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A review by misses_london
The Bridge of Dead Things by Michael Gallagher
4.0
"The Bridge of Dead Things" is the beginning of a series of Lizzie Blaylock books about a teenage girl with supernatural powers. We're introduced to Lizzie as she is experiencing for the first time her gift of "bridging" the world of the living with that of the dead.
The setting is Victorian London, and throughout the book the author contrasts what that period looked and felt like from the perspective of the destitute with that of the privileged. Lizzie is growing up in extreme poverty with a disappointing father figure and an entirely absent mother. She is mostly left to look after herself and her younger sister who suffers from tuberculosis. Her father eventually abandons her, leaving her homeless.
When Lizzie unintentionally transforms into a bridge during a public seance, an opportunist named Simeon spots her and offers her a home with luxuries that are foreign to the world of poverty from which she comes. Although Lizzie slowly begins to comprehend that her body is a bridge between the living and the dead, she doesn't know how to control it. Simeon's motives are financially driven as he begins exploiting her at seances staged at his home, which has been kitted with fantastic props and illusions that are just convincing enough to provide a good income for him and his household.
As Lizzie discovers Simeon's secrets, she realizes that she is a threat to his livelihood and that some of her predecessors had mysteriously disappeared. She fears for her own fate, but along the way she makes allies with some colourful characters who offer to help her.
The setting in Victorian London provides good atmosphere. The characters are well developed, and the plot itself was interesting. Once I was about a quarter of the way through the book, I felt so engaged that I finished it within a couple of days.
Lizzie is an interesting heroin worthy of her own series. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of young adult fiction.
I received this book as an Early Reviewer, but that did not influence my review.
The setting is Victorian London, and throughout the book the author contrasts what that period looked and felt like from the perspective of the destitute with that of the privileged. Lizzie is growing up in extreme poverty with a disappointing father figure and an entirely absent mother. She is mostly left to look after herself and her younger sister who suffers from tuberculosis. Her father eventually abandons her, leaving her homeless.
When Lizzie unintentionally transforms into a bridge during a public seance, an opportunist named Simeon spots her and offers her a home with luxuries that are foreign to the world of poverty from which she comes. Although Lizzie slowly begins to comprehend that her body is a bridge between the living and the dead, she doesn't know how to control it. Simeon's motives are financially driven as he begins exploiting her at seances staged at his home, which has been kitted with fantastic props and illusions that are just convincing enough to provide a good income for him and his household.
As Lizzie discovers Simeon's secrets, she realizes that she is a threat to his livelihood and that some of her predecessors had mysteriously disappeared. She fears for her own fate, but along the way she makes allies with some colourful characters who offer to help her.
The setting in Victorian London provides good atmosphere. The characters are well developed, and the plot itself was interesting. Once I was about a quarter of the way through the book, I felt so engaged that I finished it within a couple of days.
Lizzie is an interesting heroin worthy of her own series. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of young adult fiction.
I received this book as an Early Reviewer, but that did not influence my review.