It’s the supporting characters that make this book so memorable. Her distracted mother with the ocean eyes, her friend Ruth who’s soul she continues to touch from her heaven; her eccentric alcoholic grandma Lynn; her brilliant sister Lindsey; but most poignant of all her father Jack Salmon who just doesn’t know how to let go of his little girl. Imaginative, original, thoughtful; just a great story.

"Our only kiss was like an accident- a beautiful gasoline rainbow.”

What a great story! It is easy to see why this book was made into a cracking film.

3.75/5

This could have been four stars, if only it had a better ending! Gosh. I didn’t like that ending. It didn't answer everything I wanted to know. Regardless, I’m glad that I finally read this so I can say that it was better than the movie!

One of the best things about this book was the first chapter. It grabs your attention and makes you sympathize with Susie (I mean, that scene was pretty horrible). And while I don’t always appreciate being thrown into an intense scene, I liked how well written it was; it's a rare occasion where I'll say the book was better because of the way it started.

Some other aspects/characters that I liked were: Lindsey and Samuel (they are honestly such a wonderful couple), Ray, Ruth and Susie’s dad. Really, I could also talk about how Sebold wrote this novel (with flashbacks and scenes in the future), because it was brilliantly done and fit in perfectly with the whole story.

Overall, I want to write more, however I’m really tired right now. So I’ll end with saying that if you want to read a book with thriller aspects, suspicion, including wonderful characters and real family/neighborhood situations, this is something you ought to read!

Let me start this off by saying that I really wanted to like this book. Although the subject of a little girl being brutally raped and murdered is extremely disturbing I thought it would be interesting to read about her in the afterlife as she watched her family try to solve her murder.


There is not much that I can even say without giving things away, but I did not like this book at all. I still had about 50 pages to go before I stopped reading this, and I may go back and finish it, but for now I just couldn't take any more.


Everyone knows I am usually really into dark and disturbing books, but reading about her family moving on and knowing that the killer was right there was just something I could not handle. I felt very bored at certain parts too, and found my mind wandering, but I'm not sure if the book was genuinely boring or if my mind just wanted to escape the thoughts of it.


About the rating. I did not give this one star because I felt it was a poorly written book or even a bad book. I know quite a few people who loved this book, and think of it as a 5 star gem, and I can understand why. It just wasn't for me.

i don't know who let me read this book at the age of 14, but i did it.

doesn't that kind of explain a lot about who i am today?

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago

Storia di lutto, storia di chi rimane. Ma anche una storia dall’oltretomba. I primi capitoli scoppiettano, sono densi, incalzanti. La voce narrante è quella di Susie, ragazzina 14enne che nelle prime pagine racconta con grande aplomb di come sia stata stuprata e uccisa, il cadavere smembrato e gettato in una discarica. Nonostante l’impatto terrificante di un incipit del genere, si riceve una certa sensazione di leggerezza grazie al tono della voce di Susie, di cui resta impressa la vitalità di ragazza-bambina sopra all’orrore della sua dipartita.

Una delle particolarità del libro è proprio questa voce narrante, perché Susie parla in prima persona ma è anche narratrice onnisciente, in grado di farci conoscere l’intimità dell’animo di tutti gli altri personaggi. La prima parte del romanzo gioca sui contrasti tra la luminosità della famiglia di Susie, la tragicità dell’evento e l’oscurità dell’assassino.

Come dicevo, è una storia di lutto e della sua elaborazione, raccontata attraverso gli occhi della cara estinta. La prima parte del romanzo può far pensare di avere tra le mani un thriller con elementi sovrannaturali, ma non è così. Il libro è un’altra cosa, e ha la pecca di non chiarire bene a priori che promessa stia facendo al lettore. Io stessa mi sarei aspettata qualcosa di diverso, dal suo sviluppo; uno sprofondamento nel male, data l’inclusione del pedofilo serial killer nel coro dei personaggi. La vicenda dell’assassino è un elemento effettivamente presente lungo l’arco narrativo, ma in misura molto contenuta. Il personaggio è funzionale a mantenere un margine di suspense in un racconto sulla perdita che potrebbe altrimenti scoraggiare i lettori; rappresenta anche una falsa pista, il red herring del significato complessivo: ti faccio pensare che il libro parlerà di vendetta, ma in realtà è una storia di accettazione della propria condizione (tanto per la morta, quanto per i sopravvissuti).

