The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold--Review

I recently finished Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. I found this book to be one of the "hard to put down" types and read it in three days (fast for me as a slow reader). What I loved about this book was the genuineness of the characters.

The book is a heartbreaker from the first page. The reader of this novel experiences the grieving process along with the characters and are spared nothing. It reminded me of Judith Guest's Ordinary People where different approaches to grief are shown through the relatives of the one that died. Also, a large part of both novels focuses on the experiences of a sibling loss: a brother in Ordinary People and a sister in The Lovely Bones.

Where the two novels vary, though, is the extra perspective presented in The Lovely Bones. Sebold crosses the line into heaven with the deceased character, taking the audience along with her. We get the memories and experiences of "heaven" from the perspective of the murdered character, which makes this novel unique and provocative. Sebold takes us on a journey of self-grief and a fascinating view of what heaven may be.  Definitely worth reading!!