The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

Susie looks down at the family from her heaven, living through them the life that she couldn't have. She watched as her family grieved and fell apart from the loss, watched as her mother left, watched her father and sister try to find her murderer, watched her siblings growing up and finding love. For seven to eight years, it was not only time for each of them attempt to grapple with the fact that Susie was gone forever, it was also for Susie herself to realize that it was time to let go. Ironically, though her death seemed to have caused her family to fall apart, it really allowed them to see the family as it was.

Susie's death did not just affect her and her family. It affected her friends, those who knew her and those in her neighbourhood, in ways not imaginable. It pulled together people who would have been nothing more than acquaintances and changed the lives of many several years down the road.

The book encompasses 8 years of grief, sorrow and happiness packed into 328 pages. It shows how even if situations may seem hopeless, it is still possible to have hopes and dreams which just might come true one day.

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I cried my way through 5 pieces of tissue paper while reading this book. Enjoy.