Social Icons

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Written on

Book Resources

Read More

Thursday, September 1, 2005

Written on

YA Book Review: The Lovely Bones; By Alice Sebold

rate } ♠♠♠♠
genre } fiction | young adult | mystery 
release day } 29th August 2006
acquired } 20th June 2005
publisher } Little, Brown & Company 
format } paperback
isbn } 9780316166683
pages } 384 pg.
source } given
age group } pg 18
interest } pg 18 +
awards } Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel (2002), Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction (2003), South Carolina Book Award for Young Adult Book Award (2005), Iowa High School Book Award (2005), Puddly Award for Fiction (2003)
Buy @
Amazon.com | Nolly Book | D BookHaus

The Lovely Bones; Alice Sebold The Lovely Bones
By Alice Sebold

Via Goodreads
Shockingly original and completely unforgettable, The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.

In the tradition of Alice McDermott, who wrote so elegantly about death in Charming Billy, Sebold unveils a book whose presence will linger with readers for a long, long time and signals the arrival of a novelist to be reckoned with.

My 2 Cents
*** SPOILERS ***

I wasn't really aware on what is the fuss all about when this book came out. I thought it would be just another chicklit so I should just avoid it like a plague. A couple of years later, I have stumbled onto this book once again and reread the reviews given by my friends. A nudge inside me told me I should just try reading it to see what's the hype was all about.

And I did!

Boy, I was wrong in all places about this book. The first page drew me in and I can't put the book down until I've finished it!

It's a haunting tale of the 14 year old, Susie Salmon (yes, like the fish), who narrated the tale of her life, her family and friends. She was raped and murdered  in the late 1973 and then resided in her heaven. She watched in bitterness as life goes on down below back on Earth. She watched the effects of her death upon the living. How her friends came together and become close with her family. How the obsession of looking for her killer also destroy her parents' marriage. She even watched her murderer went on with his life and met his other victims in heaven (although she has no idea who they were in the beginning).

This is not the tale of the tale of her death, which in turn not a detective story. But it's like watching a Hallmark movie (now that's an idea) revealing in the pages of your hands. It's more about loss, coping and affirming life after the death of a love one. Not just for the ones Susie left on earth, but also for herself in heaven. It’s heartbreaking reading her trying to reach her family, her friends and the guy she fancied. It pissed me off Susie didn’t get the justice she deserve, and her body ended up gone, couldn’t be found anywhere by her parents. Yet In the same time, I’m glad, her murderer got his karma and because of that, Susie gets to let go and move on.

If I like this book so much, why did I give it 4 spades? Because I hate the ending.. I wish they find her body and the murderer get caught.

Quote
“Each time I told my story, I lost a bit, the smallest drop of pain. It was that day that I knew I wanted to tell the story of my family. Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained.”

“Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.”

“Between a man and a woman there was always one person who was stronger than the other one. That doesn’t mean the weaker one doesn’t love the stronger.”

Read More

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails
 

Authors Featured

Abd Ghaffar Aris (1) Adam Mansbach (1) Aimee Carter (5) Alan Benjamin (1) Alethea Eason (1) Alex Flinn (2) Alice Sebold (1) Amy Reeds (1) Andrew Clements (1) Andrew Thompson (1) Arthur Golden (1) Brynn Paulin (1) Cait London (1) Carol Grace (1) Carrie Ryan (1) Cary McNeal (1) Cat Marsters (1) Cathy Glass (1) Cerise DeLand (1) Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1) Chris Marie Green (1) Claudia Gray (1) Clement Clarke Moore (1) Clive Barker (1) Clive Cussler (1) Connie Dieken (1) Daniel Handler (1) Darren Shan (5) Dav Pilkey (1) Dave Pelzer (1) Davis Brinton (1) Deborah Howe (1) Deborah J. Ross (1) Delphine Minoui (1) Desiree Holt (1) Dita Parker (1) Doreen Cronin (1) Dr Seuss (1) ED Baker (1) EL James (1) Elizabeth Smart (1) Ellen Rimbauer (1) Emma Thompson (1) Farrar Straus Giroux (1) Gail Carson Levine (1) Glen Cook (1) Greg Weisman (1) Hannah Shah (1) Hans Christian Andersen (1) Hazel Hutchins (2) Isabelle Drake (1) J.K Rowling (3) Jaid Black (1) James Howe (1) James Patterson (1) James Rowe (1) Jay Asher (2) Jeff Kinney (3) Jennifer Brown (1) Jessica Day George (1) Joan Holub (7) Jodi Picoult (2) Kami Garcia (4) Kate McMullan (1) Kathleen Kuiper (1) Katie Piper (2) Katina Abram (1) Kevin Hopps (1) Laurann Dohner (1) Laurell K Hamilton (1) Leigh Branham (1) Lemony Snicket (3) Lily O’Brien (2) Linda Hudson-Smith (1) Lisi Harrison (1) Louise Rennison (1) Maggie Stiefvater (1) Margaret Stohl (4) Margaret Wise Brown (1) Mario Acevedo (1) Marion Zimmer Bradley (1) Mary Downing Hahn (1) Mary Engelbright (1) Melanie Rawn (1) Michael Buckley (3) Michael Thomas Ford (1) Michele Albert (1) Mike Allred (1) Morgan Kaufman (1) Muhammad Miqdad (1) Nicholas Rennison (1) Nujood Ali (1) O Henry (1) Paige Tyler (1) Patrick Jennings (1) Paul McAuley (1) Peter Bentley (1) Peter Boxall (1) R. Garland Gray (1) Rachel Hawkins (2) Rachel R. Russell (2) Richard Bachman (1) Rick Riordan (14) Roald Dahl (1) Robert B. Parker (1) Russell Lee (1) Ruth J Morehead (1) Sarah Burleton (1) Sarah Graves (1) Shannon Hale (1) Sherrilyn Kenyon (1) Stephen King (3) Stephenie Meyer (1) Steve Berry (1) Susan Beth Pfeffer (3) Suzanne Collins (3) Suzanne Williams (4) Tamar Jalis (1) Todd Strasser (1) Tony DiTerlizzi (1) V.C. Andrews (5) William Panek (1) Yangsook Choi (1)

