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A review of The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

A young woman who has been murdered watches life go on from heaven above.

Reviewed by: Michael J. Griffin
About Michael J. Griffin

The Lovely Bones I'd been reluctant to read this book due to the subject matter, especially since my grandmother had passed away several weeks ago. My church youth network was going to start reading the book and discussing it in context to our faith, so I went ahead and bought the book. I'm glad that I did.

When I opened the book, it was with a palpable sense of dread. The book begins with the protagonist, Susie Salmon ("Just like the fish," she says) walking home, and is told from her first-person point of view. The second sentence was short, stark, and hit me like a punch: " I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Within a few pages, she meets the man who murders her and meets her fate. After that, the book goes into a roller-coaster of emotion that had me alternately gripping the book in frustration at what people are missing in their search for the killer to a truly heart-warming ending, while albeit a bit hokey, Sebold's fresh writing voice carries it through.

One thing that I had to do when reading this was set aside my preconceived notion of what heaven is like, because to let my vision of it collide with what Sebold sees is to detract from the overall structure of the novel. Salmon has friends in heaven and even has a mentor. She goes on to meet other people who have died at the hands of her killer, who is a very sick man.

She goes from place to place, to her home, where both her brother and sister are coping with her death in their own ways while her father becomes obsessed with finding her killer, which drives her mother to an ill-conceived affair. Add a supporting cast of a psychic friend, a boyfriend who she wishes to have a first-kiss with to an overbearing, alcoholic grandmother. She also checks in on her killer.

The story winds its way without becoming confusing as to who the cast of characters are, and I read the entire book in two days, and will most likely finding myself re-reading it in the upcoming weeks.

The best thing about this book? I think my grandmother would have enjoyed it as well.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: The Lovely Bones

Copyright © by Michael J. Griffin, 2002

Reviewed by Michael J. Griffin:
-- A Prayer For Owen Meany - by John Irving
-- The Secret History - by Donna Tartt
-- Tuesdays with Morrie - by Mitch Albom
-- The Lovely Bones - by Alice Sebold
-- She's Come Undone - by Wally Lamb
-- Rules of Prey - by John Sandford
-- Once More Around The Park - by Roger Angell
-- On Writing - by Stephen King
-- Dave Barry's Greatest Hits - by Dave Barry
-- The Christmas Train - by David Baldacci
-- Artemis Fowl - by Eoin Colfer
-- Prey - by Michael Crichton
-- Shrink Rap - by Robert B. Parker
-- Tricky Business - by Dave Barry
-- Hit Man - by Lawrence Block
-- Without Fail - by Lee Child
-- A Drink Before the War - by Dennis Lehane
-- The Day After Tomorrow - by Allan Folsom
-- I.Asimov - by Isaac Asimov
-- The Blue Nowhere - by Jeffery Deaver
-- Cryptonomicon - by Neal Stephenson
-- The Millionaires - by Brad Meltzer









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