Bridge

by Lauren Beukes

Available to pre-order! The mind-bending new masterpiece from the multi-award-winning author of Apple TV's smash hit literary adaptation SHINING GIRLS, starring Elizabeth Moss.

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Bridge's maverick scientist mother Jo is dead.

Now she's examining everything Jo left behind.
Which is when she finds her big secret.

Is it a drug?
A gateway to other worlds?
Jo believed so.

Bridge is desperate to see her mother again.
Will do anything, risk anything.
Including search for her in those other realities.

What she doesn't know is that others
are after Jo's secret. And some believe anyone
it touches must be destroyed.

Bridge? She just wants to find her mom ...

Page-turning and ambitious, BRIDGE is a dazzlingly inventive speculative thriller with an unforgettable cast of characters, and the work of a novelist at the height of her powers.

For fans of RUSSIAN DOLL, STRANGER THINGS, EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE, from Sunday Times bestseller and multi-award winning writer Lauren Beukes.

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PRAISE FOR LAUREN

'A major, major talent' George RR Martin

'Lauren Beukes takes a story filled with psychedelic drugs, parallel worlds, and neuroscience and makes it also about a complex mother-daughter relationship, full of darkness, light, and longing. This is fun and insane and very moving' Mariana Enriquez, author of Our Share of Night

'Lauren Beukes' multiverse is thrilling-balancing madness, horror, and a big, bleeding, beating heart that reminds us that we are all connected in the end' Grady Hendrix

'Bridge spiders out into alternate universes, alternate selves, yet manages to be very much about us and our fractured now. It's a humane, thought-provoking puzzle box, and a wildly entertaining novel' Paul Tremblay, bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World and The Pallbearers Club

'Vast in scope and heart. A suspenseful and deeply immersive odyssey . . .' Katie Gutierrez, author of More Than You'll Ever Know


'Lauren Beukes is very, *very* good. It feels effortless' William Gibson

'Beukes deals with slightly surreal things in very real ways' Gillian Flynn

'Lauren Beukes is one of the most innovative and provocative writers on the contemporary scene' Scotland on Sunday

'Lauren Beukes is a writer with a startling imagination, and a masterful ability to rewrite the rules of whatever genre she turns to' Ben Winters, author of Underground Airlines and Golden State

'Lauren Beukes is a marksman in a world of drunken machine-gunners, firing her ideas and images into us with a sly and deadly accuracy, wasting nothing, never missing' Bill Willingham, creator of Fables

'Beukes is all about turning assumptions and expectations upside down' Stephen King

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

423 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 8, 2023

About the author

Lauren Beukes is an award-winning, best-selling novelist who also writes screenplays, TV shows, comics and journalism. Her books have been translated into 26 languages and have been optioned for film and TV.

Her awards include the Arthur C Clarke Award, the prestigious University of Johannesburg prize, the August Derleth Prize, the Strand Critics Choice Award and the RT Thriller of the Year. She’s been honoured in South Africa’s parliament and most recently won the Mbokondo Award from the Department of Arts and Culture, celebrating women in the arts for her work in the Creative Writing field.

She is the author of Broken Monsters, about art, ambition, damaged people and not-quite-broken cities, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial killer, the nature of violence, and how we are haunted by history, Zoo City, a phantasmagorical noir set in Johannesburg which won the Arthur C Clarke Award and Moxyland, a dystopian political thriller about a corporate apartheid state where people are controlled by their cell phones. Her first book was a feminist pop-history, Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa’s Past, which has recently been reprinted.

Her comics work includes Survivors' Club, an original Vertigo comic with Dale Halvorsen and Ryan Kelly, the New York Times-bestselling graphic novel, Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom with Inaki Miranda, and a Wonder Woman one-shot for kids, “The Trouble With Cats” in Sensation Comics, set in Mozambique and Soweto and drawn by Mike Maihack.

Her film and TV work includes directing the documentary, Glitterboys & Ganglands, about Cape Town’s biggest female impersonation beauty pageant. The film won best LGBT film at the San Diego Black Film Festival.

She was the showrunner on South Africa’s first full length animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika which ran for 104 half hour episodes from 2006-2009 on SABC3. She’s also written for the Disney shows Mouk and Florrie’s Dragons and on the satirical political puppet show,ZANews and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s South African Story.

Before that she was a freelance journalist for eight years, writing about electricity cable thieves, TB, circumcision, telemedicine, great white sharks, homeless sex workers, Botswana’s first female high court judge, and Barbie as a feminist icon for magazines ranging from The Sunday Times Lifestyle to Nature Medicine, Colors, The Big Issue and Marie Claire.

She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her daughter.

www.laurenbeukes.com
Twitter.com/laurenbeukes Instagram.com/laurenbeukes Facebook.com/laurenbeukes

Awards & Achievements
2015 South Africa’s Mbokondo Award for Women In The Arts: Creative Writing
2014 August Derleth Award for The Shining Girls
2014 Strand Critics Choice Award for The Shining Girls
2014 NPR Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2014 LA Times Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2013 University of Johannesburg Literature Prize for The Shining Girls
2013 RT Thriller of the Year for The Shining Girls
2013 WHSmith Richard & Judy BookClub Choice
2013 Exclusive Books’ Bookseller’s Choice for The Shining Girls
2013 Amazon Best Mysteries and Thrillers for The Shining Girls
2011 Kitschies Red Tentacle for Zoo City
2010 Arthur C Clarke Award for Zoo City

Reviews

[Gerhard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember when ‘Afterland’ was published, it was delayed in South Africa as all the printing presses were shuttered due to our insane Covid-19 lockdown, which brough the country’s economy to its knees in the space of a few months. I managed to get an ebook on Google Books and then much later a physical trade paperback.

