Jennifer & I watched the movie recently, so I thought I might read the book. The movie seemed overly condensed, like too much had been streamlined or omitted to fit the 136-minute running time.

(I was right: quite a bit had been left out. And other pieces had been rearranged in strange ways.)

This isn't a murder mystery. Susie Salmon doesn't drop clues from heaven to lead Detective Fenerman to her body, or to the killer.

It's a story about people and relationships, much more than events. Maybe that's why so many reviews complain that it has no plot. It does, just not the kind they were expecting.

A good book. (Also a very sad one.)