mommy reads: the lovely bones

i picked up this book to read in 2009 after we first moved up here.  i was bored and pregnant and needed something to do.  i really enjoyed the book and i've been wanting to see the movie since it came out- we rented it last weekend and i decided to reread the book.  in a week.  i'm impressed with myself.

susie salmon (like the fish) is raped and murdered by her creepy neighbor in december 1973.  with the exception of a little introduction, susie is basically dead for the entire story which makes for very interesting subject matter.  ever wonder how your friends and family would carry on after your death?  the rest of the book follows susie's friends, family and her killer as she looks down on all of them from her heaven.  her sister, forever living in susie's shadow, her brother too young to understand, her father overcome with grief, her mother pretending like nothing ever happened, her killer fooling everyone.  

i won't go too much into detail because i don't want to give away what happens.  i can image that a lot of people may not like this book based on the way it ends- i thought the ending was fitting though- ending any other way would have just dragged things out.  eventually everyone, even susie is able to move on from her death.  i know this review seems vague, but really- i just don't want to give too much away.

i also saw the movie.  definitely not as good as the book.  being that the majority of the book is looking down on earth from heaven- it's just kind of hard to portray in a movie.  plus, the book is almost 300 pages long- a lot of stuff just didn't make the cut.  i thought saoirse ronan was perfectly cast as susie, susan sarandon made a perfect grandma lynn, and stanley tucci made mr. harvey even creepier than i thought possible. 

if you're going to see the movie- you should definitely read the book.  much better.

book:  4/5

movie:  2.5/5