Title: Here Lies BridgetAuthor: Paige Harbison
Genre/Audience: Young Adult
Publication: 2011
Source: Library
Summary: Bridget Duke is a mean girl. A very, very mean girl. She also happens to be the ruler of her high school - girls want to be her, guys want to date her, etc. Then, a new girl appears at school, and people stop worshipping Bridget like they did before. So one night, Bridget, feeling desperate and anxious of losing her crown, drives too fast and crashes her car. She ends up in limbo, where all the people she's hurt the most appear in front of her to judge her and decide her fate. She's forced to relive certain incidents but this time, seeing things from their perspectives. She will attempt to fix all the horrible things she's done but the question remains: can they forgive her? Is 'sorry' enough to fix the past?
My Thoughts: The concept for this story was interesting, but I feel like I've seen it before... like in Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver. You know, the mean girl dying and reliving the past to try and fix it and live instead. So yeah, it didn't seem entirely original to me. I thought it was pretty fast paced and I was interested to see how it would all turn out. However, I had some problems with the book. First and foremost was Bridget. She was unrealistically mean. I know that there are really nasty and mean girls (trust me, I went to high school with a few of them), but Bridget was beyond brutal to the point that I couldn't really see someone doing a lot of the things she did. Additionally, when she went back to relive the most horrendous moments, she decided to change in the blink of an eye. Someone as mean and nasty as she was does not just see their meanest moments one more time and realize how bad they are. I really do enjoy stories where someone changes their ways to become a better person, but I like to see a real transformation occur, not 'insta-change,' like Bridget. I do think this book will appeal to many YA readers as it did have a cool concept, but I personally felt it was a bit flawed. I certainly didn't dislike it, but I would have liked to see more of a transformation and a somewhat toned down Bridget. I will read more books by Paige Harbison if she writes more in the future. This was a good debut effort. And by the way, I love and adore her mother, author Beth Harbison, who wrote a favorite of mine, Shoe Addicts Anonymous, and many others.
My Rating: 3/5
Does not seem like something I would be interested in reading. I don't like when the reader is told the MC has changed instead of reading and "seeing" how they have changed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing this, love good old honest reviews. I think the idea of a book from the "mean girl"'s pow is really interesting but doesn't sound like it is for me.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pass for me. Thanks for the awesome honest review.
ReplyDeleteI had deja vu as well while reading this one, but it was a decent debut. Will be curious to see what Paige comes up with next.
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree about quick changes...not at all realistic.
ReplyDeleteThis does seem like an "overdone" plot, too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I've read good and bad reviews on this one. I'm glad to read your 3/5 based review. And yes, when you mentioned that the idea is the same with Before I Fall, I'm starting to really doubt the likelihood of me liking this one but at the same time, I might also like it because I absolutely loved BIF. Great review!
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