Ciao - for people with opinions

Latest reviews Latest questions
Write a review Latest videos
Special offers
Home > Books > Fiction > Modern Fiction Books > T Modern Fiction Books > The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

User Reviews

for The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Rating Summary based on 72 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		42
  • 4 Stars
    		20
  • 3 Stars
    		7
  • 2 Stars
    		3
  • 1 Star
    		0

Detailed rating

  • Characters
  • How does it compare to other works by the same author?
  • How does it compare to similar books?
  • Readability
  • Story
  		• 4.3
  		• 2.7
  		• 3.4
  		• 4.3
  		• 4.4
Previous page Next page Page 1 of 8 | 1 to 10 out of 72 Review(s)
  • 66 of 66 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Ryan74

    Ryan74

    3 Stars COMFORT IN GRIEF 08/03/2005
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Unique premise, excellent narration

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Mawkishly over-sentimental, unrealistic and a bit soppy

    Given the glut of reviews on ‘The Lovely Bones’, it seems that this is a very popular novel. Indeed, this book is one of the biggest selling books of the past twenty years on both sides of the Atlantic. It has made Alice Sebold into one of the most prominent modern American writers and has been featured on many different talk shows, arts programmes and critical review shows. Most famously, the book was the winner of the Richard & Judy book club award on their Channel 4 show. Alice Sebold shot to fame with her first book, ‘Lucky’, which was an autobiographical account of her life to date ... more
  • 96 of 96 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of SueMagee

    Level 8 SueMagee

    Member since 19/07/2001

    Reviews written: 233

    4 Stars The Lovely Book 03/12/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages A beautifully-written, elegantly constructed book.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Sentimental in places.

    Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon is raped and murdered in a cornfield on her way home from school. Most of her body is never found but there is sufficient evidence for her family – mother, father, brother and sister – to accept that she is dead. Her murderer is a neighbour and serial killer. Susie’s mother had admired his flower border and her father had discussed fertilizer with him. When Susie gets to heaven she finds that it looks like her local school and she only has to think of something for it to appear magically, except she cannot return to the people she loved on earth. She can only ... more
  • 20 of 20 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of stephbond89

    stephbond89

    5 Stars My mother liked his flower beds.... 07/03/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages An amazing book which evokes so much emotion in the reader.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages May be a little disturbing for some readers in the beginning.

    The Lovely Bones: Alice Sebold Introduction I saw a trailer on TV a couple of weeks ago for the film which is based on this book, and when my mum told me it was a brilliant book, I couldn’t help myself from going online and buying it from Amazon. I had never heard of it before even though it’s first publishing was in 2002. As soon as the book hit my front door mat, I opened it up and started to read it. On Amazon the book was classified with “If you like this you will also like: The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger”, as I adored that book, and subsequently the film, I had very high ... more
  • 38 of 38 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of ms19

    Level 8 ms19

    Member since 02/03/2002

    Reviews written: 1111

    5 Stars Delicately Written & Inspiring 11/06/2011
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages beautifully written, addictive

    Disadvantages Disadvantages -

    With it getting towards the summer, I am always on the look out for a new book to read and almost always I will opt for something in the chick lit genre. However, I have heard so many good things about this book the lovely bones which is why I have always been intrigued to find out more. So many people have talked about it but yet I never really had any idea as to what it was about. It wasn't until my mother finished reading it and handed me her copy that it persuaded me to give this book ago, stepping out of my chick lit safety zone. COVER This book is quite bold on the front and has a fade ... more
  • 77 of 77 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Pumpkin

    Pumpkin

    5 Stars LIFE GOES ON... WITHOUT YOU 01/12/2003
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Original idea, beautiful writing style

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Not as gripping as I would normally like

    “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.” And so begins “The Lovely Bones”, Susie’s story, told as she looks down on the world from her heaven, in the aftermath of her tragic death. Susie’s murder in the cornfield behind her house, by a local man, George Harvey, sends shockwaves through her neighbourhood, her school, her friends and her family. Susie watches the effect it has upon the lives of those closest to her, and the story spans the ten years following her death. She watches as life ... more
  • 85 of 85 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of parker-munn

    parker-munn

    3 Stars The bare bones of the matter. Review with images 07/03/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Interesting aspect, well written.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Sad, not all that riveting.

    I was attracted to "The Lovely Bones," a novel by Alice Sebold because it is a best seller. I wanted to share in what everyone else was reading and to see what they thought was good. I chose this one because it had outpaced the sales of any other first novel in memory, 925,000 copies in print after 11 printings. It is still in the top twenty best selling novels today. People also tended to say it was compulsive reading. Anne Sebold described it herself once as “It is about the murder and dismemberment of a young girl and she dies in the first chapter. She tells the story in first person. She ... more
  • 50 of 50 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of elfbwillow

    Level 7 elfbwillow

    Member since 07/02/2007

    Reviews written: 322

    5 Stars Our Dead Never Leave Us 15/04/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Captures your heart and mind

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Very emotional

    The Lovely Bones Our Dead Never Leave Us Until I saw a preview of the film, I have to be honest that I had never even thought of buying this book. I knew I wanted to see the film, though knowing that there was a book I felt that I really wanted to read that first as more often than not, the book of a great film is spectacular. I was going to rent the book from the library though my local one had a very long waiting list – it seems everyone had my idea of reading it before they watched the film. On my way to Waterstones, I happen to pop into a second hand store and I found it sitting on the ... more
  • 64 of 64 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of kirstymack80

    kirstymack80

    5 Stars A beautiful thing 12/09/2003
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages A one off story

    Disadvantages Disadvantages May be a bit hard to take

    I saw this book a while ago and wanted it straight away. The wording on the back was enough to convince me. ‘My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighbourhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer’. Such shocking words, yet compelling enough just in a few sentences to lure me into buying it (obviously doesn't take much!). The front cover, again very simplistic, is various shades of blue, starting with very light at the top to royal blue at ... more
  • 38 of 38 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of hawkida

    hawkida

    5 Stars ... Break my Bones, the tale I tell is Lovely 23/05/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages innovative narrative, touching, well told

    Disadvantages Disadvantages some violent and horrific content

    Lovely Bones is a story about change and growth, life and death, families and neighbours. Set in a small town in the USA the book chronicles the changes that occur between 1973 and the mid eighties following the brutal murder of Susie Salmon. One of the most intriguing things about the book is that it manages to transcend the clunkiness of a first person tale that ends "And then I died", not least by opening in almost that way: "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." It is a frank account, told in first person but with a ... more
  • 84 of 84 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of herby30

    herby30

    5 Stars Not To Be Missed! 11/01/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Excellent read!

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Upsetting at times!

    “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973” You must agree this is an explosive start to any book, I was horrified and wanted to know why, where and how as I am sure you all would. 14 year old Susie Salmon was returning home from school one day, she decides to take a short cut through a cornfield in her neighbourhood because it was snowing, she was returning from Junior High School, because it was dark she was startled when she bumped into her neighbour, the man whom her mother had admired his border flowers and her ... more
Previous page Next page Page 1 of 8 | 1 to 10 out of 72 Review(s)

Compare prices

for The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Compare all 15 prices