From Amazon.com...
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. This is Susie Salmon. Watching from heaven, Susie sees her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet... "
This book turned out to be something different than I thought it was going to be — which isn't always a bad thing. Lovely Bones is unlike anything else I've read. I enjoyed reading it, but was disappointed with the ending. But this could be because this book was much deeper than I had anticipated, I was prepared.
As deep as this book was, and as much promise as it had, I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters — or really the plot for that matter. Not that it wasn't a good book, it could simply be because of my life at the moment. The first chapter was so emotional, I was reading it the first day of Choir when the professor was taking roll. (With 100 people it takes a while), so I cracked open the first page and began to read. Right before he got to my name, my face became contorted and Dr. X said, "Reagan, what on earth are you reading?" If you've read the book you know at which part I am speaking of. But after that, the emotion of the book ceased to exist. And while I cared about Susie and Susie's family — I felt... detached. But maybe that's just me.
My favorite part was the epilogue (weird, I know). It ended the book well and took care of all the loose ends (not in the way I wanted, but I'll survive). It also made me think about Heaven and the Dead — it was a very powerful epilogue. I am very excited to see the movie when it comes out and to see how they portray Heaven.