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Here Lies Bridget

by Paige Harbison (Goodreads Author)

3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 · rating details · 855 ratings · 267 reviews

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 an...more

Paperback, 219 pages

Published January 18th 2011 by Harlequin (first published November 18th 2010)

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2011 Debut Authors (Young Adult and Middle Grade Lit.)

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Jan 15, 2011 Isamlq rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-galley

Oh, to describe Bridget. Loathsome. No? How about hateful? Self-absorbed? Spoiled? Or just plain old mean. I guess one word isn’t enough to describe how much I loathed to see her wrap everyone around her finger. Reading of her exploits reminded me of Lohan in Mean Girls. The similarity ends there because while the movie entertained me… had me laughing and empathizing with where the meannies were coming from, Bridget was another matter altogether.

The It girl’s meanness was too much for me.In the...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Luu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult, i-recommend, stand-alone, authors-to-watch

Bridget je bitch. Nedávno som videla krásny preklad tohto slova do slovenčiny - beštia. Takže Bridget je beštia. Nie je to blonďatá-prsatá kráľovná strednej školy - stačil jej titul princeznej. Je to ten typ dievčaťa, čo púta všetky pohľady, dav na chodbách sa pred ňou rozostupuje, je z bohatej rodiny, usporadúva najpopulárnejšie párty, manipuluje svojimi priateľkami, je drzá, egoistická, zahľadená do seba, klame, okato flirtuje, a hlavná hrdinka ju od prvého stretnutia nenávidí.

Oh, hups, Bridge...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Laura Kreitzer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-publisher, 2011, ebook

I’m on the fence with this book because the premise is quite intriguing, but I feel like it didn’t come across as smoothly as it should have. Hence my three-star rating. Let me explain. The main character, Bridget, is a spoiled, controlling bitch. Normally I’m not one to throw words like that out there, but trust me when I say there are dirtier words I want to call her. I know it’s to show how awful this girl truly is, but it felt like pulling teeth—I literally wanted to reach through my Nook an...more I’m on the fence with this book because the premise is quite intriguing, but I feel like it didn’t come across as smoothly as it should have. Hence my three-star rating. Let me explain. The main character, Bridget, is a spoiled, controlling bitch. Normally I’m not one to throw words like that out there, but trust me when I say there are dirtier words I want to call her. I know it’s to show how awful this girl truly is, but it felt like pulling teeth—I literally wanted to reach through my Nook and choke her. She’s rude to all her friends, she treats her stepmother like she’s the evil witch of the west, and shrugs it all off like she’s so wonderful that her behavior is excusable. No—wait. That isn’t right either, because it’s as if she doesn’t even think she’s being mean. There is no excuse because what she’s doing isn’t wrong. Or mean. I guess what I’m trying to convey is that her meanness isn’t believable. Let me give you an example . . .

Bridget’s father is a famous sports announcer and is away from home the majority of the time. Because of that, her stepmother has become, basically, her sole guardian. This woman is sweet, kind, and always pleasant to her—overly even. Many times through the book you see this woman’s tender and endearing side shine. How Bridget treats her—this person who’s been in her life since she was in elementary school and taken care of her—is, like I said before, unbelievable. How anyone can be that blatantly mean blows my mind. Especially to someone who’s been there for you.

I also don’t understand how she can be so oblivious to everyone around her—emotionally I mean. I understand that her behavior was necessary so the author could get to the premise of the book: what happens when you are in limbo and everyone there wants you to go to hell? But did it really take 80% of the book to do that? No. Was it well written? Sure, absolutely. That’s not the point. The reason I wanted to read this book was because of how it was projected to me through the summary. Instead, I’m busy reading this book through the point of view of a person I detest. Not someone who’s having their actions shoveled back to them as they await the answer of Heaven or Hell.

Now, here’s where the book finally sunk its proverbial claws in. Bridget has to literally step into the shoes of those she has hurt and relive her snideness through them. It’s an eye-opener, of course. How she didn’t see it before this still blows my mind. This part of the book was my favorite. We get to see all these different points-of-view; this is where the book really picked up. I was turning pages quicker at this point, even though most of the first part of the book, or scenes from it, are relived, it’s always from the point-of-view of someone who isn’t as annoying as Bridget (thank you very much). Then came the decision. Or judgment, if you will. This part I felt was rushed but I enjoyed it nonetheless. And there was even a nice little twist at the end! Overall, this book was enjoyable. Other reviewers didn’t endure the issues I did with this book, but I can only take so much inconceivable idiocy and obvious disregard for what’s in front of a main character. That’s just a preference of mine, I suppose.
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Mar 02, 2013 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Lovely book! I totally enjoyed reading it, although it is not perfect.
Well, let's start like this.
In the first half of the book Bridget is nothing but a bitch. Like, a real one!

I wanted to slap her really hard. She totally deserves it.

She is mean to her friends, to the boy who dumped her ~~because she is such a mean bitch.~~ Her stepmother tries her best to comfort Bridget but this little... is unthankful and blaiming Meredith for all her problems although it is only her own fault.

But then she ha...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, chick-lit, young-adult, lent-out

I really, really loved this book. I was a bit concerned that it would be hard to like given that the main character acts so badly for the first half but it seriously surprised me. In no time at all, I found myself empathising with Bridget and willing everything to work out for her. When Bridget crashes her car in a fit of madness, she's sent to a boardroom full of people she has terrorized during her life. From there, she literally steps into the shoes of the people she has wronged and sees hers...more

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Jun 28, 2011 Kirsty (overflowing library) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books

Here lies Bridget is the book for you if you love Gossip Girl, mean girls (the film) or Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall. It is fast paced, totally engaging with some brilliant characters.

The thing that struck me the most about this book was how much of an utter bitch the main character was. Quite honestly I hated her throughout most of the book and I felt sorry for everyone who have been unfortunate enough to have had to come across her at some point in their lives. The first part of the story fol...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Ashleigh Paige rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-great-shelf-of-awesome, arc-via-amazon-vine, damn-book-made-me-cry, wearing-my-nostalgia-glasses

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

Bridget Duke, daughter of a famous former athlete and current sports commentator, rules her school with an iron fist. Everyone knows her name and either loves or fears her, and that's just how she likes it. After a new girl comes to school and Bridget's popularity/power begins to wane and be exposed for what it is, she does something stupid and ends up crashing her car. It almost kills her, but not quite. Instead, she goes to limbo, where six people wait t...more Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

Bridget Duke, daughter of a famous former athlete and current sports commentator, rules her school with an iron fist. Everyone knows her name and either loves or fears her, and that's just how she likes it. After a new girl comes to school and Bridget's popularity/power begins to wane and be exposed for what it is, she does something stupid and ends up crashing her car. It almost kills her, but not quite. Instead, she goes to limbo, where six people wait to judge her. Through their eyes, she sees all that she's done and feels how much she hurt them. She has a chance to return to life and right her wrongs, but that's only if her judges decide she deserves a second chance.

I hadn't heard anything about this book or even gone looking for anything like it until I saw it pop up on Amazon Vine and I decided it sounded like a fun read. It sounded a little bit like a famed YA book called Before I Fall (which, I shall clarify, I have never read), but I was willing to give it a try. Thank goodness I did! I have a new favorite, readers, and its name is Here Lies Bridget!

You won't mistake Bridget for anything but a mean girl for a second. If the blurb doesn't make it clear, the way she acts towards people in it will. Treating her well-meaning stepmother like a pile of dung, embarrassing her teacher and getting him in trouble, getting others into big trouble for things they never did,... This list could go on for a while, people. I'm not sure it's possible to read this book and not hate Bridget. I think she was a great example of how to write an unlikable character and make them interesting enough to keep reading about. Oh, and how to write teens that actually sound like teens. Authors should takes notes on this one and you bet I'm taking them, both as a future author and a teen. Because of Bridget, I'm seriously reconsidering how I treat people.

While my jaw spent the first half of the book on the floor at the horrid things Bridget does, I spent the second half bawling like a newborn child. It was always over little, sentimental things too. Bridget and her stepmother watching a movie and eating fondue together. How Liam missed the girl Bridget used to be. Bridget calling her dad. Meredith's... well, that would be a spoiler, so I won't say it. Mr. Ezhno's embarrassment by Bridget and other students. Bridget's missing her friendship with Liam. Every other thing made me cry and I swear, I don't normally cry this much. I keep saying that in my reviews and I swear, it's true. In the last eight months, I've ran across more books that made me emotional than I did in the sixteen years and seven months before it. This a good sign not just for my reading choices or this book, but for the young adult genre as a whole.

