Star Rating: 98A *****


Summary: Bridge of Clay is the story of the Dunbar boys; Matthew, Rory, Henry, Clay and Tommy. This is a story of how Clay and his brothers struggle with the death of their mother, the disappearance of their father and the return of their father. This is a story of love, loss, and family.

This was a wonderfully crafted work of fiction. I felt like I really knew every Dunbar as well as those who were important in the passing of Penny Dunbar. I loved that the story was narrated by Matthew. I could feel the love that he had for each of their brothers and their parents. The characters are what made this story for me. I loved how each of them had their own distinct personality and how each of them dealt with things in a different way.
The worldbuilding felt very contemporary but also felt historical at times which is why I took a point away for the worldbuilding. At the beginning I thought that this must have been set in the 60s or 70s and then there was talk of a Minerva McGonagall poster I knew that this had to be more recent.
The plot I feel was very well crafted. Even though I knew that Penny was going to die when it did happen, I really felt the pain that all the boys were feeling. I constantly wanted to know more of the Dunbar family’s story and didn’t want to put this book down.
The writing style was so clean to me. I felt like I could really imagine the house that the Dunbar brothers lived in without parents. I could picture every scrape and bruise from these characters fighting each other. The writing was just so rich and emotive and really helped me to get into this story.
Obviously, I feel like the intent of this book was to show all the different ways that people can deal with grief and that sometimes the ways that we handle things aren’t always healthy. This book will stick with me for quiet some time because I know the feeling of loosing a parent that meant so much to your whole family to cancer. I think that the ways that each of the boys handled things were very authentic which spoke to the authenticity of the story itself.
My enjoyment of this story was 10 out of 10 I loved the whole journey with this story. This is one of my new favorites. I loved this book so much and I am so glad that Zusak again wrote a book that really spoke to me on so many levels.
I think that this is a book that can be widely loved by many, but I can also see where some might not be as invested as I was in the Dunbar boy’s story. They are a rough group of boys but I think that if you are someone who has ever lost someone you loved that you can relate to the actions of these boys as they are dealing with loosing not one but two parents and having to rely on each other to survive


Characters 1-10: 10
Worldbuilding 1-10: 9
Plot: 1-10: 10
Writing style: 1-10: 10
Enjoyment: 1-10: 10
Intent/impact: 1-10: 10