The Lovely Bones

Susie Salmon was never found.

Susie Salmon was raped and murdered by her neighbour. She was never found. Not even her body. Written in the perspective of a murdered child, the story bring us around her family, how they passed each day, trying to look for the lost child, grieving and searching for more clues apart from the little evidence left by Susie Salmon.

As days passed, Susie watched her family, her sister, her friends, her parents and her murderer grew up, apart and getting away from the murder.

The reader's review:
Very good story. Never before a was told by a murdered person's view before.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

Almost Moon

“The moon is whole all the time, but we can't see always see it. What we see is an almost moon or not-quite moon. The rest is hiding just out of view, but there's only one moon, so we follow it in the sky. We plan our lives based on its rhythms and tides.”

Almost moon. That's how Helen's father described her mother, who is agoraphobic. Helen's father chose to escape life by ending his old life leaving Helen to tend her mom in her old age.

The story started in the evening when Helen received a call from her mother's neighbour, Mrs. Castle, saying her mom needs to be put into old folks home for making all their lives easier. Helen's mom, Clair was once a beauty, who modeled lingerie in her youth, slowly loses her youthfulness and started to withdraw from the society. What triggered Helen to kill Clair is more than just hate. It's a combination of many incidents as the pages were turned.

The reader's review:
"When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily."
First sentence of the book already captured the one's attention. This book explored the complexity of one family where love and hate comes in so many different ways.

Overall:
3.5 stars rating (out of 5 stars)