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fkshg8465's review against another edition
- 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 thought the writing was strong, but I’m conflicted on the story.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
tamzy6's review against another edition
- 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
UNTIL... The ending.
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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Murder
agosto111's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
This is an amazing book but please be careful this book is really triggering and sad so read with cautionsammispaniol's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
michaelion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Dementia
kassidypf13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
una_klavina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder
mika_thewriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Murder
eleanor_18's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
The lovely bones starts off with quite a graphic scene in which the main character Susie is raped and murdered, which given the coming-of-age nature of the book feels unnecessarily descriptive.
It then depicts how Susie in heaven and her family on earth deal with the aftermath. This is where the book truly shines. It has beautiful depictions and ideas of heaven. From heaven, Susie recalls her teenage life and Alice Sebold perfectly captures these moments of what it means to grow up but to day-dream like a teenager. Sebold depicts Susie’s family’s struggle to reconcile her death and how each member copes with their grief in their own unique way, whilst struggling to keep the family together. Sebold does this by giving each character their own rich background and story in a way that allows the reader to sympathise with each one. The film also displays this well and is able to capture Sebold’s rich descriptive and emotive tapestry.
However, where the film ends, the book caries on. This is when Sebold loses her essence. The plot starts to become very drawn out with not much happening to keep interest, whilst the characters appear to stop developing and keep recycling the same emotional patterns. Finally, towards the end things begin to get wrapped up, albeit with one very weird sex scene.
Also throughout, despite the running theme that Susie’s killer took everything from her. Sebold continuously makes slightly weird and uncomfortable comments sexualising the pubescent girls in the book. These are purely added to the description and add quite literally nothing to the story. Given, what happened to Susie they seem especially bizarre and uncomfortable.
Therefore, as a book it’s mixed, the first 1/3 is very good but that’s where the book needs to end, just like the film does.
Graphic: Child abuse and Rape
Moderate: Child death and Murder
girlfawn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Grief