Sorting it all

* Other than Reading √ 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die √ 1001 Children's Books √ 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers √ Man Booker Prize Winner √ Newbery Medal √ Nobel Laureates in Literature √ Pulitzer Prize Winners Novel/Fiction ♦ Creating a Reader 1: In the Mail 1: Mailbox Monday 1: Manic Monday 1: Monday Mayham 1: Musing Monday 1: What are you Reading on Mondays 2: Teaser Tuesday 2: Top Ten 2005 2007 2009 2010 2010 Challenges 2011 2011 Challenges 2012 2012 Challenges 3: A - Z Challenge 3: I Want Wednesday 3: Waiting on Wednesday 3: Wednesday Media Mix 3: Wishlist Wednesday 3: Wordless Wednesday 3: WWW Wednesday 30 Day Book Challenge 30 days Meme 4: Booking Through Thursday 4: TBR Thursday 4: Thursday 13 5: Friday Fill-Ins 5: Friday Finds 5: What's in Your Handbag? 7: Straight out of the Camera Sunday 7: Sunday Salon 7: Sunday Stealing 7: Unconscious Mutterings A Year in Picture Books 2011 About Reading Abuse Addicts Adult Afghanistan Africa Animal stories Animals AREs Arthurian Articles Asia Atheneum Author A Author B Author C Author D Author H Author J Author L Author M Author N Author O Author P Author R Author S Author V Author W Awareness Day Biography Bloggiesta Book Blogger Hop Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge 2011 Book List Book Pile BookFair Bookmarks Books taught me that... Brunei Business Chapter Books Children Chinese Christmas Chunky Tales Classics Comic Review Community Computer Contact Crafts Crafts and Hobbies Dark Humor Doa Dracula Drama dystopia eBook Egypt Mythology Eh? Emma Thompson Erotica Europe Event Fairy Tales Family Issue Family Saga Fantasy Fiction Food Frankenstein Free Giveaway Friday Hop Genres Gluttony Greek Mythology Habits Health and Beauty Horror Humor Inspirational iPhone Islam James Howe Journal Juvenile Kindle Legends List Literary Literary Blog Hop literature Lycans Magazines Malay Meme Memoir Middle Grade Misc Misc Brunei Motivation Movie Movie Adaptation Mystery Mythology New Author Challenge 2012 New Year Read-A-Thon News Newspapers Non-Fiction Organization Origami Orphan Out with a Bang Read-A-Thon Paranormal Period China Photos Picture book Pictures poster Quotes Ramadhan Rants Read it Read-A-Thon Reading Reading Habits Reading List Realistic Fiction Reference Relationships Reluctant Readers Resources Review Review by Title Review Policy rip Roman Mythology Romance School Science Fiction Seller Shifter Challenge 2011 short stories Social Issues Sony Reader Study Tips Stuff Supernatural Teens The Reader The TwentyEleven Challenge Thriller Tied-Ins: Movie Tied-Ins: TV To be Read To Be Read A-Z Tragedy Trailers Trivia True Crime TV Adaptation TV Review TV Series Vampires Vietnam Vlog Vocabulary What's in a Name Work ww2 WWI YA of the 80s and 90s Challenge Yemen Young Adult
I review for BookSneeze
Bookyards.com

~* Others *~

Children's Choice Book Awards

Powered by JacketFlap.com

.:: Listening to

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
Accidentals by Dakota Cassidy Across the Universe by Beth Revis Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton Annabelle Lee by Stacey Jay Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Article 5 by Kristen Simmons Ashfall by Mike Mullin A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin Atlantis by Gena Showalter Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale Carpathians by Christine Feehan Carrier Trilogy by Leigh Fallon Charlie Madigan by Kelly Gay The Charmed Life by Jenny B. Jones The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon Clockwork Empire by Steven Harper Codex Alera by Jim Butcher The Company of Angels by Stephanie Chong The Cousins' War by Philippa Gregory Covenant by Jennifer L. Armentrout The Crescent by Jordon Deen Dark-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong Darkness Rising by Kelley Armstrong Dark Sword by Donna Grant Delirium by Lauren Oliver Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett Everlasting by Angie Frazier Everneath by Brodi Ashton The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton Faeriewalker by Jenna Black Fairwick Chronicles by Juliet Dark Fairytale Retellings by Jackson Pearce Fairy Tales by Eloisa James The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade Gods & Monsters by Kelly Keaton Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa Matched by Ally Condie Maze Runner by James Dashner Medusa Girls by Tera Lynn Childs The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine Morpheus Road by D.J. MacHale The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison Nikki Heat by Richard Castle Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Celia Thomson Numbers by Rachel Ward Paranormalcy by Kiersten White Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins