The Lovely Bones captures audiences with its grisly ­beginning: the rape and murder of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon. The book is narrated by this very girl, and through her perspective, the reader ­experiences the different ­emotions caused by the tragedy and sees how it affects the lives of those close to her.

This novel delves into the unknown aspects of the murder: the changes that come later. The TV news rarely checks in on the family of a murdered person, but this work of fiction provides shocking ­insight into the reality of a ­murdered sister, daughter, friend, or acquaintance, and shows how a single terrible event can shape entire lives.

The book's strength lies in its character development and interactions. It moves forward and backward in time to allow the reader to get to know each character – their hopes, doubts, fears, and true self – in depth. Each is wrenched into strange and awful ways to cope with Susie's death.

Another strength of this book is its realism. Each character's behavior and how the murder changes it seems very natural and unforced.

I found the ending to be the greatest weakness. The novel ties up everything neatly with nothing to wonder about. The conclusion does a perfect job in leaving the reader with a sense of emptiness – not from the beautifully written, yet dark story, but from its weak ending that seems like a cop-out. Its abruptness leaves the reader thinking that the author was tired and overcome by laziness.

Also, the section where Susie describes living out her fantasy on Earth is disappointing, since the book is centered on the sad, dark truth of life, and this is a departure from this.

Although The Lovely Bones has its faults, it would be a mistake to pass it up. How each character evolves in the face of grief and terror is both heart-breaking and heart-warming at once.