Yes, I know I am late on the Lovely Bones reading band wagon, as this was all the rage when I was in college. But I did finally get to it, and found I enjoyed it, I was in a crying mood, you know sometimes, against your better judgment you have a strong desire to turn on a lifetime movie, it's like that feeling. I was afraid this book would have pulled out the weep reflex too often, but I found, mixed in with my desire to cry, or cringe, or yell at the characters the way I would if watching a movie ("Don't Go Down There! AHHH!!!) that the book made me laugh a few times, it showed how life goes on, and life is not always full of purpose, sometimes it is random, and silly, and we had a chance to see that mixed in with the drama, mostly it was the weepy that won out though ( )

Like Kingsolver's novels; beautiful and lyrically written, almost poetic, unimaginably sad and comforting. I think I may have to add this to my list of favourite books. Considering the subject matter, it, amazingly, refrained from being exploitative or ridiculously sentimental, instead just honest and painful and detailed and real. ( )

** spoiler alert ** The first chapter of this book put me in a very dark mood. This story is so sad, yet in the end it I felt it was hopeful because the family was able to move on past their grief and Susie knew that her family was ok without her and she came to some kind of peace in her heaven.

I have to admit though that I was quite surprised when Susie came back down to earth and that the one thing she did during her time was to have a sexual encounter. I guess with the nature of her murder, it is s...more The first chapter of this book put me in a very dark mood. This story is so sad, yet in the end it I felt it was hopeful because the family was able to move on past their grief and Susie knew that her family was ok without her and she came to some kind of peace in her heaven.

I have to admit though that I was quite surprised when Susie came back down to earth and that the one thing she did during her time was to have a sexual encounter. I guess with the nature of her murder, it is shocking to me that the author would put her in that type of situation. I had a strong aversion to the Mother's character, but could relate on some level as I can't even imagine the type of actions one would take at the loss of a child in such a violent manner. The father was a gem, he was the kind of Dad that all daughters would want to have - so lovable. I had the privilege of listening to the interview with the author at the end of the audio book and it gave a lot of insight as to where this story came from and her writing process. I've read Lucky, and though it is hard to compare the two as one is a true story and the other fiction, I would say that this is the better of the two in my mind. ( )

I didn't relate to the author's style. After the first few chapters, I found myself just hoping the book would be over. Much as I appreciate the subject matter and the creativity, the book itself didn't grab me as I hoped it would. ( )

Very interesting premise for a book however difficult for me to get into. I found the overall feel of the book sombre and increasingly depressing. I don't think I've ever read anything like it before, it's a mixture of fantasy and reality that works really well together. ( )