Here Lies Bridget
Paige Harbison
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: January 18, 2011
Pages: 219
Source: Publisher

Rating: 3 stars

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….

Here Lies Bridget was a book I was super looking forward to – I loved the idea of the premise and it was from Harlequin Teen, which is one of my absolute favorite imprints. The majority of the book just didn’t do it for me, but I absolutely loved the last 50 pages and the growth they brought with them.

The first half really just didn’t do it for me. It was simply Bridget going through life being a snot to everyone and treating everyone absolutely horrible, and I really did not like her as a character. I am not a fan of shallow, conceited, witchy characters. The next chunk was reliving her being a witch, with a few touching scenes thrown in. I liked that section a wee bit more, but not much. The last 50 or so pages I really enjoyed – while it was really predictable as to what would happen, I thought it was super sweet and cute.

Besides Bridget, there were quite a few characters I really liked – particularly Liam and Meredith. I thought both were such good souls and before that last chunk, it was the scenes with them that I was looking forward too.

While it started out on a bumpy ride, I really did end up liking Here Lies Bridget. It wasn’t my favorite read or one I would be jumping out of a chair to go get, but the ending was really sweet.

Cover Rating: B – I like this cover, I like the layout. It’s super fresh and fun.