L’elemento sovrannaturale è in bilico tra l’onirico e il religioso. Il luogo in cui si trova Susie si chiama “Cielo” (“Heaven”), è una specie di paradiso dove non si contempla Dio, ma la vita sulla terra; ma è anche un luogo di passaggio, quindi forse un purgatorio, o un limbo, dove le anime dei defunti attendono di essere pronte per lo stadio successivo (la contemplazione?). Insomma, mi è sembrato sotto sotto un po’ cristiano, in un’accezione più new age. Eppure, da un lato funziona, con la sua idea delle persone morte che restano al fianco di quelle vive finché ce n’è bisogno; i morti che non muoiono mai nel ricordo e nell’affetto; anche se, dall’altro verso, l'idea è descritta in modo un po’ stucchevole.

Mi ha ricordato un romanzo come The Leftovers (Svaniti nel nulla) di Tom Perrotta, un’opera più recente che, come Amabili resti, parla soprattutto dell’elaborazione del lutto attraverso alcuni elementi fantastici. In entrambi i casi, le idee sono buone, i romanzi sono scritti in modo dignotoso, ma manca un plot forte a puntellare il tutto. Amabili resti è comunque una lettura piacevole, forse un po’ noiosa sulla lunga durata delle sue 300 pagine. Sullo stesso tema, qualcuno troverà più interessante una serie tv come Les Revenants, consigliatissima, dove il linguaggio conturbante dell'horror serve a parlare di come non riusciamo a lasciar andare i morti, e loro non riescano a lasciar andare noi.

I don't often see a movie made from a book before I read the book. It's kind of a thing with me since I often like the book better than the movie and I don't want the film to ruin my reading experience. In the case of The Lovely Bones, I saw the movie long before I read the book. When the book came out, I was of an age when I wasn't reading much for pleasure, and what I was reading was Stephen King. Any voice that wasn't his didn't suit me. What can I say? I was twenty. Everything felt circular to me at that age.

I loved the film, The Lovely Bones; as I recall, audiences and critics both enjoyed it. I looked forward to the book all the more. (And yet it still took me fifteen years to read it!) But I was disappointed. The movie took the very best of the book-- which was the general concept of the heaven and the ghost-narrated story-- and maximized them. The book itself struggled with these amazing, even brilliant elements. I also have a number of character complaints, but they pale next to the criticism I just offered.

I do not recommend this book to fans of the film. If you haven't seen the film and you're forgiving of a messy style, you might really like this nontraditional ghost story. I give this a generous three stars for its ingenuity and cleverness, which were enough to make me finish the book.

It is, after all, a really good idea! Stay healthy out there, everyone <3

The Lovely Bones is the story of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon, who is brutally raped and murdered by her next door neighbor Mr. Harvey; then, she finds herself in heaven, where she watches how her family is affected by the repercussions of her death.

I'm not certain how people found The Lovely Bones to be an enjoyable read. There were some good bits, but nothing extraordinary. What made me want to read the book was the intriguing first person narrative of a dead girl from heaven; and yet, throughout the story the voice of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon is reminiscent of an under developed, abysmal version of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. There simply was no emotion whatsoever, which made the entire book fall flat.

I can probably count on one hand how many touching moments there were in the book. They were far and in between, with most of the book dragging... and dragging... and dragging. Most of the plot was just boring, really. And there was one part at the end (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it) that was just bizarre.

Eh. I'm thoroughly disappointed with The Lovely Bones, but it seems that everyone has varied opinions on it. If you liked the movie I would give the book a shot.

After reading Lucky by Alice Sebold and really enjoying it, I was very interested in reading this. For me the premise of the book was intriguing and I thought the book held a lot of promise it's just the delivery was just a little off for me. Some things too weird to even get into here.