The funny thing is that in real life, I know about five Bridgets. There's probably a proper trope name for it, but I define a Bridget (n.) as a person who is popular through putting others down and using that to get to the top. Students and teachers alike are forced to endure their antics for fear of being the next target or receive worse treatment than before. However, the Bridget is only tolerated for a certain amount of time. It may be funny at first, but it gets old quickly and then their actions don't get the same reaction as they once did. They Bridget may or may not adapt to this. Might I add that four of the five Bridgets I know are male?

The ending was where a few issues popped up and started bugging me. I felt that the last twenty pages of so were rushed; the book needed to be a little bit longer so the reader could see more of a long-term effect. All of her apologies are given in the span of twelve hours and we needed more than just that. How did Mr. Ezhno and Brett respond to Bridget's apologies? We don't know. What about her dad?

Readers are also left with little to no idea of who or what Anna Judge is or was. Is she a manifestation of karma? Was she a real girl once, one of the mean girls now cursed to help other mean girls see what they did to others and leave when her job is done? The idea of Anna and who/what she is would make an even better story and seeing Harbison one day write a book to cover that would make me the jump-around-and-scream kind of happy.

This book is (and I hope I'm using the word correctly) a paradox. It was so good that I want to reread it until I'm sick, but I'm scared to read it a second time because I'm scared it won't have the same emotional impact it had on me the first time around. Bridget is an interesting character, but she is also very unlikable. If you have trouble putting aside the dislike of a narrator or main character for the sake of an interest, be wary of this book. I did it and found a book I never expected to love yet love anyways. Let's just hope I don't start calling the Bridgets in my life Bridgets out loud!(less)

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Apr 26, 2012 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, ya-fiction, yalsa-challenge-2012

Why I picked it up: It’s on the list for a YALSA reading challenge I’m doing.

Bridget is not a nice person. She’s actually far worse than “not nice,” but I have my limits. She doesn’t just think the world revolves around her, she expects it to. She wants to be the center of attention and the prettiest, etc, and she crosses all kinds of lines to make sure she stays there. The book starts with Bridget in a car crash not sure if she’s going to live, then backs up to give you a look at the past 2 wee...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Charlotte Phillips rated it 1 of 5 stars

Did I fall in love with this book? No not particularly. It was just overly cliche and very hard to read. There just seemed to be a lot of hard to hear topics written within it's pages. Perhaps it was just me being over sensitive to it, which is entirely possible. But for me the book was just too predictable for my own liking. It was clear what was meant to happen and what was going to happen. It very much had the feel of the christmas carol right from the beginning. The main character playing as...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Justine Martignetti rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bridget Duke is the cruel dictator of her private high school. She is a spoiled and completely selfish teen-aged girl, yet people still bow down to her. She has two best friends who she treats poorly, but they don't want to get on her bad side. The author of this book, Paige Harbison does a very good job at illustrating this character and gives us a good insight on her thoughts. Harbison starts off the book with Bridget recklessly driving home after a bad day, and thinking about what her peers w...more Bridget Duke is the cruel dictator of her private high school. She is a spoiled and completely selfish teen-aged girl, yet people still bow down to her. She has two best friends who she treats poorly, but they don't want to get on her bad side. The author of this book, Paige Harbison does a very good job at illustrating this character and gives us a good insight on her thoughts. Harbison starts off the book with Bridget recklessly driving home after a bad day, and thinking about what her peers would think if she just ended it all right now and drove off the road. She thinks about who would feel guilty? Who would show up at her funeral? And what would they say? Immediately from the start the reader could tell that Bridget is a character that's so obsessed with other people’s opinions about her. As she comes to the realization that she doesn't even like herself and the ugly truth that others don't care much about her either, she realizes that it is too late and her car is already aiming off the road towards a huge tree, looking into her death.
The book then flashes back to a few days previous to her suicide attempt. These few chapters go into detail about her life and the "horrible days" she’s been having. This part of the book shows Bridget's selfish feelings and some guilty ones. She is rude and inconsiderate of others, mainly her stepmother, her tech teacher and her best friends. The day after her party we go back to her crazy suicide scene, and then we arrived in limbo. Bridget wakes up to five people at a conference, typically not the best five people for her to be in intervention with. She must step into all of those five people's shoes and face the cruel moments she had with them and understand their feelings. While seeing herself and the way she treated others, she comes to realization that she’s not the person she thought she was or the person she wants to be. She got her Tech teacher fired by making up a rumor about him and her stepmother having an affair. She calls her bulimic best friend fat very often. She’s rude to the new girl Anna because everyone likes Anna better than Bridget. She constantly yells at her stepmother that's trying to relate and look after her. And realizes that the boy she is still in love with can't be with her because he misses the girl she used to be. All of these five people are the ones that decide if Bridget gets to live and survive her crash, or die.
I very much enjoyed this book and found it interesting. Harbison does a wonderful job at showing the emotions of each character. This book shows the views of Bridget and then transforms into the way other people view her. Harbison made the main character look at her own life through other people’s eyes and made her step in the shoes of the people she has hurt over the past years, literally. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. I loved the structure of the book it had a unique style and it was very descriptive.
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Oct 24, 2011 Sita Sargeant rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: I don't know :(

Recommended to Sita by: Tia

Shelves: teen-romance, young-adult, reviewed

I had never even heard of this book before I picked it up at Tia’s house and I decided to read it on a lazy Saturday afternoon. One thing I got out of this. I just wasted my Saturday afternoon. I’m serious, this book was that bad. The only parts that I actually liked were when she stepped into the shoes and became someone else. Other than that. It was pretty bad. So why did I continue reading it? I really don’t know.

So what was this boring/terrible/annoying book about, tell us in a sentence? (vi...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book actually made me cry. It was so hard to restrain myself from letting the tears fall. Towards the end, in particular, was most emotional.
"Bridget Duke is the uncontested ruler of her school"-snobby, posh little high school princess
"The meanest girl with the biggest secret insecurities. But when new girl Anna Judge arrives, things start to fall apart for Bridget-her friends dont worship her as attentively, teachers don't fall for Bridget's wide-eyed 'who me?' look, and the one boy she's...more This book actually made me cry. It was so hard to restrain myself from letting the tears fall. Towards the end, in particular, was most emotional.
"Bridget Duke is the uncontested ruler of her school"-snobby, posh little high school princess
"The meanest girl with the biggest secret insecurities. But when new girl Anna Judge arrives, things start to fall apart for Bridget-her friends dont worship her as attentively, teachers don't fall for Bridget's wide-eyed 'who me?' look, and the one boy she's always loved, Liam Ward, can barely even look at her"
"When a desperate Bridget drives too fast and crashes her car, she ends up in limbo-facing everyone she's wronged. Though she might end up dead, Bridget has one last shot at redemption and to right the wrongs she's inflicted on the people who mean the most to her."

"But Bridget's about to learn that sometimes, saying you're sorry just isn't enough..."

Surprisingly, Anna Judge turns out to be non-existent however present in Bridget's life. I believe Anna stands for the crucial time in Bridget's life in which Bridget confronts her true self, and she observes the two paths set out in front of her. She is faced with determining what sort of person she is now and who she truly is inside, as well as who she wants to become.
I believe the phrase- you dont really know what you have until its gone- refers to the love between Bridget and Liam, the fact that he left her because he felt a change in her, not the same Bridget he once loved, but all along he has still loved her and missed her. As they are reunited towards the end, a great surge of relief passes over the reader as we too experience Bridget's desire as well as regret for her past actions.

- She had always wished to be Cinderella, but just then, she had realised, she really was the evil stepmother instead.

A football match, bulimia, cute shoes, coronas, vitamin waters, Meredith, Cinderella, insults, bathroom cubicle, rumours, bananas, Miche, gossip, the boardroom, death, passion, realisation, determination.(less)

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Jul 10, 2011 Taliah Mahoney rated it 2 of 5 stars

There are only three books I have picked up and not finished in my entire life, and this came incredibly close to becoming one of them. The only reason it did not was because I thought maybe, just maybe , the book would redeem itself in the end. It most definitely did not.

