Love Junk Store, The - Alice Band

Advantages: Addictive
Disadvantages: None

...The Lovely Bones is an eerie tale of supernatural realms, while at the same time telling a more earthly story of a grieving family. Susie Salmon was only 14 years old when she was raped, stabbed and cut into pieces by her neighbour George Harvey on her way home from school. He then piles her body parts into a bag where he takes them to a safe and then thrown into a sink hole. Susie's elbow, however, falls out of the bag and that is the only remain to ever be found of her. The real story then begins as Susie enters the afterlife. Alice Seabold's depiction of heaven is quite unique. Every person has their own unique heaven, filled with their desires and wishes. However, Susie spends her time in heaven watching her family cope with her death as they try to move on with their lives, while at the same time Susie is trying to... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Moving, brings up a lot of issues,
Disadvantages: Drags on a bit, unrealistic parts

...What can I say? Brilliant book. THE STORY The Lovely Bones is the story of how the Salmon family cope when their daughter, Susie, who is just 14 years-old, is brutally raped and murdered by a seemingly-harmless loner who lives near them. The story is narrated by Susie herself, looking down on her family in heaven. If you didn't know anything about this book, you might mistake it for a thriller, or even a horror. It isn't about justice or even religion, as some people may believe - instead, it is a gentle book, neither drama, comedy, or what have you, that deals with the sheer grief that comes with bereavement. As she watches over her family, seeing her brother and sister grow up, she finds it extremely difficult, especially when her younger sister turn 14, the same age as Susie was when she died. Her yearning and desperation... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A beautifully-written, elegantly constructed book.
Disadvantages: Sentimental in places.

...of English employed by American writers disrupts the flow for me. I never consciously noticed it. I normally find unbelievable any book which relies on the existence of a spirit world. Instead I found myself wondering if there could be some truth in it. The dead do have a continuing existence in the lives of those they leave behind. This is Alice Sebold?s debut novel, but I suspect it is not the first book that she wrote. In her first year at college she was raped and the story of what happened and her fight for justice is told in her book ?Lucky? published in October 2004. ?The Lovely Bones? seems to be autobiographical in more than one sense. Part of what happened to Susie happened to her, but more importantly, we see Sebold emerging in the character of Lindsey and her refusal to be a victim. This book does have its detractors... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful