Friday, 16 November 2012

The Bridge by Jane Higgins


The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside.
Nik is still in high school but is destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he’s not chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik. But Nik is on the run, with Sol’s sister Fyffe. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he had never dared to ask.

The Bridge is a gritty adventure set in a future world where fear of outsiders pervades everything. A heart-stopping novel about friendship, identity, and courage from an exciting new voice in young adult fiction. (from book cover)

Congratulations to SpecFicNZ member Jane Higgins who recently won the YA Children’s Choice Award for her YA dystopian novel, The Bridge. Way to go Jane!

Review:
When I received this book to review, I was really really excited. I read the synopsis and was overjoyed that I would be reading another dystopian novel (I may have a slight obsession haha.) I had a really hard time getting into this one, though. I found the beginning to be slow and I was wondering when all of the fun was going to begin. I actually felt that way through a lot of the book, unfortunately. It definitely had its good parts and I felt for Nik when every way he turned something else would be revealed or he would be blamed for something or something bad in general would happen. I found it hard to know who to trust in this novel (which is always a good thing, certainly a sign of a good author) and still do not know what to think about some of the events that occurred in this book. There were a few too many characters at times and I found I had to remind myself who was who and what side these people were on. 

I think there might possibly be a second book? Yes, that is a question lol. I am not 100% sure. The way it was left at the end made me think there would be another (most dystopian novels these days are trilogies.) Will I read the next one? Maybe, I’m not sure. I definitely found the last 100 pages to be the best of the book, so maybe book 2 will be better? I think while I was reading it I wanted it to be better than it was. If you are a fan of dystopian novels, though, please, give it a try. Let me know what you think. I do not know anyone who has read it and I would love to hear other opinions. I give this book a 2.5/5.

Happy Reading!

Next Review: The Emperor of Paris by CS Richardson

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