Several years have passed since the publication of Alice Sebold's most famous novel, but back when it was released, The Lovely Bones hit the literary world in a perhaps surprising way. Bluntly dealing with the effects of a young girl's rape and murder and her family's reactions, Alice Sebold uses interesting writing techniques to delve into different viewpoints and point out the enormous impact of such a horrifying family disaster. 
 In case you haven't read this book yet, it is easy to enter it with wrong expectations. Is it a gruesome, horrifying and tear-jerking account of one family's devastating fate? At some points yes, but overall it is written with a rather hopeful undertone, emphasizing the author's intention to balance out the different elements of the story. Early on in the novel, the main character Susie Salmon is raped and killed on her way home from school, with her soul ascending to heaven. Alice Sebold creates a comforting and soothing image of the heaven Susie's soul rests in to compensate the horrible time Susie's family has to go through in the wake of her death. The book has been confronted with very mixed opinions; after all, even on Goodreads you will find about as many 5-star ratings as you can find 1-star ratings. 
 Susie's voice accompanies the reader throughout the entirety of the novel, yet she often withdraws into the position of an observer; Sebold presents us with the family's reactions and the events surrounding the search for Susie's real murderer, but rarely gives Susie a chance to comment on what she is capable of seeing from her position in heaven. Thus it may be difficult to relate with any of the characters, even though the author still succeeds in painting a convincing picture of a family's mourning and their longing to find peace again which can only be achieved by the murderer's arrest and punishment. In addition, the narrative is difficult to get into since Susie seems to be capable of reading the minds of her family with no explanation given; apparently Alice Sebold expected us to accept and embrace Susie's ability, but it left me disturbed because Susie kept switching between being an observer and a mind reader. 
 Susie's heaven in the 2009 movie adaption. 
 If you have watched the movie, then you should give another thought to reading the book since it approaches the story in a more insightful and moving way than the movie succeeded to do. On the other hand, if you only know the book, you will not regret not watching the movie since it isn't an adaption you could necessarily call 'successful' (or you may watch the trailer which spoils everything that happens in the movie). 
 Even apart from all the criticism this novel certainly deserved, it can still be recommended for quite a lot of strengths: in the writing of her book, Alice Sebold knew how to convincingly portray a grieving family; she knew how to create a heaven without losing herself in religious details and possibly contradicting descriptions which can easily occur with such a difficult topic. As many readers also pointed out, the first 20% of the novel were mesmerizing and intriguingly written, and during the rest of the book it constantly loses its appeal, then picks it up again only to lose it again after another couple of pages. You may love it or hate it, every reader might find a different approach to either embrace the beautiful aspects of the novel (which were definitely present), or to criticize the rather offsetting moments. (To give an example, right before the ending a scene occured which I had to completely block out of my memory because it made me want to throw my book against the wall in frustration.) 
 One of the book's greatest qualities may be that it somehow manages to stay with you. However, even if the premise interests you there is no guarantee you will love the book, just as you may like it even though the premise sounds dull to you. Personally, I liked the novel (definitely more than the movie), but neither did it convince nor annoy me. If you haven't yet, you may want to wait with reading the book until you really feel in the proper mood for it.