Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Bookworm9

Mattys life in Village with his elderly companion Seer is close to perfect. Matty feels important because he is the only member of Village who can safely travel through Forest, delivering messages to the outside world. Hes sure that when its time for him to get his true name, it will be Messenger.

But frightening things are beginning to happen in Village. With the advent of Trade Mart, people are beginning to change, and not for the better. Soon, Village will no longer be open to outsiders, and Matty is sent on one final journey through Forest to spread word of Villages closing and bring Seers daughter Kira back with him. But for the first time, Forest is no longer friendly to Matty. Will he be able to get Kira home safely? Is Village worth returning to?

Messenger is the third in Lowrys eclectic trilogy, and I admit I dont know if I like the linkage. The Giver is a great book that should really stand alone, with its ending open to interpretation. I didnt really enjoy Gathering Blue, the middle book. I did enjoy Messenger, though it was not as strong as The Giver. I saw the point in including the characters of Jonas and Kira in this book, and at the same time I was kind of wary of the connection. Messenger is much more a sequel to Gathering Blue, with less of a link to The Giver, except for the inclusion of Jonas. Also, Lowry seems to expect readers to care more about Jonas and Kira, and the possibility of a relationship between them, rather than about Matty, which isnt necessarily the case. Read it for what its worth, but I still like The Giver best by itself.