My main gripe is with the writing it just felt so inconsistent and the plot became ludicrous at times. There's no denying she writes beautifully but then on a different page the writing is clunky and plainly awful. The inconsistency is maddening. It made the reading experience more a chore that I would have liked. The ending at least felt satisfactory but it didn't make me want to rush in reading it. I felt like I was plodding along, somewhere like where Susie was trapped, suspended in obliqueness. Although the theme of this book did leave an impact and you really feel the different types of grief, how each family member had their own unique way of dealing with Susie's death. It was genuinely sad at times and I was glad to have had rests in between reading it.

the first chapter is pretty impressive: a perfectly captured voice, a suspenseful and disturbing narrative, a jarring end. overall that first part was a moving and challenging experience. the rest of the novel is less impressive, but there is an originality to it that was appealing. the First Person Omniscient perspective has been remarked upon in many reviews - and it does make this book a rather unusual experience. that personalized omniscience creates an at-times annoying quirkiness, but also some pretty wonderful moments, particularly in the noting of various small details - the kind of details that tell you all about a person, the emotions they are wrestling with, what their life story is all about.

but what i found most interesting about Lovely Bones was perhaps not as intentional - namely, the very distancing blandness of our sorta-heroine's voice. if this child had lived, she may have grown up to be ann beattie or margaret diehl or joan didion. her emotional range is not one of many peaks and valleys, it is rather a pleasant flatline. that detachment, that even-handedness, that smoothness... it is a bit strange, a bit creepy. what in the world are they taking up there in heaven, some kind of mega-strength prozac or valium? the afterlife sounds like my exact cup of tea: a place to idly contemplate the lives of those we lived with - but no anxious worrying, no getting unduly agitated or emotional. how relaxing!

there was one key part that i did not care for at all, perhaps enough to dock a star off of this one: the unappealing possession-cum-fantasy sex scene at the end. ugh. it is hard to complain about such a scene not being "realistic", but it just did not feel real to me - well at least the feelings of the two living people involved did not make emotional sense. also, sad to say, it reminded me of the demi moore-makes out with-whoopi goldberg-who is possessed by-patrick swayze scene from Ghost... and that is never a good thing.

I kind of cheated as I watched the movie first and then picked up the book. I'm surprised by the low reviews as I felt this book was excellent. I believe people forget that this book was written through the POV of a fourteen-year-old girl.

n   My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood.n

This book was heart wrenching and at times very dark. But it felt so real and I loved it.

I have an awkward relationship with this book to say the least.

I don't read a lot of murder mystery contemporaries (is that what it is?) so I couldn't really be the judge of how well that concept was portrayed, but I do know that I still couldn't wedge it deep enough into my interest level.
That's not to say that this book wasn't interesting. There were a few things that were slightly intriguing, but they just couldn't hold me for long.

The Lovely Bones is about a girl, Susie Salmon, who was raped and killed and now watches the aftermath of her death from heaven. The plot does not go in any one continuous direction, but rather bounces around from time periods throughout Susie's life to recap memories. The idea the author had in mind was unique, but I did not like it. The atmosphere of the story is ominously twisted.

Now, now, whoever may be reading this, I know murder mysteries are supposed to be that way. But the thing is, Susie as well as the reader know fully well who the killer is- we even get to see inside his mind at points. Because of that there was less mystery and more frustration. Most of my frustration was towards the side characters in general. Though this may be a work of fiction, nothing in this book felt natural.

I can sort of see where it's going, and I don't want to put in the effort to finish. I DNFed at page 145 or so. I've got better things to read.

EDIT:

So. I looked at the reviews. I saw the ending.

And boy, oh, boy am I glad that I didn't finish! What the helheim kind of ending is that???

I don't know about you, but this goes against all my beliefs about heaven. And I don't know what kind of messed up character development Sebold thought she was doing, but basically turning Susie into her rapist and killer, George Harvey, is super messed up.

Family broken apart comes back together? Cliché and obvious.

But that other ending? *shudders* I'll give her one thing, I didn't see that coming. But SOOOO messed up.

Save yourselves. Please don't read this.