I picked this book up purely because I had a long bus ride home with nothing to read and it was on special. Bridget is the main character, and while we are warned that she is an awful person, it is repeatedly enforced page aft...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Kate McMurry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dramedy, ya-fantasy, young-adult-fantasy

A YA dramedy about a Mean Girl's redemption from beyond the grave

Bridget Duke has been the unofficial queen of her high school for years, and she's mean as a snake. But suddenly a new girl named Anna Judge arrives, and Bridget's world starts to cave in. Where are her worshipful slaves? Where are the complacent teachers ready to accept any excuse Bridget gives them? And why can't she hold onto her boyfriend Liam Ward, who was her childhood best friend and the only person she's actually ever cared...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Here Lies Bridget takes on the meanest girl in school... and gives her a dose of her own medicine. Bridget Duke is hands down the Queen Bee of the school and knows that she is in charge. She has the adoring girl pack, the teachers wrapped around her little finger, and the attention of all the guys that she can handle. But when a new girl appears on the scene, Bridget begins to lose grasp on everything that she has "worked" so hard to get. When Bridget gets in a car accident, she realizes that th...more

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May 17, 2011 Kate L rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love reading about good juicy villains. You know, the ones you looooooove to hate, whether they be the school's horrid yet mesmerizing queen bee such as Regina George from Mean Girls, or the freakin crazy anarchist out to destroy just for fun a la Heath Ledger's The Joker. Then of course you have your Heathcliffs (yes, I consider him a villain, get over it :), your Voldemorts, your Prince Humperdinks, the list goes on. Unfortunately, Bridget is not one who, in my opinion, can be counted among...more

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May 09, 2011 Jodi rated it 1 of 5 stars

Oh dear, I really didn't care for this. Seeing as I LOVED Before I Fall (which I am way overdue on writing my review on), I thought that this would be similar and relatively enjoyable. Not so much. Aside from the writing being pretty sub-standard, the storyline just bored me. I found myself skimming through the pages just not finding much interest any where.
The big problem was definitely our narrator, Bridget. She is just SO unlikeable! Many people complained about Samantha being unlikeable in...more

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May 02, 2011 Jodi Papazian rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-reads

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Apr 27, 2011 Laura The Book Ninja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ghostly, supernatural

While anyone could see the ending froma mile away, I was pleasantly surpised by this book. It involved some really nice prose and a fair decent plot.

But I guess I was surpised in the few little things I didn't really see. The ending- for lack of a btter word- was perfect. I thought it ended on just the right note. It was pretty good.

Bridget was a good character, if a little dense in places.

Even though I haven't read it, I was kinda sure it was going to be like Before I Fall but I guess it has...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Amy Jacobs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

This book reminded me a lot of the movie Mean Girls. We have Bridget who is the leader of her pack and one of the most popular girls in school. She has the attitude of a witch and she is not afraid to speak her mind. Amongst all her verbal abuse towards her friends and such, Bridget actually thinks she is being a great friend and helping them understand their faults. I couldn't stand her attitude and didn't approve of the way she treated people. I hated the fact that she would treat people the w...more This book reminded me a lot of the movie Mean Girls. We have Bridget who is the leader of her pack and one of the most popular girls in school. She has the attitude of a witch and she is not afraid to speak her mind. Amongst all her verbal abuse towards her friends and such, Bridget actually thinks she is being a great friend and helping them understand their faults. I couldn't stand her attitude and didn't approve of the way she treated people. I hated the fact that she would treat people the way she did and think it was perfectly okay.

When newcomer Ann Judge arrives at school, Bridget finds herself pushed out of the spotlight and not liking it one bit. Anna on the other hand, was sweet and friendly, and deserved to be friends with the people in school. When Bridget has a horrible day at school from telling one too many lies, she is upset and decides to run her car off the road. At the last minute though, Bridget changes her mind about it, but it is too late. Instead of going to Heaven or Hell, Bridget finds herself in a boardroom and faced with people she has wronged in life. Anna is the head judge of the group. Anna basically tells Bridget that she has to walk in these peoples shoes for a bit and see what her lies and attitude has done to them. What Bridget discovers is in their lives is enough to make her rethink her actions. When all is said and done, Anna gets to decide Bridget's fate.

I loved this book. At first I had no interest really in reading it, but the publisher insisted that I would love it. I bow to her knowledge and am thankful I had the chance to read it. While it is not one of the best books out there, only because it is a story that has been done time and again, the writing was great and made me feel like I was there with Bridget every step of the way. While I couldn't stand her most of the time, I found myself understanding her better by the end of the book.

