Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

29 reviews

carlytenille's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Grief, Death, Animal death, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood

carmeta's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Murder, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death

serenityxnicole's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Beautiful book! As an oldest sister, this made me cry twice! The only complaint is I hate the ending, but overall a good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Okay, why the hell did I think this was a young adult book?? I swear that it was mis-shelved at my  library growing up because what was I doing reading this as a pre-teen??? I was just in love with this. It moved me and disgusted me and made me feel for these characters like entire whole people. Emotions are extremely complicated, as is grief. And there are so many beautiful lines in here. What a triumph of a novel about how survival is the most innate human urge. I wish I could speak in beautiful words like Ms. Sebold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Rape, Abandonment, and Bullying

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, and Stalking

pumpkinmasterug's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Not the best novel I’ve read, but definitely not the worst. It presents grief through a range of perspectives and is definitely dark and uncomfortable at several points. I enjoyed majority of the book, however

the possession scene spoiled the tone of it all for me, especially since the argument for Susie sleeping with her crush instead of tracking down her killer is her reclaiming what was taken from her during her murder, but after she hopes her father dies to be in heaven with her TWICE she let’s her family suffer in grief when she could’ve caught her killer or unveiled the location of her body and helped them. Of course that would’ve been very cliche so I understand why Seabold avoided this, but it just made Susie come across very selfish and quite unlikeable.

It’s a bit corny in some places and I don’t think the writing style will suit everyone, and some of the characters are so flat and predictable they read more like AI trying to blend in than actual human beings, but I honestly didn’t mind that too much in this case. Overall though, it’s a good read with a hopeful message and I did enjoy it for the most part.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, and Cursing

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Death of parent

deshanejt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

The premise was dark, heartbreaking and sweet; The reality was, almost halfway thru the book, the plot seemed lost to me.

Painstakingly, you watch the family struggle to accept their grief while a community never stops moving forward. 

I guess the message the author wanted to leave us with would be life goes on. Remembering those you've lost along the way doesn't have to be painful... Lastly, it's a stark reminder, that justice isn't always served, but monsters still meet their end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Stalking, Animal death, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, Rape, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Pregnancy

ltux's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Grief, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

aniston_pond's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Pedophilia, and Child death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Blood

emilyhooie22's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

"These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections— sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent— that happened after I was gone."

Up until this month (November 2023), I never knew The Lovely Bones movie was made from a book. I immediately knew I needed to read it. There was definitely more to the story. So much depth, sadness, answers, happiness, and the tragedy before, during, and aftermath of Susie's murder. Every new detail was heartbreaking. I couldn't stop reading. 

I'm so glad I read this book. What a beautiful outlook on life and death, and what we leave behind and where we go when we leave this world. 🥺

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence

eelizard's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Stalking