The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

"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. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life."

Notice the bolded, underlined, purplish font at the first sentence? If not, please scroll up now and then scroll back here to read the rest of the reviews :-)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is the much talked book by Alice Sebold entitled The Lovely Bones. When I first started to read the book, I kept wondering on the reason of the title’s selection. The “bing” moment came when I reached page 320 of the book when the actual word “lovely bones” is used. Before I rant on aimlessly, which I wont to do, let me move to the review of the book.

Truth to be told, I was a bit apprehensive when I picked up the book. That’s mainly because the excerpt at the back cover and the opening of the book is exactly the same, word-by-word. No synopsis like usual books. Zero. Nada. However, the story starts earnest once I’ve read thru the first “hurdle”. The storyline gets even more complicated after that as Susie watches her family torn apart and then back again, which can be summarized as follow (I will conveniently mention only the Salmon family members):

· The main character, Susie Salmon who was lured into an underground cabin. She was subsequently raped, murdered, dismembered and chopped up by George Harvey. Her spirit refused to let go and watches over everyone from her own version of heaven where she met the bunch of girls murdered by George as well.

· Her dad, Jack Salmon who couldn’t really overcome the fact that her daughter’s dead. He strongly suspected that George Harvey is the killer but unable to prove it.

· Her mother, Abigail Salmon has an affair with the detective, Len Fenerman. She then moved to a winery at California to cool things off and lives her own life. Only to join back her family when her husband, Jack Salmon had heart attack.

· Her sister, Lindsey Salmon who lost her virginity under an overturned sampan to her boyfriend/fiancé/husband, Samuel Heckler in her bid to grow up. Her dad voiced out his suspicion on George Harvey to her and she broke into the murderer’s house to look for evidence.

· Her brother, Buckley Salmon who gradually learnt that her sister is dead. He sometimes sees Susie’s spirit when she watches over them. Buckley is the only person who has the balls to “screw” her mom when she came back after leaving her family when they needed her the most.

· Her grandma (I like her grandma the most :-)), Grandma Lynn, an alcoholic, fast talker, expert jabber, eccentric mother of Abigail who moved into Jack’s home when Abigail left the family.

· Not forgetting Ruth Connors who was touched by Susie’s soul as she departed the human realm. Susie came back years later to possess her body and make sweet love to Ray Singh; who happens to be Susie’s main crush at the back of Hal Heckler’s motorcycle repair shop.

· Last but not least, George Harvey who murdered Susie and many others with almost similar modus operandi. He moved out of the neighbourhood when he found out that the Salmons suspected him. He was not caught by enforcement officers but was killed when a large icicle dropped on his head and he fell into a ravine as he approached and spurred by his latest victim at a bus-stop. What a way to die for a serial killer.

This is the kind of book which I think hardly belongs to any genre. I’m not a categorically correct person but I think it’s NOT a:

Thriller
Example: Susie Salmon was killed and chopped into pieces. The only body part found is her elbow dug up by the neighbour’s dog.

Suspense
Example: Susie’s sister broke into the murderer’s house to look for evidence on behalf of her dad.

Action
Example: When Jack ran to the cornfield when he sees flashlight in the middle of the night, assuming that George Harvey is on the prowl again. Only to be whacked by Brian (Susie’s best friend; Clarissa’s boyfriend) this resulted Jack having to undergone knee surgery.

Whew… I finally managed to finish the review :-P
What do I think of the book? Ummm… do read the pros and cons. Else it will be too long to be considered a book review :-P

P/S: The movie will be shown in Malaysia really soon! Can’t wait :-)

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) Really slow moving book. In fact, I nearly gave up reading the book at the front part of the story.

2) I still can’t grasp the reason Abigail moved away from the family. It might just be me or the reasons are not really solid in my opinion.

3) George Harvey died an easy death. Almost too easy.

Pros:
1) Characters developed over series of life experiences and over time. So patience is a must when reading this novel.

2 )Touching story (certain chapters only). Pity the dad. I get emotional when the dad recounted happier days living with her daughters.