If you are looking for a cute and fast read to get you out of a reading slump, or even if you just want a fun read for now, Here Lies Bridget is a new book you should add to your list. I loved the authors take on the subject and she has captured a new fan of her writing!(less)

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Mar 26, 2011 MaryBookSwarm rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, netgalley, dnf

Actually, I didn't finish this book. I couldn't. The main character, Bridget, just irritated me. She was a queen B (and I don't mean bee!), thought everyone loved and feared her, and felt she was special. In actuality, she was hideous. People did fear her but they certainly didn't love her. She looked out for no one but herself. She thought of no one but herself. I stopped reading when she threw someone who was supposed to be one of her closest friends under the bus. Not literally but, when caug...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Erica Leigh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, paranormal-fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

I liked it.
The concept was interesting,
but the story played out predictably.

It's like a paranormal version of "Mean Girls"
that's not as funny, with a main character that
has no self-awareness or regard for others at all.

Mean girl does bad things to people...
feels guilty and does more bad things anyway...
mean girl has a revelation of sorts
(in the form of a life-or-death situation--
purgatory, almost) and sees things from
others' perspectives)...
does a 180 and begs for forgiveness
after seeing her ow...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Guin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast, fun read.

Bridget's not a very nice person - she lies constantly, she gets other students into trouble, she plays on others' insecurities. But more than anything, she's endlessly self-absorbed and chooses to overlook others' problems so she can continue focusing on herself. I thought Paige Harbison did a nice job of making Bridget an understandable bully, even though sometimes it became frustrating to read page after page of Bridget being an obtuse witch. I fou...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Melanie Goodman added it

Bridget is a mean girl who rules her school. She disrespects her step-mother and her teachers, and treats her friends more like minions than buddies. Bridget ruthlessly lies and cheats, and everybody knows it. Though she’s got popularity and partying down, that might not be enough. This is especially true when a new girl shows up–a new girl who is thoughtful and considerate. Anna wins people over with her charm rather than ruling with an iron fist. If Bridget isn’t careful, she just might lose h...more Bridget is a mean girl who rules her school. She disrespects her step-mother and her teachers, and treats her friends more like minions than buddies. Bridget ruthlessly lies and cheats, and everybody knows it. Though she’s got popularity and partying down, that might not be enough. This is especially true when a new girl shows up–a new girl who is thoughtful and considerate. Anna wins people over with her charm rather than ruling with an iron fist. If Bridget isn’t careful, she just might lose her friends and the boy she wants back.

As Bridget loses her controlling grip on life, she makes a deadly mistake. Bridget crashes her car and enters a sort of limbo where she must confront all the people she has wronged, and she is literally forced to walk in their shoes. If she can right her wrongs, Bridget might get another chance at life, but if she can’t change her evil ways by midnight then she might be on a one way trip six feet under.

The premise of Paige Harbison’s Here Lies Bridget is likely to appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this book nearly as well written or thought-provoking. This mini version of the mean-girl-confronts-death story lacks the depth and maturity of Oliver’s considerably more extensive text. I had trouble rooting for Bridget as a MC. She was a little too nasty for me, and I never developed any kind of attachment. Her attempt at making amends came and went too fast for me to get invested, and I couldn’t help but wonder if you could truly make up for treating people so poorly in just a few hours with some quick apologies.

Beyond that, I found Bridget’s experience “walking in another person’s shoes” too repetitive. I appreciated the literal take on the idea of seeing things from another person’s perspective, but much of the time Bridget really does just reiterate things we’ve already read, with a few extra lines about how the person felt at the time. Given that this text is already so short, the amount of storyline that was repeated felt like overkill. This section of the book could have used more development.

Here Lies Bridget won’t take you long to read if you choose to give it a chance, but it is its brevity that was its greatest downfall. There wasn’t enough for me to grab onto, and I found the book disappointing.(less)

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Feb 05, 2011 cecilia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: blue-covers, green-covers

It seems a little ironic that Bridget has to be the most unlikeable character whom I have ever met in a book (yes, even Parker seems like a marshmallow), and yet I couldn't put down here lies Bridget for the life of me! I think it's similar to watching reality TV (not that I watch any at the moment) and unable to stop, even though the people might disgust you.

