The Messenger Reviews

I hadn't really thought that I was one for contemporary romance. I thought that they would be too boring and the conflict too shallow, so I sort of stayed away from them. Then this book changed my mind. To this day, it is one of my favorite contemporary romances, and was the book that really got me interested in the genre of teen contemporary romance.
One thing that I loved, and what really made the book, was the characters. I absolutely adored Jase, and loved Samantha as well, though her decisions often irritated me. I felt like all the characters were generally pretty real, with only a few exceptions. Jase's little brother George never failed to make me laugh, always having something humorous to contribute. Each character, even the ones that you only saw a few times added a new layer to the story.
One thing that surprised me was the depth of the plot. As I had said earlier, I had perceived these sorts of books to have a shallow conflict. However I didn't find this book's conflict to be shallow at all. It wasn't really focused on boy drama or any sort of love triangle. While I may have had some issues with how the situation was handled, I still give the author points for making it go beyond the oh-woe-is-me.
The only complaint that I can think to make is that some of Samantha's decisions (namely one) made me so angry. To me, it was obvious what she should do, but she chose to do the opposite. Reasons were given and understandable to a degree, but her choice irritated me none the less. I can sort of see why she made the choice that she made, but it definitely wouldn't have been the decision I would have made. Luckily though, Samantha didn't spend a lot of time pitying herself and trying to make you feel bad for her when it definitely could have been worked in there, which redeems things for me. 
While it may not have been perfect, I would still say that it's pretty dang close. It opened me up to a new genre, and epitomizes the teen romance genre for me. It proved my previous thoughts wrong, and was really a delightful surprise. If you've been thinking about reading books like this but don't know where to start, I would definitely recommend this book as one to consider. 
Four Point Five out of Five Stars