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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, reviewed by Sumera. A

The Lovely Bones is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven and healing, by a new brilliant writer Alice Sebold. Along with this novel has written other remarkable works such as the memoir Lucky.

The novel starts out with the narration of Susie salmon from heaven. Susie tells readers about her emotions and pain while suffering a murder and rape. Throughout the novel she also watches over her family and friends, watching them cope with her murder over a ten year period. Susie’s sister trying to stay strong, her mother and fathers marriage destroyed as a result of loss, her school life going on without her and rumors being traded about her disappearance and her brother trying to understand the meaning of “gone.” She also expresses her strong longing to go back to earth and at the end of novel understands that she will never go back and goes on with her life in heaven.

This novel offers the reader a understanding that they should be happy with what they have and also gets the reader to question whether they would be remembered like Susie was if they were murdered or how much do the people in their lives really care. The novel also offers many emotions such as anger, love and grief. This book makes you feel good about life.

Some readers might find this novel a bit too disturbing. While reading, one wants to know if the dead really watch over us in heaven and how heaven would be like or will we still remember earth like Susie and yearn to go back and the only way people can, really answer those questions are based on their belief. The novel is also very disturbing mostly when Susie describes her murder which may cause some readers to stop reading the book or skip through the detail.

Overall, this book deserves four smilies. The Lovely Bones is an excellent novel more conscious of the beauty of our relationships and our lives. Susie’s moments on earth inspire us to cherish every moment on earth like it was our last breath. And readers might also appreciate their lives and what they have more often.