So I'll forewarn you all, dear Readers, that you might want to brace yourself when you meet Bridget - she's not going to the nicest kid in...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Kelly Hager rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to read this because it reminded me of Before I Fall (which, incidentally, I LOVED). It’s a likely comparison, but not really an apt one. In BIF, Sam relives the same day over and over; in this, Bridget has a sort of Christmas Carol/reverse It’s a Wonderful Life moment, where she sees how her actions affect people.

After a car accident, Bridget wakes up surrounded by five people—her stepmother, ex-boyfriend, best friend, classmate and a teacher—and learns that they are going to decide if...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Esther Shaindel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com

Bridget is happy with her life - she thinks. She's the most popular girl in school, everyone wants to be her or be her friend, she throws great parties - she has it all. Her only problems are an annoying teacher and her impossible stepmother, but she deals. Until she goes overboard in her crazy manipulations of others all in an effort to keep herself on top. And she begins to realize that it is all an effort - that she's never...more Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com

Bridget is happy with her life - she thinks. She's the most popular girl in school, everyone wants to be her or be her friend, she throws great parties - she has it all. Her only problems are an annoying teacher and her impossible stepmother, but she deals. Until she goes overboard in her crazy manipulations of others all in an effort to keep herself on top. And she begins to realize that it is all an effort - that she's never herself anymore, she wears a mask all the time - and she's not even sure she likes herself all that much anymore. When her life seems to be falling to pieces, and she recklessly drives her car into a crash, Bridget is given a second chance, to see things as they really are, and maybe to make a difference to her own life and to others'.

Paige Harbison introduces Bridget brilliantly, because at first I hated her for being such a bitch, but I couldn't stop myself from reading to find out what happens to her, and then I began to truly care about her and what happens to her. The reader has to care about the main character, and as horrible as Bridget is, Paige gives us just enough of a glimpse into Bridget's real, hidden by crusts and crusts of bitchiness, self so that we want that faintly crying bit to surface and take charge again.

The concept of what happens when Bridget "dies" (I won't give away too much) is not a new one, but here is executed perfectly. What helps is that it's not the first time Bridget sees things properly, as she does start seeing things before she crashes. So what happens affirms, strengthens, and amplifies what she's been discovering, but most of what she finds out could be her own psyche filling in the blanks.

This book is really good in exploring the way a person could wake up to what she's become and how people react to the persona and to the awakened person. The one thing that bothered me was Liam's reaction to Bridget's epiphany. I expected Liam to react the way Michelle does, which to me felt more realistic, but then Bridget would be left with nothing other than her feeling of satisfaction at having straightened out everything. Which may not be so bad! But at least I expected Liam to need a few days of proof of her change before he accepts her back. He did start seeing some changes before she "crashes" so maybe the stage was already set for this.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the journey of self-discovery, the way Bridget's thoughts, feelings, motives, etc., are shown so clearly and in a way that makes you think about your own choices. Hopefully none are as bad as Bridget's! But still, it's a great thought-provoking book for teens who face social choices every day. (less)

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Jan 23, 2011 Chiara (Oscuro y Seductor Romance) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 18, 2011 ♥ ♥Lynn ♥ ♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, netgalley, read-in-2011, jan-2011, paige-harbison, young-adult

"You must learn that your place in the world is important. You've been given the power to affect people, just as we all have, and it is importtant, no vital that you do the right thing with it."

Harbison's debut novel, HERE LIES BRIDGET, is breathtakingly honest. Bridget is the high school girl we all hated. She is self centered, cruel, and seeminly unaware of her actions. Bridget gets a chance to make things right, in a strange scrooge ghost of christmas past and present type of way. Bridget tr...more

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Jan 13, 2011 Mary Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mean girls are everywhere. Bratty, spoiled, conceited and well b*tchy. Bridget Duke is no different. In spite the fact that Bridget is surrounded by good friends and a step mother who keeps trying to know her, Bridget seems to make every bodies life a living hell. She's the girl you love to hate not because she's pretty and popular but because she's just plain mean or is that the real Bridget?

The story start out giving us a picture of how Bridget's life is at home and at school. She has two best...more

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“I fell asleep, slipping into the kind of dreams that aren’t dreams at all -- just memories with all the details you never thought you’d remember and couldn’t believe you’d forgotten.” — 14 people liked it

“I want you to understand how people see you, and how your actions matter...You must learn that your place in the world is important. You've been given the power to affect people, just as we all have, and it's important -- no, vital -- that you do the right thing with it.” — 10 people liked it

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