The Lovely Bones by Alice SeboldMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wanted to give this four stars because it is a really good read, and there are some great tense moments. At times I could have quite easily not put it down, only real life got in the way. But it didn't end how I had hoped and left me unsatisfied to an extent. That's not to say you won't like it. I think it's me and how I like my endings to be.
Maybe my ending would have been too predictable, but I wanted more revenge. (This is hard to explain without spoilers).
Also, (someone has reminded me by posting on Facebook their comments) there is one small clue that the police could have used and I find it hard to believe they never spotted it (the bloody patch in Mr Harvey's garage). I know it was 1973 and forensics isn't what it is now.... but it felt 'convenient' at times, or maybe the police really were that incompetent. Maybe if he'd put a big chest freezer over the spot, I would have been satisfied.
The narrator is Susie as her ghost self, and it's done so well, because she is all 'knowing' so we get to see other character's POVs to help the story telling.
Although Suzie's death is horrific, this book is not told grimly. It is not graphic and overly described. It really is about after Suzie's death, and her watching her family come to terms with her missing from their lives.
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30 books read!
I remember reading this when it first came out and it really moving me. I heard that the film changed a lot of it so I didn't watch it. I was afraid of what they might have done.
ReplyDeleteI was pregnant when this novel was published, and I couldn't read past the first few pages for a good two years because the pregnancy hormones made me cry hysterically. When they left my system, I read it with no problem. Good book, good story.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I didn't want to watch the film for fear of it being graphic, but then did see it's only a 12 certificate. And apparently it's not.
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa, having kids has made me so much softer. I'll cry at anything now, especially if it involves kids. (Can't watch things like Comic Relief when they show the poorly children in Africa - it breaks my heart).
It definitely is a good story. An original spin on 'heaven' and 'ghosts'.