A review by brittanykroeckel
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

An excellent read. This has been one on my TBR for a while. Honestly, I initially thought it was a romance-based novel and was shocked when I actually took a look to see what it was actually about. This novel is intertwined with multiple plots and intricate character development while also not becoming difficult to follow along. I personally get much anxiety in topics around death and dying, but this component was present in a way that
did not focus on the death itself, but life after loss and how it can make or break relationships.


The characters all brought something of value to the table. I feel that each of them got their screen time and added importance to the plot and themes. Characters were not over complicated, which I appreciated; each person had growth and development without it taking up too much of the book. My one point that I wish was more developed on was about
Ruth's journals and her new found interest in discovering how people had left the world.
Other than that, I thought the characters were excellent and thoroughly portrayed.

The reason I docked 0.25 in my rating is because the final parts of the novel felt out of place. More specifically, the part where
Susie takes over Ruth's body and becomes her took away the realistic nature of the story and made me confused.
However, even though this part slightly ruined it for me, the bulk of this work was beautiful and the ending left me in tears (which is a very rare occurrence for me). I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone in the future.
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