LOVELY BONES

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, speaking to us from heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counsellors to help newcomers to adjust, and friends to room with. Everything she wants appears as soon as she thinks of it - except the thing she wants most: to be back with the people she loved on earth.

From heaven, Susie watches. She sees her happy suburban family implode after her death, as each member tries to come to terms with the terrible loss. 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.

The first time I watched the trailer for this movie, I was totally amazed. When I found out it was a book, I ordered it right away. But I didn't pick it up off my bookshelf until this week. And wow, I absolutely loved it.

Lovely Bones is a hauntingly beautiful and very moving story about a young girl who dies but can't let go of the people she left behind. The heaven she lives in is beautiful and peaceful, but all Susie wants to do is watch her family, neighbours, the man who killed her, and the boy she loved but didn't get a chance to pursue. She watches her family break -- as they each try to deal with her disappearance and death in their own way -- but is unable to do anything to help them get closure or even move on.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though the subject matter is heartbreaking and I felt really sad a lot of the time, it was still a lovely ghost story. I'm really glad that I've read it before watching the movie too. :)