When I read ‘Shining Girls’ originally in Dubai, Beukes responded to a question I posed to her on Goodreads, which delighted me. She subsequently signed my copy of ‘Moxyland’ at the Joburg Book Fair in 2015, and I also listened to her on a panel with David Mack, I think, at the first ComicCon South Africa. Personable and approachable, she is as generous in person as she is talented as a writer.

I found out quite by accident that Beukes had emigrated to the UK, joining luminaries such as J.M. Coetzee who left us (probably in disgust) for Australia many years ago. Ironically, it was at the book launch for fellow Cape Townian Alistair Mackay’s debut novel ‘It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way’ at ‘Love Books’ in Melville that the discussion came up. (If you check on Twitter, there is a recent remarkably candid CBS interview with Beukes.)

The impact of Beukes on the SF scene (especially in Africa) cannot be underestimated. She won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2011 for ‘Zoo City’, the same year Nnedi Okorafor won the World Fantasy Award for ‘Who Fears Death’.

African SF had finally ‘arrived’, especially in the wake of Neil Blomkamp’s ‘District 9’ in 2009 (which Okorafor takes apart in a hilarious blog called ‘District 419’, due to its cartoon villain Nigerians.) Both ‘Zoo City’ and ‘Moxyland’ are prescient and gritty cyberpunk noir, so ‘Shining Girls’ and its horrific tale of a time-travelling serial killer came as something of a surprise, to say the least. What it did signify was Beukes’s penchant for horror, especially body horror, and a hyper weird aesthetic that made reading ‘Afterland’ in the wake of Covid-19 such a surreal experience.

Beukes is resolutely consistent in her idiosyncrasy, so you never really know what to expect from each book. She inscribed my copy of ‘Moxyland’ with: “For the love of stories and the doors they open in our heads.” I recall some local grumbling when, by ‘Broken Monsters’, it was clear that Beukes had ‘abandoned’ her ‘African’ roots and was hellbent on writing whatever the hell she wanted.

What about Afrofuturism, a phrase coined by academic Mark Dery in 1994 when, to his surprise, he could count the number of ‘African-American’ SF writers on one hand. The Global South has since been ascendant, especially with the sterling work being done by the African Speculative Fiction Society and its Nommo Awards to recognise African SF.

Now Beukes is neither fowl nor fish, joining the African diaspora, I suppose. I am not a fan of Cape Town and its particular culture of being a separate, more advanced version of South Africa than the rest of the country, though I do wonder why someone would abandon it for the rain and gloom of the UK. Though the Mother City does have its fair share of foul weather.

But I digress. So, as a long-time fan, I probably hold Beukes up to higher standards than mere mortal writers. My all-time favourite is still ‘Broken Monsters’. My least favourite, unfortunately, has to be ‘Bridge’.

Probably her most tightly plotted and narrative-driven novel to date, the book is a relentless machine that you just cannot stop reading. I started it over a weekend but stopped about a third from the end on Sunday as it was so intense, with the result I had a rather grumpy Monday, as I just wanted to abandon work to find out how it fucking ended.

The multiverse is a path well-trodden by genre writers, from Dave Hutchinson to Blake Crouch and William Gibson (who had a similar concept of ‘body swapping’ in ‘The Peripheral’). It is ironic that ‘Zoo City’ was published in the shadow of ‘District 9’, as ‘Bridge’ is similarly overshadowed by ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’.

Beukes wisely introduces her McGuffin within the first couple of pages. With virtually no info dumping, we are immediately plunged into the heart of the story. It is clear from the get-go that the real focus is the characters. And it must be said that Dom is one of the best Beukes has ever put on the page.

Though the challenge of a non-binary character is that, being human, and to picture a fictional person in your head, one automatically assigns a gender congruent to your own. At least I tend to do so. It is a difficult problem for a writer to deal with given the limitations of the English language, but Beukes really nails the character of Dom.

There are some neat South African easter eggs for locals (poor Krugersdorp), an entirely coincidental but hilarious ‘Barbie funeral’ joke, and an arch reference to “A study group whose members all look at you expectantly as if you have answers about deconstructing the colonial voice in African science fiction.” Beukes is clearly aware of the debate about provenance and writerly identity. When asked by Elle journalist Neil McRobert (12 August 2023) if she would “ever go back to writing fiction set in South Africa”, she replies:

I’m sure I will. I have an idea for a different take on an apartheid novel, but it might be better as a comic. I’m always writing from that perspective of growing up under what was a utopia for me, and a repressive violent state that destroyed lives and futures for Black people when the racist government wasn’t actively murdering them. I’m keenly aware of the responsibility of history and how social issues play out now, which comes through in my work. The reality is that books set in the U.S. and the U.K. are more commercially viable, because that’s the market. Some people may say “Oh, you’ve sold out,” but I’m writing exactly the books I want to write, set in the places that make sense for the story and what I’m trying to say.

I do get that, and it does seem unfair that Beukes is ‘judged’ for not being South African enough anymore (if she ever was, even while living in the country.) I think the path that Beukes is forging for herself is that of Blake Crouch, who writes SF books for people who ostensibly do not like SF nor would be caught dead reading such vulgar genre (i.e. generic) fiction.

