Book Review: Bridgers A Parable
The Rebel Christian is always on the lookout for good Christian fiction! I always have to plug that into my introduction so I’m going to start off by throwing that little snippet of information out there for any Christian authors who might be reading this! Moving on to the review—I loved this book! I loved it not just because it was fast paced, well written, and an incredible take on Biblical stories, I loved it because it was openly, freely, and unapologetically Christian fiction!
I’ve been reading and reviewing Christian fiction for years now and I always seem to get two types of books; books that are openly Christian and solely for the Christian market, or secular books with elements of faith and hidden Christian messages. As a Believer, I prefer Christian books that are exclusive to the Christian market. The world has millions of secular books, use your gifts for the Kingdom—who cares if people who aren’t Christian don’t like your Christian writing?
That’s why I appreciated this story so much; Thompson isn’t shy about including her faith in her work and she does it in such a talented and entertaining way. This book follows three characters on a journey as they are each faced with difficult decisions to make. Their story retells a biblical parable while their lives and decisions make a comparison between the sort of Christians we saw in the Bible (people like the Pharisees) and Christians you might see today (gang members, those struggling with addiction, etc.). Even though the story encompassed a biblical tale, I could clearly see the connection to Christianity today. It strongly demonstrated that God never changes—no matter what year it is, the Word of God will always be relevant in our lives and will always be able to lead people to salvation. In some ways, it also demonstrated that people never change either. We struggle with the same sins our ancestors struggled with—lust is still rampant, people still lie, thieves still steal. This book connected two time periods that you wouldn’t think had much in common because it kept the Word at its center as its focus.
I loved that I was able to identify with the characters, love the characters, disagree with the characters. There was a lot of development in this book which I think is especially impressive because it has multiple POVs. In some books with multiple POVs, you’ll find yourself really enjoying one character but disliking the others—that wasn’t the case here. You can tell Thompson gave attention to each story, but what I liked most was the shift in perspective. Some of the narration was third person while another was first person. I thought this mix up was really unique and it offered different levels of insight to the characters that you don’t always get to see in a single book.
If you like suspenseful, meaningful, and well-written Christian fiction I’d strongly suggest reading this book. It will be most appreciated by YA Christian audiences, but adult readers can enjoy it as well.
*The Rebel Christian received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*