Murder, Love, and Family

For years my friends have been telling me to read this book, but the way they described it never seemed to entice me: "It's about this girl, who gets murdered, but she can still see her family and she's telling you about them." However, from the very first line, Alice Sebold had me reading. I couldn't stop, and I found myself trying to shout and warn Suzie or Lindsey every time something bad was about to happen. When we find out the horrible crimes that George Harvey commits, I wanted to jump in the book, run to the Salmons' house, and scream that he was the real murderer. It was so realistic--the writing captured me and made me feel like I was in their world.

Sebold did a great job switching from scenes and flashing back to previous events in the characters' lives. Obviously, when Suzie is telling the story, she has already been murdered by George Harvey, but Sebold is still able to bring us back to a time when Suzie was alive to show us the type of person she is. We grow up with Suzie through events that she must overcome, we fall in love with Ray Singh just as Suzie does, and we learn to love Lindsey and Buckley just like any older sister does.

The story is one of the most emotionally deep book I've ever read. The characters were well-developed and loveable--so much that it was hard not to imagine yourself there with them, living through the heartaches, and dealing with moving on. It's a story about love, family, death, and so much more.