My tolerance level for weirdness is definitely different to the next reader. So, while I may have found ‘Bridge’ a bit too mechanical in its ruthless execution and bland in its faux David Cronenberg aesthetic, another reader may throw the book down in sheer disgust. And be warned: There are some gloriously creepy bits in ‘Bridge’, including a ‘Museum of Surgical History’.

Let me leave the final word to Beukes from her Elle interview:

I’ve been fascinated with alternate realities for years, and especially the idea of all the versions of our lives that we haven’t been able to live, because we made bad decisions or maybe really good ones, or because we got overwhelmed and paralyzed and were unable to make one at all. What if there’s another version of you who is already living your best possible life? How would that make you feel, and what would you do if there was a way to experience that?

Plus, we do exist in parallel universes right now. An anti-vaxxer, or a climate-change-denier just lives in a completely different reality to the one I inhabit. That’s scary; all these realities layered on top of each other. We have to interact, but we have no place to connect or find an objective or compassionate truth.

[Melissa ~ Bantering Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I feel like I should’ve liked Bridge more than I did.

It’s a sci-fi thriller about a young woman named Bridget who, after losing her neuroscientist mother to cancer, finds the mythical dreamworm in her mom’s freezer. Bridge grew up learning all about the dreamworm because her mom was obsessed with it, as she believed it to be a catalyst for travel through the multiverse, to other worlds and other versions of her life. With the dreamworm now in her hands, Bridge wonders if it can be used to not only find a better life for herself but to also find her mom, alive in another world.

What I appreciate about the book is how Lauren Beukes doesn’t overcomplicate the narrative. Multiverse stories can often be difficult to follow what with all the world jumping, but she gives us just enough science and complexity to satisfy those who don’t want their sci-fi dumbed down without sacrificing easy readability. There’s a few surprising twists along the way that make the story fun, and the character of Dom, Bridge’s best friend, adds a needed pop of humor and snark. The ending is terrific, too, and leaves the reader with an interesting moral dilemma to think on.

But even with all this, Bridge never crept into the realm of ooh, I really, really like this book. And I know that at the end of 2024 it will fail to jump out at me as a favorite. Why, I don’t know, but there's something about it that's stopping me from rating it four stars.


My sincerest appreciation to Lauren Beukes, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

[K.J. Charles]

Multiverse SF in which a parasite allows people to swap consciousness for limited times with their equivalent in other versions of reality. It's incredibly, compulsively readable, populated with determined, strong, horrendously fucked up women in Bridge, Jo and Amber, as well as the terrific enby Dom, who is the best friend we all need. Does the multiverse thing without leaving me hopelessly behind, which is impressive, and the depiction of the parasite is wildly creepy. A very absorbing thriller with a terrific parting shot at the end.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/RTOeOkkD68s

One of my favourite things about Lauren Beukes as an author is her interest in writing unconventional stories that dance the line between speculative fiction and thrillers. However, any time an author take chances, some experiments work better than others. I've loved other works by her but this one somewhat missed the mark.

The premise was compelling. I loved the idea of a story centered around a mother and doctor but I failed to get invested in them. Unfortunately without that connection, it was difficult to be invested in the story.

With a story like this, different readers may react differently so you may want to try this for yourself. It was still a good story, but not the new favourite I was hoping it would be.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now available: unique take on a popular genre.

I love infinite parallel universes! This version of the genre has a slightly different angle than your run-of-the-mill time loop novel.

Hats off to Lauren Beukes for using a superlative foreshadowing analogy right off the bat: Baba Yaga and the house that moves to different locations on its chicken feet. Moving from one universe to another timeline seems much like that, though I had never thought of it quite that way.

Even the word/title/name *bridge* has more than one meaning in this story.

A ton of mystery is packed into the beginning, slowly spinning the reader in circles. So many questions, such as: If we were living in a dreamworld, how would we know?

The author does not hesitate to introduce the element of most importance very very early. I appreciate that. Don't make me wade through hundreds of pages before I get to the artifact that the plot hinges on. It puts the reader on a solid foundation, ready for the surprises yet to come.

I also appreciate that Bridge, and especially her non-binary friend Dom, are very funny. Their banter shows not only their cleverness, but also the care the two friends take with each other. A good friend knows and understands exactly when humor is a healing balm. These are two friends who know how to keep each other from falling apart. Also, they offer a master class on how to reconcile after getting peeved with each other.

I am glad that the author chose to make traveling to parallel worlds a very difficult thing to achieve, and almost impossible to control. That single decision made this a better story, in every way. By unveiling the full nature of the process over time, the author kept the story fresh.

A couple of extremely extra-complicating factors are introduced at almost the same time, widening the story's presentation of the variables involved in alternate realities. Like Blake Crouch, Lauren Beukes has imbued the astral plane flight with layers, creating a multi-faceted plot.

It is difficult to render a spoiler-free review of the narrative content, so instead I will try to compare the writing. Lauren Beukes' writing style reminds me a lot of Margarita Montimore and Christina Sweeney-Baird, combined with the humor of Lorrie Moore. Fans of each of them will most likely enjoy this novel as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland/Little, Brown/Hachette for an ARC of this novel for review

[Emily Coffee and Commentary · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KJx8fLz...

A mind-bending thriller with a mother-daughter love story at its core. Dynamic and dreamlike, Bridge is an exploration of the Multiverse’s biggest questions: what if you could go to a life where you had what you wanted? What if you could see a lost loved one again? What is the meaning of fate, and what is the cost of trying to rewrite our own lives? Cinematic, moving, and twisty, this novel delivers a punch of emotion to its scientific intrigue.

