Rating: 
Summary: Ignore anyone who says this book is bad!
Review: This book is one of the most eloquently written books I have ever read! The prose is so vivid and loaded with imagery that you can see it all in your minds-eye. The narrator is refreshing, especially in the way that, while she never grows old, she does grow up. The lessons learned hold true to many things you learn on the road to adulthood (though learning to deal with your death is hopefully not!). The story held my attention throughout the entire length of the book, never boring me. I feel that many who don't like this book have just yet to fully understand or open themselves up to what it is saying. I honestly believe that this is one of the best books written in a long time. From a writers point of view, I don't see how anyone could believe that just anyone could have written this. The loaded language and enticing narrator are things that are very original. It's a new twist on an old subject (murder)-refreshing in a world where it seems that sometimes there isn't any talent left out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Untouched By An Angel
Review: The much-heralded framing device of "The Lovely Bones" -- a narration by a 14-year-old murder victim -- would serve this ambitious novel better if the character of Susie wasn't oddly modeled on the wise, kind and omniscient angels so familiar from film and television. No teenaged girl was ever so knowing or brave, so stridently NOT a victim of violent crime. She is a combination of ghost, angel, avenger and poltergeist, and fills none of these roles credibly. Susie's preternatural insights and interventions from her highly personal heaven on high are, however, compelling reading. It is impossible to believe in this heroine, but it is also difficult to put the book down. Unfortunately, what creative power Ms. Sebold has is expended two-thirds of the way into the novel and it ends on a note so false and bathetic that it fairly screams "Lifetime Movie of the Week."
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Tale of the After Life of a Young Murdered Girl
Review: The story begins with Susie Salmon in heaven looking down on her family, friends and murderer after she is lured into a makeshift cave on a snowy December afternoon and brutually raped and murdered.What the author describes is a haunting and chilling story of Susie watching, from her own personal heaven, her family in the days, weeks, months and years after her death trying to cope, remember and forget. Suzie's family is torn apart when her dad is obsessed with finding Suzie's killer and her mother wants to shut the door on the past and forget. The Lovely Bones is a sad coming-of-age story for Suzie as she follows her year younger sister and "lives" all the life experiences she missed out on. As Suzie and her family accept her death and realize she won't be coming home the book and the characters are able to finally find peace.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: Wow- I loved this book. I thought it was truly amazing- and I disagree with a lot of the reviews that others have posted. I read this in the airport and on a plane and was completely lost in it. I was actually crying. I loved Susie and her family. I actually didn't think it ended to happily- there seemed to be a lot wrong with everyone.... I'd say judge for yourself- a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: A narrative from heaven
Review: I finished this story at 2:30 this morning. I was close to the end and wanted to finish the story. Ok... here's the deal: Suzie is murdered and narrates to the reader how those closest to her cope with her death. She has a unique perspective; she tells her story from her heaven. In many ways, her description of life in heaven is comforting yet practical. Suzie addresses her longing for those she left behind on earth and her frustration at not being able to fully connect with them. The author, Alice Sebold, paints vivid characters in her story and one cannot help but develop affinity and angst for those described. In and amongst the depictions, there are a series of "little happy endings" and real responses to grief, anger, and abandonment. Suzie celebrates her sister's successes and supports her brother's struggles to accept what has happened. She worries for her father and largely leaves her mother to her own devices. She longs for Ray and she watches Ruth. Largely, her narrative is light, humorous, and entertaining. She is never morose, never macabre. Yet, after the climax of the story, Sebold lapses into cliche and her characters lose their vibrant multi-dimensional personaliities and lapse into cardboard characters who respond predictably.
Rating:
Summary: Great & different read!
Review: I am always reading Stephen King, James Patterson, and Patricia Cornwell. I enjoyed this book because, while it still included some dark subject matter (in this case, rape and murder), it was a hopeful book. I enjoyed the refreshing perspective, and I think that the writing itself was wonderfully descriptive. I would highly recommend this one if you feel like you've been reading the same sort of novel again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Not everyone's cup of tea
Review: Susie Salmon is ripped from her family by violence at the age of fourteen. The story is told from her point of view looking down on the world from heaven. After putting herself back together she watches as her family grieves, the man who killed her goes on with life and watches her sister and brother grow up. The first two thirds of this book kept my attention as we watch her family pick up the pieces and move on with life. Her father is
consumed with the need to find the man who killed his daughter and bring justice to Susie. Her mother is an unlikeable character as she compromises the investigation by becoming friendly with the lead detective and then leaving home. Her brother copes best
by just pretending Susie was never here and leads a good life. Her sister is where the focus shifts and became the downfall of this book. If Sebold would of not aged the characters so many years and had a more realistic ending this book would of been a 10.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but can't offer an overwhelming endorsement.
Review: This was a terrific book from the standpoint of having a grabbing premise, interesting Point of View, and loved the overall themes. Really a more innovative approach than I had anticipated. But I felt the characters, aside from Susie, were as stereotypical as they come in the case of a grieving family. This caused me some difficulty in 'sticking with' the story, because near the end, it was as if it dawned on the author that she had to come up with an ending...so when her tone shifts...you don't really have enough of an attachment to the characters and it just ends kind of strangely, given the strong start. I would recommend this, but marginally. It's a good read, but does have it's disappointing spots.
Rating:
Summary: In and out
Review: This novel has some great moments and endeavors to be touching, but in the end there is a corniness that permeates this novel. For a girl who died at 14 her narratives are steeped with a wisdom of the ages that is out of place. The way the violence erupts from a kindly neighbor in this friendly town hits a high dramatic note early that is not sustained and I thought it would've been better if the killer were not known to the reader as she steers the investigation along, because it took a lot of the interest out of it for me.
Rating:
Summary: I finished yesterday and the characters are still with me ..
Review: I loved this book. I was drawn in immediately and my mind stayed on the book and its characters even when I wasn't reading! The book resulted in deep thoughts about the after life, appreciation for the present and regrets. The author did a wonderful job. I'd highly recommend this to anyone and I plan to read it again.
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