The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: Not What I Expected
Review: This book was good. I found it to be well written. But, what I liked most of all, it was creative. It was a surprise. It was not what I expected. For a book that I expected to be a light read, it was quite hard and heavy. On the other hand, I took another reviewer's recommendation after finishing "The Lovely Bones" and went on to read another creative book, "West Point" by Remick, and, for a book that I expected to be a heavy read, it was a surprise also --- quite easy and lighthearted. I recommend both.

Rating:
Summary: Read It
Review: It WAS a quick read . . .because the characters were well drawn, three dimensional, and engaging. You know a book is good when you get mad at characters for making stupid choices, worried that a character will get hurt, and hope that the characters will be able to work things out in the end. I disagree justice was not served -- it was, just not in the Hollywood sense. Interesting and thoughtful perspective on the grief process told from a different point of view.

Rating:
Summary: I'm obsessed
Review: this is the best book i have ever read in my whole life..i'm obsessed with this book and i loved it to death. it is my all time favorite book and i LOVED ITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! omg i wish there was more

Rating:
Summary: Astonishingly Overhyped
Review: I guess you either love or hate this book. When I see the stacks and stacks ... - one sure sign of the new author's rite of passage - I marvel at the marketing power of the book industry. The book is deceiving, with its theme, concept, and moral/ethical stance. And what a marvelous premise. As a single mom of an 11-yr-old girl, I think about this sort of thing constantly. Unfortunately, what starts out so promising fizzles like a cheap firework snake. The heaven scenes were laughable (why all the forced "Heaven" geography?), the family dynamics played out like a worn out soap opera, and the ending was so contrived it almost made me hurl. (And that bathtub scene - shamelessly stolen from "Ghost.") Fortunately I only wasted an afternoon and a trip to the library (something told me not to spend any money on this one). Sebold: bag the fiction and stick to memoir.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely Read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Wonderful, detailed writing puts you in the scene. I truly felt for this fictional girl. The story of her family's breakdown and eventual rebuilding over a terrible event was very real - not overly dramatic, not glossed over. While the story centers on a young girl, every member of her family had an engrossing story. I was rooting for them all, and the ending is satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful but so sad
Review: I loved this book! It's beautifully written with believable characters and a real sense of what loss can mean to the living. I cried an entire plane trip, not just as I finished reading it but afterwards when I thought about it. I hope that anyone who has lost someone reads it and feels accompanied. I loved Ruana and Grandma, made me wish I was closer to home.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly told!
Review: This is a must read. Alice Sebold does a brilliant job of detailing the grief process. I loved this book!

Rating:
Summary: What Am I Missing Here?
Review: I couldn't wait to begin reading and had expectations of a great book, engrossing and compelling. After only a few chapters, I realized this book wasn't going to be the "literary find" I was hoping for; I had to force myself to read a few chapters each evening and was determined to make it all the way through. Needless to say, I was disappointed; I really can't find anything good to say about the book. I feel as though I wasted many hours trudging through it with the hope that the ending would be worth the time. Again, sorry - the ending was just as disappointing as the rest of the story. Good thing I didn't pick it to read while on vacation. . .

Rating:
Summary: Spirit of Justice
Review: Susie Salmon murdered at age fourteen narrates the story of her family as they deal with the aftermath of her death. A heart-wrenching story that keeps you turning page after page in search of resolution. She shares the details of her after-life and the loss that she feels for her own youth. Alice has incredible descriptions of the dispute between holding on and letting go. I felt that the ending was anticlimatic, but Alice has amazing potential. I think that she fell into some great commercial success, but the book is overrated. A predictable, but good read! Just try to have realistic expectations before reading and you will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: didn't do it for me
Review: I read the first few chapters and wasn't at all involved. The 14 year old didn't seem like a 14 year old. Heaven didn't seem like much of a heaven. Trying to give it a chance, I continued on. Never did any of the characters touch me in any way...Never did I really care. Never did I forget that I was reading a book and that it seemed to be tedious at that. ..Finally, 3/4 of the way thru I gave up and gave it away.

I want a novel to surround me, involve me. I hate the feel of required reading and there was nothing here to make me feel otherwise.