[HanReadsStuff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited for this book… but so, so, very frustrated by the end.

Bridge by Lauren Beukes is a new  mother/daughter science fiction adventure set across a metaverse. Its aimed at new adults. The books is a fast paced and original concept that's clearly been very well researched.  

I was engaged by the storyline but deeply frustrated and eventually pretty cross by the use of race and racial descriptors throughout. To put it bluntly, Bridge feels problematic.

There are deeply uncomfortable passages about homelessness and gentrification. Every time a Black character is introduced their race is mentioned. White characters never, not once, have the same descriptors. The book reads like someone wanted to connect with woke young people but that same socio-political awareness hasn't been used to review the use of class and 'race' in that actual text. 

For example, an African scientist is introduced with a sprawling and unnecessary dive into the Black Lives Matter Movement. As if the author wanted to really draw attention to the lack of representation in Portland and the diverse cast of her book. Only to then have limited, stereotypical and tokenistic representation in their text. 

I can’t even begin to share my feelings on the protagonist's visit to Haiti and the way Voodoo practices and local people were portrayed. It had Gaiman vibes without any of the cultural sensitivity. 

So there we have it. The cover is beautiful, the concept is really really interesting. But it's 2023. Please, please, please stop writing about people of colour like this. 

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this novel.

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Bridge is an entertaining speculative novel about a daughter searching for her mom across different universes. It started off a bit slow for me but things really picked up in the second half. Besides looking for her mom, our protagonist also has to contend with someone hunting her down and the biological effects of traveling between worlds. We also get glimpses of the past and how it’s possible in the first place to travel between universes.

As a character, I felt like Bridge’s entire personality boiled down to her finding her mom. There wasn’t much depth. I wanted more emotional beats and to feel how important this mother-daughter relationship is, which I didn’t get. The story itself is very interesting but it was just missing that pathos for me. The highlight of this book is definitely Dom, Bridge’s best friend who is the voice of reason and sticks by her throughout. They were by far the more interesting character and the most sensible. Overall though, I enjoyed this novel, particularly the speculative elements.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

jo is a mother who left her daughter after a psychotic break related to a brain tumor. as bridge tries to locate her mother and find out what went wrong, things go topsy turvy.

wow, this novel was confusing. i’d like to think I’m very knowledgeable and understanding in multiversal narratives (i.e. marvel comics/films, everything everywhere all at once, etc.) but this was difficult to follow. the changing point of view really leaves a lot to be desired. however, I did feel a sense of satisfaction at the conclusion.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Mangrii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unp de los tropos y temas más atractivos de la ficción en la actualidad es sin duda el multiverso. La posibilidad de encontrar un lugar donde tomaste la serie correcta de bifurcaciones y decisiones para tener la vida que soñaste es demasiado seductora. Bridge, la nueva novela de Lauren Beukes, se centra en la búsqueda por el multiverso de una joven para encontrar a su madre, como bien deja claro el subtítulo del libro. Una historia sobre múltiples universos configurada para explorar lo que realmente es, en vez de lo que podría ser. Todo ello acompañado de una edición, por cierto, que llega a la vez en catalán y en castellano, ambas con la traducción de Lluís Delgado y cubierta de Ricard Efa, en un esfuerzo encomiable de la editorial catalana Mai Més.

Bridge, Dom y el multiverso
Jo, una neurocientífica compleja y descomunal, también madre de Bridge, acaba de morir de cáncer cerebral. Bridge y Dom, su amigue del alma, están en la casa de Jo ocupándose de clasificar, ordenar y recoger sus pertenencias. Entre ellas, Dom descubre un gusano de los sueños, o al menos, así recuerda Bridge que se llamaba ese ser amarillo grisáceo, bulboso y estriado que acaban de ver en el congelador. En cuanto Bridge toca una de las fibras sensibles del ser, varios recuerdos reprimidos del pasado empiezan a salir a la luz. Recuerdos que una psicóloga le obligo a pensar que eran delirios de la infancia. Y, en un arrebato, decide llevarse por instinto un trozo de gusano a la boca, lo que desata que aparezca en otra realidad, siendo otrosyós. En las condiciones adecuadas, ingerir el gusano de los sueños fuerza un intercambio instantáneo de conciencia con un yo alternativo en un universo alternativo. Es la llave que abre la puerta a otras realidades y a todas las demás versiones de sí misma.

Mientras juntan más pertenencias, archivos del ordenador y entradas de diario de Jo, cada vez parece más patente que su madre, su verdadera madre, ha dejado una serie de pistas que sugieren que esta viva, escondida en otro universo, esperando a que Bridge la encuentre. Comienza una carrera contra los recuerdos de la propia Bridge de su infancia y distanciamiento maternal, pero también, contra otra persona. Una persona que también está buscando a Jo, pero por otras razones. Amber es una cazadora, una destructora de gusanos de los sueños y es tan implacable como despiadada. Comienza una carrera de busca y encuentra por el multiverso de lo más peligrosa. ¿Podría Bridge descubrir su lugar en este mundo visitando a las demás? ¿Podría su Jo seguir viva en algún lugar?

Multiplicidad de voces y géneros
Si has leído algún libro (y si no, corre hacerlo) de Lauren Beukes con anterioridad, sabrás que es habitual que hibride géneros y también combine voces en diferentes formatos. Bridge no podía ser menos. Un libro de misterio con ritmo de suspense que presenta elementos de ciencia ficción con pequeñas muestras de exquisito horror corporal. Así como lo hacen las conciencias de los personajes durante la novela, saltando de un cuerpo a otro, también lo hace la narrativa. Somos Bridge y un elenco de sus yo alterno en otros universos. Somos Dom mientras investiga sobre el gusano y mantiene a salvo a nuestra Bridge original. Somos Amber mientras rastreamos a los intrusos multiversales y somos Jo, a través de su diario, descubriendo que es el gusano de los sueños y explorando su pasado.

