Read All About It: Messenger of Fear

Messenger of Fear is a young adult novel that mixes the horror and fantasy genres to a high degree and creates a good testimony against the horrors that rise from bullying. In this book, Michael Grant, a relatively prolific author in the young adult world with over 150 books with his name on them, creates a fantasy world where severe and repeated transgressions must be punished.

Mara wakes up with no memory but her name, and is confronted by a young man. After a slightly confusing interaction, Mara the and boy, the Messenger of Fear, set off on a terrifying and poignant quest, that forces Mara to deal with her own fears and the fears of others as well as truly examining the lives of those who have upset the balance of her world. As Messenger's apprentice, Mara must look past her own struggles and examine the lives of others--playing a game that she cannot afford to lose.

Messenger of Fear is an interesting book. It was fast-paced and easy to read, but never strayed past our relatively unreliable narrator. We only get Mara's point of view and her interpretation of Messenger's emotional state (only visible on his face for mere moments), and she's not entirely sure it isn't all a dream until about half-way through. Trapped in an illusory vision of a world she isn't sure she remembers or knows, we don't get the full setting and place because Mara is entirely focused on exactly what she herself is doing or dealing with at any moment, which Grant seems to have chosen as the alternative to world-building.

Past the unreliable narrator is a more original concept of the grim reaper, whose job isn't to take souls but to offer them a choice--play a "game" and be redeemed, or face your deepest fears and possibly lose your mind to them. It's interesting, but lacks the sophistication of flaws. Grant's main characters are flawless as far as we see--beautiful if haunting, seductive, and clear. They're not very captivating, unless you want endless physical descriptions.

This book could have been better. It was too transparent and wrapped up for me to really enjoy, and I sped through it without really gaining anything. I do feel like it would have a greater impact on its intended audience, because the one thing I thought was really strong was its anti-bullying message, which I'm sure was the intent of the entire novel. Grant shows through a variety of "cases" that bullying leads to bad things for both the bullied and the instigator--and that both sides need help to realize their situations are closely related and equally devastating.

I have the next novel of the series, The Tattooed Heart, and that review will be up shortly! In the meantime, keep an eye out for people who might need help. Even the smallest thing--a smile, a short conversation--could help someone hold on for just that much longer. We can all help each other.