In the enchanting and eerie conclusion to Victoria Schwab’s Cassidy Blake trilogy, Bridge of Souls takes readers on a supernatural journey through the jazz-filled, haunted streets of New Orleans. After traversing the spectral landscapes of Edinburgh in City of Ghosts and Paris in Tunnel of Bones, young ghost-hunter Cassidy Blake faces her most formidable adversary yet: an Emissary of Death itself.
Schwab masterfully builds on the foundations laid in the previous books while raising the stakes to their highest level. This finale isn’t just about confronting another vengeful ghost—it’s about Cassidy confronting the consequences of her own brush with death, a theme that has subtly threaded throughout the series but now takes center stage.
The Story: Where Life and Death Converge
Cassidy Blake isn’t your typical middle-schooler. Ever since drowning in a frozen river (and being saved by a ghost named Jacob), she’s been able to cross the “Veil” between the world of the living and the dead. As the daughter of paranormal investigators filming their TV show “The Inspecters,” Cassidy finds herself in New Orleans, a city where the boundary between life and death seems particularly thin.
But this time, something more sinister than restless spirits awaits her. An Emissary of Death—a bone-masked figure in a black suit—has been tracking Cassidy since Paris. As the entity relentlessly pursues her, determined to “return her to the dark,” Cassidy must rely on her ghost best friend Jacob and her fellow in-betweener Lara to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Society of the Black Cat and find a way to banish the Emissary before it claims her life—or the lives of her friends.
Strengths: A Masterclass in Middle-Grade Horror
Atmospheric Worldbuilding
Schwab has always excelled at creating richly atmospheric settings, but New Orleans proves the perfect canvas for her talents. The city comes alive with its jazz funerals, above-ground cemeteries, voodoo shops, and séance rooms. The author weaves real locations like Muriel’s Restaurant and the LaLaurie Mansion into her narrative, grounding the supernatural elements in a tangible, historically rich setting:
“New Orleans is—something else. It’s not the kind of place you can capture in a photo. It’s loud, and crowded, and full of things that don’t fit, the clop of horse hooves at odds with the honk of a sedan and a saxophone.”
The multiple layers of the Veil in New Orleans—where different historical periods overlap like ghostly echoes—create a fascinating supernatural landscape that perfectly mirrors the city’s complex history.
Character Development
Throughout the trilogy, Cassidy has grown from a reluctant ghost-seer to a more confident in-betweener with a stronger grasp of her abilities. In Bridge of Souls, both Cassidy and Jacob face significant character developments:
Cassidy confronts the consequences of her near-death experience and must make difficult choices about sacrifice, friendship, and her own mortality.
Jacob’s growing corporeal abilities raise the stakes and complicate their relationship, adding depth to their friendship.
Lara Chowdhury, introduced in the second book, provides a wonderful foil to both Cassidy and Jacob, her prim British pragmatism balancing Cassidy’s impulsiveness and Jacob’s playfulness.
Thematic Richness
Schwab doesn’t shy away from profound themes even in her middle-grade works. Bridge of Souls explores:
Life and death as a continuum rather than binary states
The power of friendship across the boundaries of mortality
The cost of sacrifice and what we’re willing to give up for those we love
Facing our fears rather than running from them
These themes are woven seamlessly into an exciting adventure story that never feels didactic or heavy-handed.
Areas for Improvement: A Few Lingering Ghosts
Pacing Issues
While the New Orleans setting is wonderfully rendered, the first third of the book moves somewhat slowly as Cassidy and her parents visit various haunted locations. The narrative momentum picks up significantly once the threat of the Emissary becomes more immediate, but some readers might find themselves wishing for a quicker entry into the central conflict.
Underutilized Supporting Characters
Cassidy’s parents remain somewhat peripheral to the main action. Despite their profession as paranormal investigators, they remain blissfully unaware of their daughter’s supernatural abilities and adventures. While this creates dramatic irony, it feels increasingly implausible that they wouldn’t notice something unusual about their own daughter after three books’ worth of supernatural encounters.
Loose Threads
Though the main story resolves satisfactorily, some elements introduced in the trilogy remain somewhat unexplored by the conclusion:
The nature of Jacob’s growing powers and what they might ultimately mean
The full history and purpose of the Society of the Black Cat
The potential for Cassidy’s parents to eventually discover her abilities
These lingering questions may leave some readers hoping for future installments to tie up these loose ends.
The Series as a Whole: A Ghost Story with Heart
The Cassidy Blake trilogy stands as an exemplary work of middle-grade supernatural fiction. Across the three books—City of Ghosts, Tunnel of Bones, and Bridge of Souls—Schwab builds a consistent magical system while escalating both the external threats and the emotional stakes:
City of Ghosts established the rules of Cassidy’s world and the nature of her connection to Jacob as they confronted the Raven in Red in Edinburgh.
Tunnel of Bones expanded the supernatural elements with the poltergeist beneath Paris and introduced Lara as a guide to the formal rules of being an in-betweener.
Bridge of Souls brings everything to a head, forcing Cassidy to confront the very nature of her second chance at life.
This progression demonstrates Schwab’s skill at crafting a cohesive series where each book builds meaningfully on what came before.
A Voice That Transcends Age Categories
Though marketed for middle-grade readers (ages 8-12), Schwab’s writing never talks down to her audience. Her prose remains sophisticated while accessible:
“So I know what I’m scared of, but I also know it isn’t set in stone. I know that I can save one of my friends without losing the other. And I know there’s a third life at stake: my own.”
This quality of writing allows the Cassidy Blake series to appeal to older readers as well, making it a true “crossover” success. Fans of Schwab’s adult works like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or her Shades of Magic series will find the same attention to atmospheric detail and emotional nuance in her middle-grade fiction, just tailored for a younger audience.
Comparisons and Context
Bridge of Souls and the entire Cassidy Blake trilogy fit nicely alongside other successful middle-grade supernatural series such as:
Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series
Holly Black and Cassandra Clare’s Magisterium series
Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces quartet
However, Schwab’s approach stands out for its emphasis on emotional connections rather than puzzle-solving or magical training. The friendship between Cassidy and Jacob forms the emotional core of the series, with the supernatural elements serving to test and strengthen that bond rather than merely providing obstacles to overcome.
Final Verdict: A Worthy Conclusion to a Spectral Journey
Bridge of Souls delivers a satisfying conclusion to Cassidy Blake’s story while leaving just enough room for readers to imagine future adventures. The book balances spooky thrills with genuine emotional depth, continuing Schwab’s tradition of crafting stories that are accessible to younger readers without sacrificing literary quality or thematic richness.
Strengths:
Atmospheric New Orleans setting
Deep exploration of the series’ central themes
Meaningful character development
Higher stakes than previous installments
Weaknesses:
Occasional pacing issues
Some underutilized supporting characters
A few unresolved plot elements
For readers who have followed Cassidy through Edinburgh and Paris, this New Orleans adventure provides a worthy conclusion to her journey. And for those new to Victoria Schwab’s middle-grade works, the Cassidy Blake trilogy offers an excellent entry point to her expansive bibliography.
Like the jazz that permeates its New Orleans setting, Bridge of Souls brings together seemingly disparate elements—humor and horror, friendship and fear, life and death—into a harmonious whole that resonates long after the final page. It’s a ghost story with heart, a supernatural adventure that reminds us that the bonds we form are stronger than any barrier—even the Veil between worlds.