Bridge es una novela que no deja de leerse a ritmo acelerado, con voces que se entremezclan en un cóctel —que nunca se siente confuso— mientras Bridge atraviesa mundos tratando de encontrar a su madre antes de que lo haga un adversario genuinamente aterrador. Lauren Beukes maneja todo con absoluta habilidad, llevándonos de una realidad a la siguiente, presentando variaciones determinantes que nos hacen saber con qué Bridge nos encontramos en cada momento. Todo avanza a través de múltiples líneas de tiempo (presente, pasado y otros mundos) que nos llevan por perspectivas entrelazadas hasta el final y dejan por el camino unos cuantos elementos de notable ciencia (ficción). Todo para llegar hasta un final un tanto apresurado aunque bastante sólido para sus personajes, con un tramo final repleto de acción pero que deja enormes preguntas para el lector, como la verdadera naturaleza de esos gusanos de los sueños.

Explorándose a través de otrosyós
Una de las particularidades de las historias de multiverso es que permiten explorarse a uno mismo, de cómo diferentes elecciones nos llevan por diferentes caminos. Bridge, el personaje principal de la novela, está a la deriva. Abandonó un programa de licenciatura en negocios, ahora trabaja a tiempo completo en una librería y se castiga a sí misma por no dedicarse al cine como realmente quería. Aunque actualmente, no sabe lo que quiere ni quién es. El duelo puede darnos la oportunidad de resolver nuestros problemas, aceptar la responsabilidad por los errores que hemos cometido y crecer. O puede llevarnos también a tomar decisiones terribles que afecten a todos los que nos rodean. Y esto es lo que ocurre cuando Bridge decide emprender una búsqueda desesperada por el multiverso en busca de una madre que creía haber perdido para siempre.

Explorando el universo a través de sus otrosyós, es cuando podemos ver cuan rota esta realmente Bridge por dentro. Por que realmente la relación con su madre tampoco era buena, era más bien inherentemente parasitaria. Sin embargo, el gusano de los sueños le brinda una oportunidad a la que agarrarse y obtener la posibilidad de cerrar asuntos pendientes. Por eso Bridge, lo primero de todo, es una exploración del dolor y de las mentiras que nos contamos para protegernos a nosotros mismos. Pero el libro de Lauren Beukes también es una reflexión sobre la búsqueda de la realidad perfecta, es decir, sobre la imposible búsqueda de la felicidad extrema y la aceptación de nuestras propias decisiones. Y ante todo, o lo mejor de todo más bien, es que Bridge es una historia sobre la amistad. La verdadera amistad. La que nunca te abandona, te planta la realidad en la cara cuando hace falta y aunque sepa que te equivocas, sigue a tu lado. Una amistad, quizás, que nos deja la lección más importante de todo Bridge: sólo porque puedas hacer algo no significa que debas hacerlo, ni aunque sea viajar por el multiverso.

Reseña extensa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...

[AndiReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bridge " is Bridget Kittinger an adult daughter of troubled parents who is dealing with the somewhat sudden death of her mother Jo. Jo was a mercurial neuroscientist who had little time for Bridge as she was utterly consumed with studying dreamworm - a mythic psychedelic that she felt was a doorway to other worlds.

Working with her wondrous friend Dom, Bridge begins to pack up Jo's house and find enough clues to begin to uncover the riddles of dreamworld. Based on the information in her journals, there is a possibility that Bridge's mom is still alive, just in another world. Dom and Bridge begin to methodically search the worlds. The problem is that dreamworm is not innocuous, it's dangerous and there are quite a few people who would do anything to get their hands on more.

This is a great thriller and lovely story of friendship. For me, sometimes futuristic stories or tales of time travel are a bit "cold" (still enjoyable). Bridge is very warm, very realistic and the actual science is seamlessly woven throughout.
If you like a brilliant thriller, loved Shining Girls and time travel or just want to enjoy a truly inspiring story of women searching for more, Bridge is for you! #Mullholland #Bridge #LaurenBeukes

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a good feeling I was going to like this, but it exceeded my expectations. Favorite book from this author so far.

[4.5 stars]

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bridge was particularly satisfying to read as it is a much better execution of a similar concept to Atomic Anna, which I found very disappointing. In both novels a daughter is caught up in the weird science her erstwhile absent mother has been doing and goes on a quest to find her. In Atomic Anna the weird science is time travel. In Bridge, consuming part of a 'dreamworm' allows your consciousness can travel into your alternate selves in parallel universes. Both novels emphasise the health dangers of using this technology. Bridge includes getting parasitised among these risks.

I enjoyed Beukes making the very good point that if you are just a random person, your alternate universe selves probably aren't going to be famous or exceptional either. Most will be randoms who spend their time doing normal shit, like you:

Another bathroom. Another bedroom. More television. An office job and an office job and an office job. This one is data entry, and here you're a photographer's assistant - and that seems closer - and here you are filling in time sheets for a film shoot in a production office, and a fish leaps inside your stomach, because this, isn't this what you want to do? Make something, film something? But it is Rich Kids of Atlanta season four and a woman with two cell phones is yelling at you.
[...]
And where the fuck is your international rock-star life? Why is this all so banal, so goddamn ordinary? Is this all you are capable of?

