The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

This is an incredibly depressing book. It's about Susie, who is raped and killed and buried in a hole by her neighbor. She goes to heaven and from there watches her family as they try to figure out who killed her. It's actually pretty creepy, the way she watches everyone from heaven. For years and years, she follows around her sister on dates with her boyfriend, sees her dad go almost insane, floats helplessly as her murderer attacks more and more people.
I liked how realistic it was, though. I mean, they never catch her killer. Her sister gets married, her dad has health problems, there is no happy ending, at least no stereotypical Disney-movie happy ending. Life goes on, though.
It's a good read, I guess. In some places it drags on, and the plot just keeps on going and going and going... I have to say, I liked the beginning and the end a lot more than the middle. Susie makes all these connections up in heaven that no one on earth would have seen. It's kind of like when you're reading a book where you know things the main character doesn't, so you can solve the mystery or guess the ending, but they don't figure it out until the last chapter. Only, in this book, Susie does know everything, and she has to just watch helplessly as people make the wrong decisions, or guess the wrong answer, or make wrong conclusions. When I'm dead, I don't want to have to watch everyone else mess up. I'd much rather just hang out in heaven and wait for them to show up.
~Marcella