Compelling, Brilliant Book. Well Worth The Read (Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold)

Member Name: DixieChick101

Product:	Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Date:	18/06/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very good story.

Disadvantages: The ending, and some parts of the book did not keep me completley interested

The book was published back in 2002, and the reason I even brought the book in the first place was because of a review on this site. I had read that it was a very good book and the plot explanation that I had read on the site really appealed to me. I probably bought the book back about 3 or 4 months ago now, and have yet to pick it up off my shelf, the cover is not the most inviting and doesn't really give anything away to the plot.

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The Plot
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The book follows Susie Salmon, a young 14 year old girl who is walking home from school, and bumps into her neighbour Mr Harvey. He seems nice enough, so when he tells her he's made a hole in the earth, her curiosity gets the better of her and she goes to investigate with Mr Harvey hot on her heels. When inside though, she learns that this hut is for show, and Mr Harvey, the neighbour all of the kids have been wary of, has brought her here under false pretences and begins to not only rape her, but murder her as well.

Susie's life however does not end there, the entire book is told from her perspective as she watches down over her family, her friends and even her murderer as he continues to live opposite her parent's house. Her father begins to think that Mr Harvey knows something about his daughter's death, but everyone else thinks he is still mourning for his daughter and is looking for someone to pay.

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My Opinion
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I didn't know what to expect with the book, it wasn't the best book I've ever read by a long haul, however it was enjoyable, and I even stayed up until half one this morning trying to end it.

I think for me in the first paragraph the book had me hooked when Susie said 'don't think every person you're going to meet in her is going to be a suspect'. I read and watch quite a lot of thrillers, and I was expecting to have to use my brain with this book to work out who the killer was however like Susie says, she knows her killer, she now has to wait for the people on earth to find out as well.

First things first, even though the book is not got too much violence or bloody scenes in, there is a very vague written scene about rape and there are some suggestions to do with body parts and a lot of kissing within the book. Because of this I would be very reluctant to give it to someone younger really than the age of 13-14 as I'm not sure that, one, they'll enjoy it, or two, be able to cope with these particular scenes.

Alice Sebold is an author that I've heard absolutely nothing about in my life, I've never heard her name until I read a review on this book and even then I forgot it afterwards. I think her writing style is very good, she kept me intrigued throughout the whole book and even though I wasn't enjoying it as much as I thought I would, I had to sit there and finish it.

If you're worried about Susie's narrating it from heaven and the book having billions and thousands of religious undertones then don't, I don't think she mentions God once, and heaven seems to be different for each person that is there, this is one of the reasons why I thought the book was quite nice.

I think the book is meant to be for older teenagers and young adults, it really does manage to put so much different genre's into the book, it is very hard to place it within on clique as it has romance, mystery, emotion. I am a bit different than the other people who have read this book however, I found cheated at the end of the book and found that at points, I was really beginning to skim half of the book as parts did drag on and on a bit. I think that is the only criticism I have of the book, otherwise it was very enjoyable to read and I thought the style of the book was just fantastic.

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Final Opinion
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You can get the book for just under a fiver on amazon and exactly a fiver on play.com, but I'm sure you can get it much cheaper on EBay sites or something like that. It is a very good book, I was a bit put off by the cover to start with as I thought I was reading a mystery story, however when you get through the book you realise the cover is perfect, with the lightness used of the cover and the charm bracelet. It wasn't a perfect book, as there were problems I had with certain scenes and struggling to stay awake during them, but other than that it is well worth reading. You're not getting a depressing read, it's nice overall. It's just a shame the ending wasn't good enough for me as well.

(C) 2009

Summary: See Review