Yet this does not in any way reduce the tension or stakes of the plot, as even if daily life is quite mundane having your consciousness transported into someone else is bound to be disruptive! It was also clever to include some background involving how bad it would be to have a ruthless dictator as an alternate self who, after getting deposed, decides to steal your life. The antagonist was interesting and has a pleasingly coherent motivation, as well as ambivalent alternate selves. The titular main character dominates the narrative, although point of view is shared with her best friend Dom. They are an effective narrator, gracefully declining to have a character arc in favour of enabling Bridge's. The main action is set in an alternate universe to our own, where covid was controlled much better (in the USA at least), Kamala Harris is US president, and social media content is moderated. No evidence of gun control, though. I found Bridge an involving, well-paced thriller with some great worldbuilding details.

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I preface my reviews of Beukes' books the same way every time. No need to stop now. I am a fan, for some reason her wide mix of genres and writing appeal to what I want to read. This is not true for everyone so take my possibly over-rosy review with a grain of salt.

This was much better than Afterland. The mystery and outcome was always somewhat unguessable, the multiple lives setup was done well for me. There have been tons of books written about the multiple world or multiple lives idea many of which explore that in depth, you could try The Space Between Worlds or my personal favorite Replay for more of that. The multiple lives in Bridge was more of a stage setting.

Bridge, at times, made the shift between not liking her mother to desperately needing to find her a bit abrubt but overall seemed to be true to her character. I truly liked how all the characters interacted and how eventually everything ended including the morally questionable parts.

[tonya_with_an_o · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no other writer who speaks to the strangeness inside me quite like Lauren Beukes. I've been slightly obsessed with her work after stumbling across The Shining Girls about a decade ago. Broken Monsters is still one of my favorite books to recommend. Beukes has this way of weaving the fantastic into the fabric of every day life in such a way that it feels more than believable, almost inevitable. Bridge is no exception, and Beukes has another triumph on her hands. Grab yourself a copy now, available for purchase everywhere you buy books. Thank you to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for the chance to review this advance copy.

[Adele · Rating 1 out of 5]

A big giant DNF for this one. I got to about the 40% mark and it was literally horrible. Such a waste of my time. So many other books waiting to be read!

[Michelle’s Library]

Word vomit

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't really my kind of book, but I do appreciate it for what it is. While the beginning is a bit slow and probably could have been shortened, the second half is exciting and fast-paced. Definitely more "Thriller" than mystery, however. I craved a deeper connection with the leading character - which I would have thought I'd get since the book is named for her - but this book is in third person and features multiple perspectives. It's not much of a character study. The relationships - particularly that of Bridge and her mom - were quite generic.

I did like the ending, though.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! In some ways this reminded me of The Shining Girls more than her other books have. Lots of boxes ticked for me, multi-verse hopping, a weird mystery to solve, neuroscience, parisitology, serial killers and the bestest best friend ever.

Content warnings: cancer, domestic violence.

[Miquel Codony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puntuació: 3,5/5

Vet aquí un dels llibres que més m’ha enganxat, en un sentit gairebé físic, de la temporada. Si una cosa fa bé la Lauren Beukes (i en fa més d’una) és mantenir i manipular l’interès del lector. Una altra és jugar amb l’estructura de la novel·la convertint-la en una mena de trencaclosques. Això ja ho havíem vist a «Les Lluminoses», novel·la que recomano llegir i gaudir, però aquí l’estratègia és diferent: si a “Les Lluminoses” la linealitat de la narració es fracturava en una mena d’eco dels viatges en el temps que justificaven la trama, el que es trenca a “Bridge” és, més aviat, el plànol de la trama, ara en resposta a una exploració del multivers amanida amb un joc de canvis de punts de vista que li dona una irresistible empenta endavant a la trama. Val a dir que aquesta energia, que és una de les més grans virtuts del llibre, pot esdevenir el seu pitjor enemic, però el conjunt és una història enigmàtica, entretingudíssima, i suggerent. Transmet la sensació que la Beukes ha gaudit infinitament del procés d’imaginar-la (potser més que del d’escriure-la). I, de regal, planteja de forma original una idea, la del multivers, que potser ja valdria la pena anar deixant de banda una estoneta… Cap queixa, però.

Un altre aspecte que, per mi, està clarament a la llista de virtuts, és l’ambigüitat moral dels personatges, que tot sovint fa posar els pèls de punta. Val a dir que el joc de personatges és interessant: les personalitats principals recullen amb intel·ligència les inquietuds fonamentals del text i les implicacions de les realitats múltiples: Bridge és indecisa i covarda amb la seva pròpia vida (i té l’oportunitat de veure les conseqüències de decisions alternatives), Dom inclou en elles mateixes una identificació plural de gènere, i algun altre detallet que no vull esmentar. Els personatges secundaris, malgrat el carisma d’algun d’ells, em resulten una mica més problemàtics. Al final, es tracta d’una novel·la d’aprenentatge i de transformació dels personatges.

