Messenger of Fear (Messenger of Fear #1) by Michael Grant
Published: September 23rd 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books
Source: ARC via On the Same Page
I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself.
And then the games began.
The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game. Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear.
But what does any of this have to do with Mara? She is about to find out . . .
This book was nothing like I was expecting. After reading the synopsis I thought it was going to be something virtual reality or alternate reality related similar to Rush by Ever Silver. I was sorely let down. Turns out this was kind of like a 21st century Christmas Carol type situation. Mara is being led around by the Messenger who felt like he was filling in the role of the various ghosts in A Christmas Carol, showing her different people’s lives and how their image may not line up with their true character.
One redeeming thing about this book is Micheal Grant’s writing. I have yet to read any of his books and not enjoy the writing, the actual story is different. Did I enjoy the story or the characters? No. Did I enjoy the writing? Yes but not enough for me to recommend picking this one up. If you are a big Micheal Grant fan I might recommend picking this one up, otherwise it is definitely one you can skip.
I’ve been going back and forth over whether or not I should actually read this book. I loved Michael Grant’s Gone series, but this just doesn’t sound like it’s the same action-packed story I’m used to from him.
Haven’t picked up a Michael Grant book yet because I heard a lot of mixed things about his Gone series. It seems like this one won’t do it for me either. I watched the book trailer a while ago and it seemed interesting but I don’t think I could get through this book when it’s so hard to connect with the characters and there is hardly any character development. Still a great review! 🙂
Shame about the characters, but the story does sound intriguing. Grant’s writing is definitely usually fun to read!
Nice honest review 😉