The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

At the age of fourteen, Susie Salmon is murdered by a man in the neighbourhood. With his odd habits and frequent customs, he seemed like a normal, unsuspecting and lonely man in the eyes of everyone in town.

In heaven, Susie watches her once inseparable family drift apart, becoming more and more detached since her death. She watches them attempt to cope with their terrible loss and move on in any way possible. As time goes on, Susie finds herself becoming a mere bystander. She watched as her parents break apart, as her friends grow up, as her siblings fall in love and as the entire town tries to piece her murder together to no avail. Only through letting go of her life on Earth can she find peace, but Susie isn't so inclined to do so. At least, not until she's ready to move on from her past.

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I found this book incredibly moving. The plot itself is touching because it highlights the struggles of dealing with a loss of a loved one. It's interesting to see how each character tries to cope with Susie's death and how Susie herself feels about it. Unlike most stories, the bad guy in this novel gets away, but I liked how the author somehow made the ending relatively happy, despite the murderer escaping. The whole novel is bittersweet with its dark atmosphere to begin with, then becoming increasingly light.

Right from the very beginning, the reader is told that Susie was murdered. I personally didn't like reading about her murder because I knew what was going to happen, and Susie's innocence just made it worse. Being told exactly what had happened during Susie's death, I found the police's tedious and long-winding investigation boring to read. It was hard not to get annoyed with them because of their bluntness, as the events are obvious to me. I think the story would've been more intriguing if the entire plot had not been revealed to the reader from the very start. Throughout the novel, it's hard not to sympathize with Susie, but the writer also makes it difficult at times to hate the murderer. Whenever you really start to hate him, the author talks about the murderer's sad past and forces you to empathize with him. Also, sometimes, the writer tends to talk in too much detail about irrelevant things, and not enough when detail is actually needed.

Though overall, The Lovely Bones is a compelling novel about family, romance, and a bit of mystery. It's worth a read if you're looking for a moving, sweet book. :)