Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Lovely Bones

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

226 reviews

carlytenille's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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niharikaaaaaa9's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

What an interesting premise! The book opens with Susie Salmon telling you that she’s been murdered and is now watching Earth from heaven.

What I found most enjoyable about the book was that as the reader, you got to see Susie’s reaction to what was happening on Earth. A lot of times, books will center the family left behind after the murder, walking the reader through their feelings and actions in the aftermath. The author did a wonderful job not only doing that, but also sharing Susie’s feelings and reactions to that. Throughout the book, you see the whole family evolve - including Susie! - both individually and in their relationships with each other.

Four stars only because the ending ruined it for me.

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carmeta's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Extremely sad and graphic at times. Unforgettable.

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bernie13's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’m not sure what tone I’m supposed to read this in. Like the way Mr Harvey is portrayed is confusing to me and the book is supposed to be from susie’s perspective but she doesn’t seem to be that disturbed by him? And why is she basically watching her family and friends have s*x?? I just found this book super weird and the end where she possesses Ruth and has s*x with Ray is so disturbing and weird. I don’t know what the author was thinking when she wrote this but I just feel like it could have gone in so many other directions. I found the tone to be off-putting and not what it should have been considering what the book is about.

The way Susie’s POV is used is just weird like why is a 14 year old so interested in the s*x lives of her family and friends??

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murderousscottishgremlin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Such an intriguing exploration of grief and haunting. Sebold’s writing evokes a surreal sense of liminality (is that a word?), or the feeling of being in a liminal space, and I really enjoyed that.

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