De fet, li puc trobar arestes que crec que s’haurien hagut de polir, i moltes d’elles em semblen provocades per una (possible) manca de temps per donar-li una segona volta, o bé perquè l’autora s’ha trobat tan seduïda per la seva idea que ha perdut distància i s’ha deixat controlar per la trama. Els comportaments d’alguns personatges són poc versemblants per simples; sovint s’esforça una mica massa per ser enginyosa a escala de frase; les entrades de diari són massa cinematogràfiques i no respecten el format; la justificació més fonamental de la trama és una mica «macguffinesca»… Però la Lauren Beukes és una narradora prou potent perquè les seves gesticulacions aconsegueixin ofuscar aquestes limitacions durant la major part de la història, i aconsegueix apuntar a un univers propi interessant. La meva lectura té un què de frustrant, de lamentació de no haver assolit la grandiositat a la qual podia haver arribat, però està clar que és un dels llibres de ciència-ficció de la temporada i ha estat una lectura de la qual he gaudit del tot. No és el llibre de la Beukes que em sembla més rodó, però sí el que més entretingut (i, potser, estimulant) m’ha semblat.

[El podeu trobar editat per Mai Més en català i en castellà, ambdues versions amb traducció de Lluís Delgado]

[Nicole (Nerdish.Maddog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic trope of daughter grieving the loss of her mother and trying to reckon with her past to find her place in the world…on drugs. So, this is a mind bending speculative fiction-thriller that features dreamworms that take you to other universes, and murder, lots of murder. Bridget, aka Bridge, has just lost her estranged mother Jo to a brain tumor. Her mother spent her entire life obsessed over a tumor that she knew was growing in her head while hunting down an object of her youth that she believed would help save her life. While still grieving, Bridge is tasked with cleaning out her mother’s home and sifting through the remnants of her life for answers. While cleaning out the house Bridge encounters an object from her childhood, the dreamworm, that she had always assumed was made up. In fact, her father sent her to a mental health facility because of her made-up memories of using the dreamworm with her mom. Without hesitation Bridge begins using the dreamworm believing it will provide answers to the cryptic clues her mother left her before her death and help her find out why her mother was so obsessed with an object, that she would destroy and abandon her family. Told in multiple timelines and multiple universes the reader learns the history of the dreamworm and the consequences for using it. The twist of the book is fantastic, and despite being another multiverse story it is 100% unique. It takes awhile for the pace to pick up, but once it does it is non-stop edge of your seat action. This book is perfect for fans of sci-fi hybrids, multiverses, unique murder mysteries and (obviously) Beukes previous books.

Thank you to #novelsuspects for sending me an ARC of this book through your #Novelsuspectsinsider program. This book is set to be released August 8th 2023. Head over to your local independent bookstore and pre-order a copy today!

[Geonn Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, fun, occasionally confusing but overall satisfying. I really enjoyed the book, and it proved to me why I got excited when I saw Lauren Beukes had a new book out (even though I didn't really enjoy Afterland). She's just a good writer, and she tells a good story. What else could you want? I thought Bridge was weirdly underdeveloped and one-note (despite meeting multiple versions of her) but Dom was an absolute delight. I'd read whole other book about them.

Also, yes I am very picky when it comes to audiobook narrators. But there has got to be a middle ground between "author is flat and emotionless and reads everything in the exact same tone" and "narrator sounds like they're sobbing during emotional scenes." It just gets in the way of what's being said. Have some emotion, sure, but don't pretend you're having a damn breakdown.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a wild ride of psychedelic, slightly creepy Sci-Fi x pacey thriller - it’s Lauren Beukes at her best, abundant with rich characters and crackling dialogue. The concept of being able to visit the versions of you in parallel universes is fascinating, even more so with how Beukes grounds this in science rather than magic. She roots the surreal elements in reality, and thinks through the implications of multi-verse travel in a way I haven’t seen explored in other fiction.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. it was a really cool concept!!! but it left some questions and not necessarily in an intentional way

[Jordyn Roesler | Sorry, Booked Solid]

DNF’d at 66%. Just wasn’t invested in the story or characters and was VERY confused to the point where a plot twist or explanation wouldn’t have made sense ☹️

[rada ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is like if a sci-fi thriller was set to Mitski's "Class of 2013." I swear, between the beginning and end, it's like two separate books: we open on a depressed, grieving Bridget "Bridge" Kittinger cleaning out her mom's house after her mom died of brain cancer, and end on some mind-bending, high-stakes sci-fi adventure fuckery.

Bridge is, essentially, a multiverse thriller with a surprise core of identity questions and mommy issues. Jo, an eccentric neuroscientist dead of a brain tumor, left in her wake a grieving daughter, Bridge, who has to try to come to terms with her mom's complicated legacy. Throughout her life, Jo was obsessed with a mysterious drug called the dreamworm that she claimed allowed you to step into different versions of yourself in alternate realities; an obsession that, understandably, made most people label her as insane.

Bridge thought her mom was crazy too, up until she found the dreamworm while cleaning out her mom's house in New Orleans, ultimately leading her down the most mind-bending path of multiverse mommy issues. Bridge is convinced that before she died, Jo was able to switch with one of her alternate selves, so if she can find the universe she went to, she can find Jo, and get the closure she was never able to get during Jo's life in her universe.

This book was, ultimately, fascinating. I was a little worried that the multiverse aspect would be a little hard to grasp, but once I got a good idea of what the dreamworm was and the kind of story being told, it was smooth sailing. I really latched onto all of the characters, from Bridge, to Bridge's lifetime best friend Dom, to the pure insanity of Jo, to the neuroscience student Tendayi, and even to Amber, the ex-marine hunting users of the dreamworm throughout multiverses. I even got attached to Budgie, a junkie alternate of Bridge with two kids and a history of a domestic abuse at the hands of a batshit crazy boyfriend. (I hated Caden, though. Caden can starve.)

