Book Review: "Here Lies Bridget" by Paige Harbison

Summary from BN.com: 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….

This is the story that every person who has been bullied by a mean girl wishes could actually happen. We wonder why people act the way they do and sometimes feel like a very drastic action has to happen before they see the error of their ways. In this story, one of the meanest girls in school has that happen to her and we get a first hand seat to her transformation.

We always know that there's a reason why people act the way they do and bullies usually are the way they are because of events in their home life. Bridget is the queen bee of her school and she's become that way by being mean, callous and vindictive but yet she's still extremely popular. Suddenly things start crashing down when a new girl comes to town. Bridget starts realizing that she's hurting other people but she cares more about saving herself. When she just can't take it anymore, she goes on a drive and wakes up in limbo. In a "Christmas Carol" twist, she's given the opportunity to see how her decisions have affected those that she's hurt, from friends to teachers to parents. The decisions she makes afterwards show that she's not that bad of a person, just one that's been hurt in the past and doesn't know how to handle it correctly.

While I really enjoyed this story, I only had two very minor qualms with it. One was the lack of Paige's father in the story. He is mentioned several times and it's made obvious that part of the reason why Bridget acts the way she does is because of the relationship she has with him. However it would have been nice, especially with the last few chapters of the story, to have him show up in her life. That brings to the second tiny qualm: I wish the book had been longer. It's a really good story but it's quite short and I would have loved to have more meat in the story. Still for what it was, it was very good and I think that Harbison did an excellent job of bringing Bridget to life (and death).

This is Harbison's debut and I absolutely loved it. She's written a very good story that a lot of teens will relate to and enjoy. I really loved seeing things from Bridget's point of view as I feel that it helped to understand her a lot better. I can't wait to read her next book as I feel that it will be just as good as this one if not better.

Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison is published by Harlequin Teen (2011)

This review copy was provided for a blog tour with The Teen Book Scene