Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Lovely Bones

Lovely, but so very sad. It was interesting to follow Susie's pov even if she was already dead when the story started. The people around her and her death were intensely interesting, and felt so very real. So human.

Must say that I was boiling over when Mr Harvey got away even after everyone knew it was him who'd killed Susie, and hurt so many more. I wish I could've strangled him, or that someone in the story would've done so. Alas. Sometimes there is no satisfying conclusion, no proper justice.

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roveronez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

The begining is very disturbing, then it gets interesting, then it gets WTF??? The story starts stretching indefinitely, it becomes a bit hard to follow some events as the author takes her sweet time to continue some parts left suspended, and then close to the end some very nonsense things take place and I wondered "why put this in the story?". The whole thing with Susie and Ruth and Ray next to the end was just unnecessary and weird and it spoiled the book for me. What started off as a strong yet difficult topic to swallow became a nonsense by the end. I'm really frustrated by how things evolve in the last third of the book. What a shame...

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I saw the movie years ago and remember it differently than the book. So some of the content was surprising to me. I’m undecided on how I feel about these differences.i think I liked the movie better than the book because the movie was more dramatic and had actual resolution. The book is satisfying in a different way, and in some ways, more realistic in that when people die, the rest of us still need to find a way to keep living.

I thought the writing was strong, but I’m conflicted on the story.

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samuraipie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

An emotionally challenging read.

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lauraginger's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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tamzy6's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars. It's a beautiful story and I really liked the concept of the Inbetween. The story is filled with broken people but they didn't feel like caricatures. Each one of them had distinct and rich personalities. It was really bittersweet seeing them grow up and experience the things that Susie will never be able to do in human form.

UNTIL... The ending.

What the fuck was that about? I really disliked how Sebold just HAD to give Susie that 'perfect' ending in human form, where Susie kind of possessed Ruth's body and then had sex with Ray? I'm all for fantasy and magical realism, we are reading about a ghost's thoughts after all, but romanticising this possession felt vulgar and weird. This could have been a 4 star read but meh, it felt weird after that.

Also, how did this book get published without a copyeditor because I found there were lots of weird phrases and spelling mistakes, e.g. using "reverted" instead of "riveted", and I had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't imagining things. You know, basic writing stuff.

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vincentedward16's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

How are Mr. Harvey died is dumb and ruined the ending.

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