Pages: 224
Source: library
Buy It: Amazon / Borders / Barnes & Noble

Bridget Duke is the uncontested ruler of her school. The meanest girl with the biggest secret insecurities. And when new girl Anna Judge arrives, things start to fall apart for Bridget: friends don't worship as attentively, teachers don't fall for her wide-eyed "who me?" look, expulsion looms ahead and the one boy she's always loved—Liam Ward—can barely even look at her anymore.

When a desperate Bridget drives too fast and crashes her car, she ends up in limbo, facing everyone she's wronged and walking a few uncomfortable miles in their shoes. Now she has only one chance to make a last impression. Though she might end up dead, she has one last shot at redemption and the chance to right the wrongs she's inflicted on the people who mean the most to her.

And Bridget's about to learn that, sometimes, saying you're sorry just isn't enough…. --Goodreads

Bridget is the Queen B of her school- that doesn't mean people like her. She doesn't discover this until she's in limbo, sitting at a table with a group of people who hate her. With an extended allusion of Cinderella and A Christmas Carol, she is given a chance to remedy her ways with a deadline at midnight- after that the officials in limbo will decide the rest.

I can't really say that I liked this one. I'm torn between liking it and the complete opposite. Why? I feel like I've read this book before. It is such a huge cliche that I could predictably tell you everything about it. Though this cliched novel was enjoyable to read- I just felt I read it all before.

Paige Harbison's voice shined through it all. Her writing is what kept me turning the pages. From the very beginning, I knew that I loved her voice. Even when the voice was Bridget, the main character: Bridget was stuck up, bratty, and the most popular girl in school. And I hated her. However she does redeem herself in the end- that was many pages for me to put up with her. Liam was the star, I think. Harbison just made him pop off the page in each scene he was in.

The plot for me was too close to A Christmas Carol. Scrooge meet Bridget. Bridget meet Scrooge. Basically they were one in the same. However I was very impressed on the twist of the story: how the choices that you make can change your entire future. There was a great ending that almost made me cry.

Overall, this book was not for me.

First Sentence:

"I pressed down on the accelerator."

-Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison, p. 7

Rating:

Cover: 4
Characters: 2
Plot: 2
Ending: 4
Writing Style: 4
Overall: 3





Rated PG for dark themes.