Received from: June Amazon Prime First Reads
Recommend for: true crime fans

I have not heard of this case or book. I was appalled as most people would be at the crime. How could someone just throw their children off of a bridge and walk away, leaving them for dead? Of course, one thinks of notable cases such as Diane Downs convicted of shooting her "kids" and Susan Smith convicted of drowning her children. It does happen and probably more frequently than most of us are aware.

I have read many true crime novels. This one wore me out with the author going back and forth continually between events and characters. The story and timeline were a mess. I am sure there is a good story here and possibly more support than Amanda received by legal entities or family and friends. I couldn't figure out where the author was going with their viewpoint. Her unedited (and often not understandable) thinking was liberally sprinkled throughout the book. I would have rather heard more from or about Amanda, more actual court transcripts, more legalities explained, and more about the psychology of the relationships and events that led up to this event.

The book did serve to make me aware of the event but not much else. The one thing that I loved and wish would happen in all true crime books is the photographs. Almost every other true crime book I have read either has no photos or the photos placed together in the middle of the book. This book (or at least the Kindle version of it) had the photos placed before or after description of them. It lent a lot to my perception of what people and places and events looked like. A for that part. Otherwise, I gave it two stars. I would not read again. ( )

This is the true story of Amanda Stott-Smith who threw her 2 young children off a bridge. Very well written and also read by the author. The only complaint I have is that just a couple of times the story was disjointed..she interviewed somebody 10 years after the crime just relating Amanda's behavior as she was imprisoned. Perhaps I wasn't listening close enough? 292 pages ( )

I feel so sorry for the kids, and there are many of them, who have come up losers in the big parent lottery, but most kids don't have to pay with their lives even though they are affected all their lives. But there are those especially heinous situations where a child is murdered. And that's what happened here.

The mother in this story threw 2 or her 3 children off a bridge in the middle of the night. The author tries to find out why, tries to discover details beyond the headlines. And she does so, to some extent. There are no clear answer. Yes, she had a horrible husband whose behavior ultimately contributed to the tragedy. He sounds like a horrible human being who should never have had children. And the mother should never had children. She was a selfish person who spiraled in a downward abyss of her own making.

There is quite a bit of information about possible motives, but there is no real answer. I wanted to understand this woman better, and I do to an extent, but this book did not cause me to forgive her for what she did.

The book, while interesting, did seem to me to have too much padding, with repetition of information. It also jumped around quite a bit, and some of the sentence structures were a bit unclear. It was still worth reading although it leaves me sad for the children and angry with the adults whose most important job was to protect them. ( )

It is easy to say a mother killing her children is a monstrous and heinous act, but what leads up to that point? Was it preventable, is it 100% her fault, what was life like for the children and the mother who commits this crime? To The Bridge examines Amanda's life, her children's, Trinity, Eldon, and Gavin, and her husband's, Jason, lives before she threw 2 of her kids off of a bridge causing one to die. This book doesn't lessen Amanda's crimes, but you end up understanding her reasoning somewhat. You actually end up feeling some compassion for Amanda through Nancy's blunt, but thoughtful writing, because Nancy is also trying to understand her mixed emotions. ( )