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A review by savvyrosereads
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Susie Salmon is tragically murdered as a teenager, but goes on to watch her family, and their grief and healing, from beyond the grave.
This one is the next installment in my “Project DNF” (a goal to finish all the books I’ve DNFed at other points in my life) and I’m really glad I picked it back up. 95% of this book was really beautiful and poignant, as well as really sad. I thought it was touching if a bit morose, and found myself really invested in the characters. In particular, I enjoyed seeing how the ripple effects of a death like this can impact so many people involved, even beyond immediate family members and close friends.
That said, I felt like the last few chapters represented a dramatic shift in tone and substance, and I really did not like the note the book ended on. It felt like we were building towards a certain type of story for the bulk of the novel, only to be thrown some weird curveballs at the end. This is, in large part, a book about closure—but unfortunately, it offers very little of that to the reader.
If you can handle really sad stories and want to read an interesting reflection on grief, this might be for you, but I truly wish it had gone a different way at the end.
CW: Death/child death; sexual assault/rape; violence; grief; infidelity
Susie Salmon is tragically murdered as a teenager, but goes on to watch her family, and their grief and healing, from beyond the grave.
This one is the next installment in my “Project DNF” (a goal to finish all the books I’ve DNFed at other points in my life) and I’m really glad I picked it back up. 95% of this book was really beautiful and poignant, as well as really sad. I thought it was touching if a bit morose, and found myself really invested in the characters. In particular, I enjoyed seeing how the ripple effects of a death like this can impact so many people involved, even beyond immediate family members and close friends.
That said, I felt like the last few chapters represented a dramatic shift in tone and substance, and I really did not like the note the book ended on. It felt like we were building towards a certain type of story for the bulk of the novel, only to be thrown some weird curveballs at the end. This is, in large part, a book about closure—but unfortunately, it offers very little of that to the reader.
If you can handle really sad stories and want to read an interesting reflection on grief, this might be for you, but I truly wish it had gone a different way at the end.
CW: Death/child death; sexual assault/rape; violence; grief; infidelity
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder