Bones are not lovely; at least, they are not usually referred to as lovely. I thought that the author who came up with this title was either a horror writer or a dog. But in contrast to its seemingly morbid title, The Lovely Bones is quite a lovely book.
The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon, yes, like the fish. She is an average fourteen year-old girl who is murdered by her neighbor. After her death, Susie watches from heaven her friends, who both remember her and forget her, her murderer, trying to cover up his crime, and her family, slowly unraveling from her death.
Though it deals with dark themes like death and sin, and the search to find a murderer adds suspense, the voice of a teenage girl makes the story ultimately heartwarming. Through Susie, readers feel how precious family and friends are, and how the memory of just a single person can bring together so many people, binding them into something bigger than life itself. The Lovely Bones is a wonderful book about life and remembrance, a book never to be set down until the reader turns the very last, lovely page.