The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

*Warning there are some spoilers in this!*

I have been avoiding this book since high school, and I'm actually glad, but not for the reasons you might think. I believe that I wouldn't have enjoyed it back then like I did now. It was one of those books that when I finished reading it I had to remind myself what real life was because it had taken my mind to a whole new place and it took some prodding to bring myself back.
The Lovely Bones was unique and thought provoking, reminding me of the child-like senses I lost so long ago. I enjoyed the writing style, though my one critique is that towards the end the author did jump around alot and I finished the book wondering if I has missed a few things. The end was also a little weird in the fact that most of the characters seemed trapped in their teenage selves, though they should have grown up quite a bit, being adults at the commencement of the book. But those were two very small negatives in comparison to this very intriguing  novel. The concept wasn't really a new one... someone dies and is caught in the "in between"... but the execution was very different. I enjoyed how she incorporated Susie (the main character) into everyone's lives once she died and the details of Susie's "heaven" were different and thought-provoking. Towards the end, when Susie comes back to earth in Ruth's body and ends up sleeping with Ray, her high school crush, I had a weird flashback to my own high school boyfriend who died when he was only 15 and how I always wondered what it would have been like to see him again back then and what I would do and say. It was heart-warming to see Susie get the chance to kiss him one last time and let him know that she could see him and had loved him. I found the ending sad... I hated how her killer had simply died by an icicle falling on him and had never had to face punishment for his crimes, though I guess that is the reality of life in many cases. I also really wanted to know if her mom stayed for good and reconciled with her dad or if she eventually left again... that was kind of a loose end for me. But I loved the feeling I got from this book... did I mention I read it in 3 hours?? It was definitely a page turner. Ah the places only books can take us...