A review by mysimas
In meinem Himmel by Alice Sebold

dark hopeful sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

And I thought that terrible sex scene from Stephen King’s It couldn’t be topped… Haha, how naive! (Of course I’m not referring to Susie’s murder, talking about the other, supposedly positive scene…)

Anywho, this book is overall weirdly obsessed with sex. Also it features a questionable lesbian and Asian representation (the Asians are fetishized, the lesbian sort of enjoys sex with a guy). 

The characters are flat like a board, and there’s not really any plot — the murder isn’t being solved, it’s just about the family dealing with the grief in a series of disjointed scenes that generally don’t have much emotional impact, not to mention the rapid and massive time skips in the last third of the book. Also there’s nearly no cool or spooky ghost scenes. So much potential, unrealized.

Would round up to two stars if pressed because there were moments that I liked
(the group therapy in heaven, the strong if grim beginning, the positiveness of Lindsey and Sam’s relationship…)
and also I do feel kinda good about finishing a book in German. :)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings