Leader could see that Kira had had problems the first day, when Forest had punctured and wounded her. His gift had given him a glimpse of her bleeding feet. He had watched her rub on the salve and wince, and he had winced in sympathy. But she was managing well now. He could see, but did not tell the blind man, that now Forest was attacking Matty instead.
And he could see as well that they had not yet approached the worst of it.
Messenger by Lois Lowry is the third book of the Giver Quartet. While interesting in some ways, I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the other books of the series. I’ll explain why in this review.
Table of Contents
Plot
Matty’s home is changing.
When he first moved into Village, it was a utopia of kindness and compassion. All the residents experienced oppression and pain firsthand and strove to make a haven from the corruption of the world around them. But even utopias are not perfect.
Ever since the mysterious Trademaster arrived, things have been going downhill. People seem to be trading their goodness for possessions, giving up their deepest selves for personal gain. And after a petition begins circulating to close the refuge to newcomers, Matty worries what will become of his perfect home. Could the last holdout of virtue also become a den of selfishness?
This book offers practically no resolutions of any kind. Lowry briefly explains what happened to Jonas and his community after The Giver, and even more briefly says how Kira’s village is doing, but that’s all the explanation you’ll get from Messenger.
All the Giver books have minimalistic worldbuilding. The author seems more intent on getting her point across than crafting a believable world. I respect that stance, but it’s slightly annoying to have new information added without background. For example, the forest (known as Forest) around Village attacks and kills some people that try to leave. Why? It’s not said.
However, vague worldbuilding is different than leaving every plot point hanging. The end—which is rather unsatisfying—makes some implications, but doesn’t resolve any of the conflicts. The decay of Village seems to be healed, yet the source of the problem is still present.
I’ve been told that all these things are wrapped up in Son. That being the case, this book reads like an extended prologue that doesn’t stand on its own whatsoever. I would recommend picking up Son directly after finishing this book.
This book leans fantasy more than any of the others in the series, introducing new magic elements that are—no big surprise—not explained. Gathering Blue saw Kira explore the use of her gift, and in Messenger, we learn that Matty and Jonas also have gifts. These abilities are even more magical than they were in Gathering Blue and are able to do new things that conveniently save the day at the last second.
Characters
Most of this book’s characters are familiar to readers of the series. Matty (formerly Matt), Kira, Christopher, and Jonas are major characters; Thomas and even Gabe are mentioned. The author further develops these characters and provides more of their stories.
With this story occurring years after the others, Matty is an entirely different person than the mischievous, misspeaking boy we see in Gathering Blue. He’s not nearly as humorous as he is there, but this new Matty is still likable.
Theme & Content Warnings
Messenger is different thematically from its predecessors. In another sense, it’s perfectly in line with them. It shows how a perfect society can crumble when selfishness invades. The Trade Mart is a picture of many people today who give up their morality for possessions and advancement. As with the other books, this theme is relevant to issues we face today.
A few extra content warnings come up in this third book. A character recites a line of Shakespeare that includes a mild profanity, though I’m not familiar enough with the play to know if it’s used properly in that context.
One character gives a disturbing description of a man being killed by Forest. Other characters are wounded by malicious branches that cut their skin, exposing muscle. Acidic sap drops onto Matty’s arms at one point, causing them to swell and crack.
Overall
As a standalone book, Messenger leaves much to be desired. Very little actually happens, and that which does happen is forgotten and left unresolved. The message highlights a major problem with our world, but it felt under-used. It remains to be seen whether Son concludes this book’s happenings, and if it does, most of my critiques are irrelevant.
If you’ve read and enjoyed the first two books, I would still recommend trying Messenger. Its story is too short and too mysterious, but as far as I’ve heard, it lays the foundation for Son. If you’re on the fence, you may want to read other reviews of Messenger and Son or wait for my review of the fourth book.
Thanks for reading!
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