The Lovely Bones

Mrs Fliege

I just finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold for my book club. For the past couple of years I have heard so many people tell me what a great book it is. Yes, I did enjoy the book but not as much as I expected. Often when this happens I wonder if it was because the book was hyped up to the extreme. I wonder what the other readers in my group thought. Sadly, the book club does not meet until November 8th. Waiting is hard.

Normally I am not one to point out flaws in books. However, in this book I was a bit confused by the age of the characters. Susie, the main character, is 14 when she is murdered. Her sister, Lindsey, is 13. At first the author does not say the age of the younger brother, Buckley. Later you find out he is 4. Wouldn't that make Susie 10 years older than Buckley? That is what I thought. After which I was confused when Susie reflects on when Utemeyer dies. Susie states that she was 6 and Lindsey was 5....okay that makes sense...then I swear she says her mother was pregnant with Buckley. What? Did I read that wrong?

All in all, it was an interesting book. I read it in a short amount of time. The author painted a good picture of the characters; I could visualize them in my mind. I suppose you could say I just did not like the writing style.

Also, something I mentioned to my book club at our last meeting...I don't like books where someone is raped, murdered, molested, etc in the first chapter. I really wish authors could wait until chapter two. I prefer to ease into a book. Sometimes I find I actually prefer not to finish a book that has violence in the first chapter. In my mind the first chapter is the background information and foreshadowing. Is it possible that authors do this now to pull in the reader? Is it that there are so many choices of novels that the author has to hook you immediately so that you do not pick up another book?

The movie comes out in January. I can't wait to see what they did with that. Mark Wahlberg is the dad. Susan Sarandon is the grandma. The grandma...YES...you heard that correctly. When did she become old enough to be a grandma?

That is all for now. I need to start reading a book for another book club. (I love book clubs!) I am reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

Happy Reading!