Messenger by Lois Lowry

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Messenger
by Lois Lowry
(Audio)

After LOVING The Giver and feeling inspired by Gathering Blue, I decided to give the third book in this loose trilogy a try, even though melydia said she wasn't all that fond of this book. I was looking forward to finally seeing Jonas again (he wasn't in Gathering Blue) especially. Well, I really wish I'd just left this series unfinished. I didn't love this book.

At the end of Gathering Blue, we learn that Kira's father wasn't really taken by beasts but, instead, attacked by a man and driven out of his home. Blind and injured, he is taken in by kind people of "Village" where people with disabilities or problems are not immediately killed or shunned like in Kira's community. This book follows her father and Matty (formerly Matt--he's two syllables now!) as they see their village of kind, warm-hearted people become selfish.

We're introduced to the concept of trading, where people in the village trade things they don't want (like old bracelets) for things they do want (like new-to-them bracelets). However, the trades seem magical now, where people trade bits of their soul for the ability to look more handsome and win the heart of a woman in town. The people of village become so self-centered from this that they decide not to help any more strangers; they decide to close their borders.

So Matty ventures out to get Kira, so she can live with them before Village is sealed off. Jonas, the leader of Village (yay!), is heartsick at seeing what is happening to his town and the people in it. He sends Matty out as a messager to tell them Village is closing. It's a dangerous trek through Forest, which is thickening and making passage difficult. What I don't understand is why those people who stayed true to the core beliefs of Village didn't just leave. I realize they loved Village and it was their home, but many of them came from other places and if their beliefs are no longer shared by the community, it would make sense to split off. I guess the point was to teach me to not think like that, to still have faith and love for people wanting to ruin society. But I really did want them to just take off and make a new Village full of caring people.

Anyway, Matty goes to get Kira and Forest resists. The Forest is apparently magical and doesn't want them to get back to Village. Leader, who can "see beyond," goes to help them and Seer, who is blind, stays back in Village and worries as he hears the construction of the wall taking place. And now we come to the part of the book I really didn't like. I bought the transferance of images, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and knowledge that took place in The Giver. And I bought that Kira is a skilled artisan in Gathering Blue. But I just couldn't buy into all the magic that takes place in this book. I like to believe this is a dystopian world that could conceivably spring from our world today. But there is SO much magic in this book, and that makes it hard for me to buy into.

There's a trader who fascilitates magical trades and steals your soul and then the guy never really comes back into the book. There's Kira who can now not only weave beautiful patterns but whose hands weave on their own and make patterns that spring to life magically. There's Jonas who can somehow see through objects and buildings and trees, to locations far away. And there's Matty who can heal. When he nursed his dog, Branch, back to health in Gathering Blue, it was sweet and believable. When he places his hands on something and brings it back to life or heals it, it's magical. And, yes, I have a healer in the story I'm writing now who can actually do likewise, but he's magical and lives in a world of magic. I just wan't expecting so much magic here.

The healing of everything all at once, though with great sacrifice, was beautiful. However, I was sort of hoping for a long while that the reason Forest was thickening was actually to keep people away from a corrupt village. Instead, it was just a reflection of the corruption and just as harmful. Eh. I like my version better. But, hey, I'm not the author! I was a little let down because I guessed Matty's true name very early on. And while I'm glad for the way it turned out, there was no emotional punch. This wasn't really the Matt I adored in Gathering Blue. All his uniqueness and character was gone. Sure, he was still sweet and I'm glad he got an education and a nice place to live (until it turned mean). But I missed Matt dreadfully and Matty wasn't at all what I expected. Similarly, I didn't feel like that was really the Jonas I fell in love with in The Giver.

This book was short and not as satisfying as I had hoped.