Messenger by Lois Lowry

Messenger by Lois Lowry

              Mattie has been in the Village for six years now. He lives with the blind man known as the Seer in a home they share. The Seer is like a father to Mattie and well respected in the Village which has been known for its selflessness. Many who have suffered come to the Village to find hope and a place for themselves. Mattie, who had been neglected by his mother where he previously lived and was a perpetual liar and thief, was one of those people who found a home. Now, after attending school and learning how to read, write and be respectful, he delivers messages around the Village and to the areas surrounding it. He is familiar with everyone and has always felt welcome. But things are changing. There are talks of closing the border to the Village and no longer allowing others to join. The Forest is becoming more hostile and those who were once allowed to leave are now receiving warnings that they should not return to the trees. Mattie has discovered his own power but it is a secret he must keep until he can understand how it will affect him and the others in the Village.

                Messenger is third book in a quartet. The previous novels The Giver and Gathering Blue introduced two separate dystopian lands that exist after the Ruin. There is a very stark contrast between the dystopias introduced in the two previous books. These books find their commonality in the Messenger. Mattie is an interesting character that has undergone an amazing amount of growth. He is introduced in Gathering Blue and expanded on in this sequel. Messenger takes place six years after Gathering Blue and goes into quite a lot of depth regarding the Village that we were introduced to earlier. The life and the contrast it holds to the two previously described areas is interesting. It adds diversity to the quartet as a whole with this additional layer of storytelling.

                I was hopeful when I began reading this novel. Mattie was a character that I really enjoyed and found entertaining in Gathering Blue so I was excited to see his story expanded further. Unfortunately this story proves to be my least favorite so far. The first two novels were filled with a genuine complexity and intrigue. This novel was filled with more mysticism and it was almost a distracting aspect. This felt like it was meant to simply be a bridge between the first two novels to bring two of the main characters together in preparation for the last novel. This fell short to me. The writing was great but the plot lackluster. Easy to read? Yes, because Lowry is a great writer. But this novel just doesn’t do it for me. I give this novel 3 out of 5 stars. This must be a vital part of the story for it to be included, but more imagination and interesting plot would have been appreciated.