There were parts that stretched on to unreasonably boring lengths; really, Beukes could have shaved off a whole 50-100 pages just by cutting down some of the padding. But still, I really liked a good chunk of it. It dove sufficiently into the question of "what would I be like if this happened instead of this," and who you could be in alternate universes, all while dealing with the shitty trauma of a fucked up mother-daughter relationship. Really leans into the conscious action of leaning into who you are now rather than all the questions of who you could have been, and the question of deliberate action and how all the things we choose to do shape who we choose to be. Frankly, it was all really fascinating stuff that came for the throat of all my passive, paralyzing habits.

Although, I will say that the way race was handled in this book was super-uber weird. Only the Black characters' races are mentioned, and never anyone else's? Like, it's always the first descriptor whenever their character is introduced, and no one else of any race gets the same treatment? Plus, Tendayi was one of the only semi-main characters to not get a POV (even CADEN got a POV!!!!) and I would have LOVED to see a POV from her! She was studying the dreamworm, falling in with this weird group of people, and we never ONCE heard her thoughts?? Lame. Boo. Hiss. Blah. Whatever.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Putting a spin on the multiverse theory, Bridge explores mother-daughter relationships, friendships, and self exploration with the backdrop of parallel universes. I found it very compelling and thought provoking, and really enjoyed Bridge as a character. Her mother has died, but has left Bridge some clues about how maybe she isn't as dead as people seem to think. Bridge herself had some inklings that her mom wasn't her mom during her last days, but when she gets more evidence supporting that theory, she dives right in, consequences be damned. And by her side is her bestie Dom, who is hands down my favorite part of the story.

When Bridge and Dom find the "dreamworm" in her mom's possessions, which in theory allows a person to travel through the multiverse, Bridge sees a chance to get her mom back. Dom sees it as a really risky proposal, and there are some newcomers to the story who clearly are invested for their own reasons. I shan't say too much about any of that, for fear of spoiling anything, but there are a lot of secrets being kept by a lot of people.

I loved the concept of switching places with different "yous" in other realities. It is so fascinating to think about who we'd be if just a few tiny things had been different. I also loved all the world-building that went into the story. Obviously, there are a lot of different rules and "what-ifs" happening when traveling between universes. What if you're already dead in that world? What if you never existed? The author does a great job of asking and answering these questions, or at least trying to, which I loved. Also, I think having Bridge looking to find her mother adds a layer of emotion to the story that works really great. In fairness, I didn't think Jo, the mother, was worthy of Bridge's love and concern, but alas it is her mother, so it makes sense that she'd want her back regardless. And Dom being the voice of reason, while also being a loyal and caring friend, adding another layer of emotional fortitude to the story.

I won't say anything more, so that you can unravel all the layers of the multiverse (and all the relationships, too) for yourselves. But I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and this emotive and exciting take on the genre!

Bottom Line: I would have given the dreamworm a go too, tbh, but my mom is awesome, so.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Jordan Tiblier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unique plot about infinite universes and essentially parasites. It’s a fast paced book and the characters are really enjoyable. Few times I felt like the material was a bit filler-ish. But overall I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for something different.

[Lilibet Bombshell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book because magical realism and speculative fiction are my favorite genres and because the plot sounded somewhat akin to one of my favorite reads of 2022, Self-Portrait with Nothing. I was so grateful when Mulholland Books reached out to me and asked if I’d like a copy.

Sadly, there was more of the book I didn’t like than I did. The issue wasn’t with Lauren Beukes’ writing, because I enjoy her writing style–especially her talent for realistic and snarky dialogue. The issue also wasn’t with the plot, because that was why I was so interested in the book in the first place. My problem was with the multiple-POVs, the different storytelling styles (sometimes there are journal entries, sometimes there are letters, sometimes there are medical records, etc), and with the fact that we also have to deal with our characters jumping into different realities and becoming different people. It’s just so…crowded. Add in sections told from Bridge’s mom’s first-person POV in the past, and I just got so tired of all the voices when in truth I was only enjoying the entries from either Bridge or Dom’s (Bridge’s bestie) POV. Everyone else was just noise. I wanted the signal.

It’s a shame. Maybe I’ll come back to it another time when I feel like I have more patience to put up with it, but right now I just felt like this book was too many cooks in the dreamworm kitchen.

I was provided a physical copy of the uncorrected proof of this title by the author and Mulholland Book’s influencer program. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

[Tina Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. So. I love the ~idea of this book. Exploring different worlds and different versions of yourself and who you could’ve been if you’d made different choices. Love that.

But the execution of this was a little… lacking. First off, this was way too long. And for a book that was way longer than it needed to be, it didn’t say a lot of the things it should’ve?

For example, Bridge’s ENTIRE PERSONALITY was finding her mom. I know zero other things about her. And that was just my main problem with this book? Instead of developing an actual story, this just became a rinse and repeat of the different jumps to find Jo.

Which got old so, so fast. The other worlds were only barely explored and just boiled down to paragraphs. Which also frustrated me???

And ultimately this just reminded me of Recursion and Midnight Library, both of which handled this concept waaaay better (and were much shorter). So if you’re looking to explore the multiverse, I’d recommend going for one of those.

I’d really been looking forward to this one but unfortunately it was just a giant miss for me. After about 150 pages, I just wanted it to be over.

And it was confusing??? I thought that was just because I started this in public, when it was loud and hard to concentrate, but reading other reviews, it seems like that’s a common theme.

This book REALLY did not use those 400 pages wisely.

Anyway. Thank you to Novel Suspects & Mulholland Books for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.