Review of: The Lovely Bones
“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” grabbed my attention with the way it was told from the perspective of Susie. Sebold made sure that she started the book out with a strong attention getter, I believe for those who tend to judge a book by the first page. She was straight forward and to the point, something that most writers strive to be. Sebold has written three novels; The Lovely Bones, Lucky, and The Almost Moon. She won the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction in 2003 and the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel in 2002. She was also nominated in the Novel category in that year. This book was outstandingly interesting and eye-opening.

Reading this book gave me a sense of where the various places the novel has taken place. Sebold’s writing style is one where she has you at the edge of your bed waiting to see what happened next. The only thing about Sebold’s style that I did not agree with would have to be the way in some chapters she would jump around story to story. At times it became a little confusing to follow. But sure enough Sebold made sure she made a method to her madness. The voice in the novel really stands out; it is very unique the way that she shows the feelings of Susie’s family and Susie herself. The characters in The Lovely Bones have a way of making you feel exactly what they feel. The characters are believable because of the emotion they portray throughout the novel and the different events that happen that catch them off guard they are able to prove to the readers that they should be believed in as people not just a character. Each character has their own character traits and with them they stood out to me. With the characters in my liking it helped the novel become more appreciated and allowed me to continue reading with interest. “Part of me wanted sweet vengeance, wanted my father to turn into the man he could never have been – a man violent in rage” (Sebold 58). Susie shows here real feelings about her death and the actions she wanted to happen. This is believable and something anyone would feel once their life has been taken. Another character in the novel that convinced me in everyway that they were believable was Susie’s father. “…something that could explain death to a four-year-old. He placed his hand on the small of Buckley’s back. Susie is dead… do you know what that means?” (Sebold 69) Explaining to a young child that their sibling is dead has to be one of the hardest things to do. Susie’s father is faced with this unbelievable task, he handles it the best he can. In the same way any other family would. He proves his feelings and emotions when he struggles to let Buckley know that his loving sister Susie is gone.

Feeling like you’re actually in the book is something that I look for when I begin to read a novel. Susie describes her heaven as if it was school and the way she continues to explain and give you an image what she see’s she pulls you in and allow you to take a tour in your mind of what is going on and how everything looks. A young girl’s life was severely damaged and altered for the worst to due a harsh decision of one man. I could connect this novel on a personal level because there was a situation where the same thing once happened. My recommendations on this book would have to be for people who like mysteries with suspension. Also this book is for people who like believable characters and a little bit of emotion along with it.