The Messenger Reviews

I had mixed feelings before starting this book. Even after finishing it, I still have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I liked the basic plot. On the other hand, I didn't particularly like the writing style. I had previously read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, and while the inside cover made it look like it was a book I had to buy, so much that I bought it in hardback, and it turned out to be a horrible disappointment. This book didn't necessarily live up to how good the plot sounded, but I didn't think it was quite the disappointment that The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight had been.
Let's start with what I did like, sort of. I liked Graham and Ellie. I liked them individually and together. I felt like they could have been a little more personalized. I knew they had personalities, but I couldn't really see that through the writing. The characters just seemed a little bland, and a little stereotypical. I felt like I didn't really know that much about the characters themselves. There were details about them that were thrown out there, but I felt like they didn't really come alive for me. They were just kind of shells of real people.
While I liked the plot, I felt like it wasn't executed well. I can see how some people might like her writing style, but I don't really think it was for me. I didn't like the long, out of place, mostly pointless flashbacks to other times. I felt like the book focused on the unimportant and uninteresting things. Things you thought were going to be important and significant turned out to be nothing. I felt like the book was kind of pointless, and not thought through. Don't get me wrong, I'm probably making this book sound worse than it was, because I did like it some, I just felt like it didn't really amount to anything. I feel like it was written just because she needed something to write. It didn't really go anywhere, and the characters were just vessels to work through the plot. 
Overall, even though I had a lot of criticism for it, I didn't hate this book. I didn't especially like it, but I didn't hate it either. It found it okay. It was one of those books that was good while you were reading it, and you didn't realize all the problems until you were done. If you liked The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, then I would suggest this book to you. You'll probably like it. However, if you didn't like it, I wouldn't tell you to put this at the top of your list. If you're thinking of reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, then I would suggest reading this one first, since I liked it better.
Two Point Five out of Five Stars