Monday, April 18, 2011

Review: Here Lies Bridget - Paige Harbison

Where I got it: Finished copy from Amazon Vine
Rating: 3 stars
Cover Rating: 5 stars (So fun ! Although I am mildly jealous of the models feet ;) The colors and the whole feel of the cover are great.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 18, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page Count: 219 p.

Bridget isn't the nicest person, but she rules with fear. Her dad is super famous so she figures she can do as she wishes, because clearly she is super popular. Mostly, people just want to avoid her and let her carry on with her delusions. When Bridget decides to teach them a lesson and accidentally crashes her car, she wakes up in a strange place. Here she must face the people she thought she knew. She has to face what she did to them that broke them inside and lead to them despising her. She is given a chance to fix everything, but sometimes saying sorry just can't undo what has been done.

It's really hard to enjoy a book, even though this was well-written,  with a character as completely wretched as Bridget. I can see why everyone in limbo wishes she had gone to hell. I don't believe she should have gotten a second chance to fix anything, even if it would benefit others. I was just so sick of Bridget's snotty self-entitlement. Besides the fact that Bridget was practically unbearable the whole time, I did end up enjoying the story. It was well written and the characters were wholly realistic. It was strange that her friends would stay with her even though they were constantly bullied by Bridget. I do feel bad for Bridget, because she feels like she is all alone in the world, when really there are tons of amazing people she just can't see that fact. This novel sort of remind me of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. There was the whole girl who was kind of terrible in life dies and must relive all of her missteps. It was a very moral tale, but Bridget didn't seem an entirely believe character to get it all so quick. I mean, she does but she doesn't. The whole story she constantly has little glitches where she can tell what she is doing is wrong but keeps doing it anyway, so that aspect of her makes it believable that she would want to change. She was just such a nasty person, and it's hard to believe that there are really people like that. The supporting characters were vague, mostly because or narrator (Bridget) couldn't care less about them, I still thought they deserved batter. Anna especially is a very odd and interesting character. So super nice, that I can see why it puts Bridget on edge. I recommend this to people who were planning on reading it already, and for those who can get past a spoiled main character. Paige Harbison is a great writer and I look forward to her sophomore novel.

First Line:
"I pressed down on the accelerator."


Favorite Line:
"I woke up with that feeling you get when you're staying in a hotel room or at a friend's house as a kid and there's that moment where you're not sure where you are."

3 comments:

  1. I just finished this and agree with you: Bridget was horrendous. The worst part is that--like you said--she *knows she's horrendous and just kinda accepts it until it's too late, you know? And yeah, the side characters were just never very real to me. Anyways, good review! Sorry for leaving my own review in the comments. XD

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  2. It was good, a nice book, a little cliché I think, but I like it. It did reminded me of Before I Fall a little bit. Nice Review

    -Mariana S
    http://smartgirls-read.blogspot.com/

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  3. Sorry you didn't like the main character that well, but I loved Before I Fall, so may have to check this out just for the premise. Nice, honest review :)

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