Book Review: The Bridge to Magic

I was sent an ARC of The Bridge to Magic by Alex Thornbury and just finished the dark YA fantasy yesterday.

The Bridge to Magic is the first book in a new series. The main character, Elika, is a 15 year old girl living in Terren. In this world, the Blight has been terrorizing towns and wiping out all in its path. As it moves through towns it kills everything it touches and soon Terren is the last remaining town. Elika is an orphan and lives with her pack (a group of other orphans all ranging in age) who live off the streets. Penny, who took Eli in when she was young, is sort of the mother to all these orphans in their pack. In the town there is a bridge that leads to what the people call the Deadlands. Most people who cross it turn to dust, but every once in a while someone will cross and just fade away, which people assume means they made it to the other side.

The King and a lot of the people believe that the Blight is punishing them for magic, which is why magic was driven out years ago. If the Blight is still coming then that means there are Echoes around (people with some magic in them) and they must be found and taken care of. One day Elika, in a fit of frustration, stabs the bridge and actually pierces the bridge. In shock, Eli runs away. No one has ever been able to actually harm the bridge before which must mean she has magic in her. Terrified people will find out and kill her she tries to conceal it, but soon her magic is too hard to contain. Being raised to believe magic is bad and the reason they are being punished means Eli wants the magic out of her. While she deals with that the Blight is getting stronger and closer to Terren, threatening to wipe them all out. Supporters of magic tell Eli she needs to cross the bridge, but the whole idea scares her and she doesn’t want to leave Terren.

I loved the novel. The story and writing was so beautifully descriptive and I could imagine the whole world and Eli’s feelings so well. There were exciting parts and parts that made me feel for her and also sad for her. It’s written definitely like an intro to a series with a lot of set up that you can tell will lead to a really interesting second book! My only “complaint” is that the chapters are really long so it was hard to find time to read sometimes because I didn’t want to start a chapter when I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Otherwise, I loved it and think it’s a strong first novel to a series!