The Lovely Bones

When I first picked up this book, I immediately concluded that it would be one of my all time favorites. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
As I was deciding to check out this novel, I was hearing from many people that it was, “…one of the most bizarre books I've ever read,” and “…way too overwhelming, but such a good story line.” To me, those comments made me grab the book before anyone else could.
When I first opened up the book, I was so ecstatic to start reading it. It was a mystery story, which I don't read very often, and I had a feeling that this might be a great book to start on. Yes, I have to give props to Alice Sebold because the first page instantly pulls you into the story like a vacuum cleaner. It was about the fourth page, where I seriously felt like my heart had been ripped out…just like Susie's was.
Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl, was murdered and raped on December 6, 1973. She was an ordinary girl, but what most young girls don't have…was a peculiar neighbor who had a thirst for blood and horror.
After she told the descriptive scene about her murder, without delay, I closed the book and set it on my desk. What a powerful beginning! My heart raced with the intensity of the book.
However, as the story continues, events started to become more and more bizarre. Yes, Susie telling the story from heaven was truly an awe-inspiring situation. She told how her family was mourning, how her sister, Lindsey, was becoming the girl that Susie would never be, how her father had figured out who murdered his oldest child, and how her oh so wonderful mother fell in love with the police officer who was investigating Susie's murder.
How weird! But, even though it may be a bit crazy, it was extremely moving. Even if Alice Sebold is a wonderful writer and keeps the story moving, it is obvious by the first page who the murder is. The mystery of this book had already been told, but the mystery of how the family and police find out is not.
Yes, you may be wondering why I seem to be going back and forth. Why this book is absolutely wretched or why this book is absolutely moving.
Well, to tell the truth, I do fondly think of Alice Sebold. She is an extraordinary writer, and this story line is something that I most likely would never have imagined. However, in this book, she puts in too many unstable situations. What happens to four unstable situations? They turn into a mush of emotions that a reader just can't distinguish.