Bunny's Reviews: The Bridge to Magic Review Spotlight

We are thrilled to present The Bridge to Magic by Alex Thornbury. Read on for more details!

The Bridge to Magic is the first book in The Sundered Web series by Alex Thornbury and this is a series that you are NOT going to want to miss. Prepare to be pulled to the edge of your seat as the drama unfolds and long kept secrets are revealed.

The Bridge to Magic is like Salem Witch trials meets Game of Thrones. Think Sana’s piece of the story when she’s all alone. Elika has been an orphan running the streets for years now. She’s a part of Penny’s gang, and thereby under Penny’s protection. She’s good at what she does and is more often than not mistaken for a boy. It keeps her safe from most and gives her a slight edge as well. Her and her pack live near the bridge that all fear. The bridge that leads to the Deadlands. Not everyone who crosses that bridge makes it. Some who cross...simply turn to dust and disappear on the winds.

Creeping ever closer is something called the Blight. People fear it and with good reason. All it touches dies. Whether quickly or slowly, death is inevitable once the Blight touches you. It’s a marching force that the King and his priests have promised to defeat. But how can they when so many others have already fallen to it? They say that purging the Echos will stop it, but will it?

This book is dark, twisted, but will keep you coming back for more. Elika is the one who watches for those who are intent on crossing the bridge. They are the ones who have given up any and all hope for salvation from the blight. They’ve seen too much, and they feel that the best path forward for them is the bridge. It’s one fateful such night that Elika acts rashly and discovers an unexpected truth. Deep inside of her – is magic. She’s an Echo. This is a dangerous revelation but something that must be kept secret. The problem? More than one pair of eyes witnessed what she did. Now, that secret will spread like wildfire and it won’t be long before the hunt begins.

Elika is an interesting character. She will intrigue you the more you read about her. She hates magic so much. Is it all because of the fact that she watched her parents cross the bridge when she was a child? What happened to them? Because she can’t remember. (Don’t worry, she will in time.) But now, with her rash act concerning the bridge, she’s put a target on her back. Granted, she looks like a boy, so that’s what they’ll be looking for, but the danger is real.

The driving force for this story is fear and the quest for survival. The people believe so strongly that if they can just purge all the Echos that they’ll be safe. One way or another, those who harbor magic inside them are dealt with. Some are encouraged to go to the temples to be cleansed. But what happens to those who can’t be “cleansed”? What then? What is their fate? Well, all I’ll say is that it’s not one any wish to share.

For me, that is where this story reminds me of the Salem Witch trials. People are targeted and tested. There is a particular thing that magic doesn’t like and so they begin subjecting the citizens to it. If they react negatively then they are declared an echo and sent to be purged...or worse. It’s horrifying to witness as it doesn’t take long for fear to take a deeper root in the people. Some simply let evil take them over and partake in heinous acts against others. Fear and the desire to survive will drive people to do horrifying things, and the author captures this expertly in her story.

Now, it’s been awhile since I’ve read Game of Throns, but Elika truly reminds me of Sana. She’s on her own after an incident with her pack. A sort of self-exile if you will. She knows she has magic inside of her, and determines that she will “purge” herself no matter what. She’s doggedly stubborn, but she has those who are on a quest to help her. It’s interesting though how she refuses to accept any piece of the truth that she is told. She simply thinks that they are trying to control her.

She will annoy you, but you’ll also see that she has her good points as well. Eli is fiercely loyal, and she never does anyone any harm unless it’s in self-defense. I applaud her care and concern for the younger members of her pack. It hurts my heart though when later on some of them appear to shun her out of fear. You’d think that after what she does for them that they would extend an olive branch to her.

One of my favorite things about this book is the gradual revelation of how things came to be how they are. Now, don’t get excited and think you’re getting the entire story, because you’re not, but you do get a better picture of things once were. Thank you priestess Igla. Because let’s be real, Ben Fisher is no help. LOL! You’ll understand when you’re reading one of his stories. You’ll be like...okay, I get it...but not really. LOL!

The final chapters in this book are a litany of things. Exhausting, heartbreaking, jaw-dropping, and revealing. Now, when I saw exhausting I don’t mean this in a bad way. I simply mean that after everything that takes place prior to this point you just feel like slumping in your seat while your mind reels from what all you’ve learned. Just prepare yourself because the author is leading you up to an ending that will have you clambering for more.

When it comes to designating this book I’d put it for readers who at least 15 and up. This book is classified as YA, but I’d caution some readers for elements that are referenced but take place off page -

- murder

- sex

- sexual assault

- burnings (briefly mentioned on page once)

This book absolutely kept me engaged and I cannot wait for book two to come out at the end of this year. It’s honestly too long to wait! I need it NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!! LOL! I love a good dark fantasy and this book absolutely fits the bill.

I highly recommend this book to readers who love dark fantasy novels and are looking for something new with a dystopian twist. You’re not going to want to miss out on this book and coming sequel.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, Alex Thornbury, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to what comes next!

Note: If the author should ever be looking for an advanced reader for her next book(s) I volunteer as tribute! LOL!

The Bridge to Magic (The Sundered Web #1)

Publication Date: February 21, 2023

Genre: YA Dark Fantasy/ Dystopian Vibes

An award-winning debut for lovers of traditional fantasy and the readers who crave the dark, disturbing and original.

Men thought they had won the war against magic, when a demi-god had sundered their realm and banished magic and its keepers to the deadlands. But then another terror was born. Nothing can survive the approaching Blight. Terren, the last refuge of mankind, now stands alone in its path. Only the bridge across the great chasm offers any hope of escape… for some.

Elika has long feared the bridge to the Deadlands. It had taken her parents, and the lives of more poor fools than she could count. What’s there for them anyway on the other side but more suffering and death? Though the gods had abandoned them, the king and his priests will stop the Blight. They just need to destroy every echo of magic, the source of the Blight. Then she discovers that the biggest echo of magic is hiding inside her, and through her it seeks to enact the will of its own.

Accused of being a mage, she is hunted and hated. Many doubt her loyalties. Her gang turns against her. The one man she thought she could trust and love, abandons her. Everything she knew about her past shatters, as long-buried secrets about her true birth emerge. Worse still, she may not even be human. She must race to find a way to purge herself from magic’s hold. But as time runs out for the city and her magic only grows in power, can she sacrifice herself to save the last of humanity and all that she loves?

“A grim and despairing yet elegiac fantasy tale… Hard-bitten fantasists should approve.”—Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author

Alex Thornbury is an award-winning author. She grew up in Cheshire UK, and developed deep love of history and fantasy thanks to the many castles she visited as a child. Though she grew up to be an Alchemist by trade, she never stopped fantasising about other worlds, dragons and epic battles.

She has abandoned her Alchemy and potion making career and is now a full-time author of high fantasy. Three of her books are to be released in early 2023.

Alex Thornbury