The Lovely Bones Review

There’s two types of fiction. The first one is the Sherlock Holmes kind: fast, never wanting to put down, exhilarating plot. The second, the harder to read of the two, is slow and sometimes requires you to put the book down to mull over its thoughts. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is of the second kind. It’s deep, thoughtful, and leaves a mark. You can’t read this in one setting; it might turn out to be mundane or you will never understand the implicit purpose behind the book. 

It begins with a chilling premise: a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon is murdered, and the story is told from her perspective as she watches life unfold from heaven. It’s a premise that sounds unsettling, but Sebold handles it with extraordinary grace, weaving a tale that’s more about healing, memory, and the endurance of love than just the tragedy of death.

Sebold’s writing is deeply emotional, poetic without being flowery, and often surprisingly hopeful. Her prose allows readers to feel every pang of grief the Salmon family experiences, yet she never lingers too long in darkness. The unique narrative structure—told from Susie’s perch in a sort of limbo—adds a layer of surreal beauty. Readers observe the world moving on, siblings growing up, parents drifting apart, and an unsolved murder quietly shaping all of it. Somehow, despite the heavy subject matter, Sebold keeps the story suspended in something almost light: a persistent yearning for peace and connection.

One of the novel’s most powerful aspects is its portrayal of grief. Each family member copes differently—Susie’s father becomes obsessed with finding her killer, while her mother withdraws completely. These reactions feel honest and raw. The book doesn’t offer neat resolutions but rather a sense that healing is uneven, deeply personal, and always ongoing.

The Lovely Bones is not a thriller in the traditional sense, though there is tension. It’s not solely a coming-of-age story, though themes of adolescence, identity, and growing up are central. What makes the novel so compelling is its emotional clarity, its portrayal of innocence lost, and the quiet resilience of those left behind. Sebold’s debut is bold, unflinching, and tender—a heartbreaking yet luminous story about love that refuses to die.