I so wished I had read this book before watching the film years ago. The film did a great job of setting up this beautiful, emotional story, but to have experienced these words and characters in this book first probably would have made it hit a little harder. Grief and loss are such powerful emotions, especially when accompanied by such a tragedy and Sebold illustrated the experience in a very close-to-home way without it coming off as exploitative. The book doesn't rely solely on sadness and gloom and depression, though those are all very natural things to feel after loss. The book doesn't constantly go out of its way to portray Susie as this great innocence lost and the symbology behind that; it focuses on the people who get left behind and have to pick up the pieces. It's a piece on life as well as death. I like that some things were left unresolved. Yes Susie's family will never get closure and see Mr. Harvey behind bars, but such a thing was never important to their survival as a family. It was all about  how they communicated their grief with each other and what they each took away from this experience. 

However, 1 star deducted for weird ghost sex at the end. That sure was...something.