The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Out of my entire reading list for 2022, more people commented about The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold than any of the other books combined!
The Lovely Bones begins with the tragic death of a fourteen-year-old girl, Susie Salmon (like the fish). From there, we follow Susie’s family and friends as well as Susie’s murderer.
The Lovely Bones starts off very strong, and the impulse to read more is almost overwhelming. However, the book is downhill from there.
Writing a book that begins with a death is very unusual. Most authors usually begin in the middle. Unfortunately, the death is the most interesting part of the book, so the rest of the book simply dragged. In my opinion, the plot was interesting, but the execution lacked.
First, The Lovely Bones would have been more compelling as a short story. Another book that begins with a death is The Death of Ivan Ilych, and it is 86 pages. The Lovely Bones is 328 pages (in my copy). The author glosses over a number of years in a single chapter, highlighting a few key events. However, I didn’t feel invested with this vague style of writing (telling rather than showing).
Second, if I was the editor of this book, I would have given each character their own chapter. There were a great number of characters in this book, and the author should have gone deep instead of wide. I’m still not even sure who Hal is. And I was confused whose boyfriend was Lindsey’s and whose was Susie’s. Also, whatever happened to Len?
Third, the ending is horrible, entirely forgettable, and almost laughable.
Overall, The Lovely Bones had a strong beginning, but the storytelling should have been much stronger.
A big thank you to everyone who participated in The Lovely Bones Readalong!
Looking for your next read? Check out the most anticipated books for August 2022! Or check out this list of my favorite authors which is sure to defeat any reading slump!