: Literary Fiction
Blurb:
When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn’t happen. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief, her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor and begin the difficult process of healing. In the hands of a brilliant novelist, this story of seemingly unbearable tragedy is transformed into a suspenseful and touching story about family, memory, love, heaven, and living.
My Thoughts:
I had high hopes for this one, but I just couldn’t finish it. The pacing was so inconsistent, that I found myself bored and skimming whole pages. What started with impact fizzled too quickly and my attention wandered, ultimately leaving me with a strong sense of detachment – I couldn’t feel anything for the characters or their situation anymore, not even for Susie, the victim of a horrible rape and murder. In the end, I wasn’t willing to keep plodding through it, so I put it down about halfway through. This definitely wasn’t the read for me.
ETA:
Since writing the above review, I have read other reviewers, on Amazon and on Goodreads, who did finish the book and provided spoilers for the ending. I am relieved that I didn’t make it that far because that type of ending would have left me feeling angry and disgusted. I am so glad I didn’t stick around long enough for all that.
Rating: 
