Messenger by Lois Lowry

I liked how this book was an extension of The Giver. It gives an indirect afterword (or whatever it's called) into what happened to Jonas and Gabe after they left the community. There'a apparently another book called Gathering Blue that is similarly an extension of this book as well.

As for overall impressions, this is the second book in a row where a couple doesn't end up getting together! I don't know if I'm necessarily looking for romance but I just think it's sad when a budding love ends in sadness, not because of age or relationship conflicts or anything like that, but because of death. It's one of those irrevocable, there's-nothing-to-do-but-mourn kind of endings where you almost hope that the person who died will miraculously come back to life to continue the love story. At any rate, that was rather disappointing.

That aside, I felt like the book was well-written though not as compelling as The Giver (if I had to make a comparison). I did like the overall flow but perhaps because it is geared towards a younger audience and I read it right after I read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, I felt like the writing was almost too simple. I think that it was intentional but in some ways I think it took away from the book aesthetically (or artistically or whatever you want to call it). I think that this is perhaps what took away from the work as a whole because Lowry could've weaved in more themes or motifs or something but she was left with just the obvious because I felt like she was trying to dumb down her language for her audience. I don't know though because I know my gauge is kind of skewed right now.

At any rate, I found it to be an enjoyable quick read (finished it in like a day) and because it had more depth than some random action novel (Percy Jackson comes to mind), I was definitely able to relish in the writing a bit more. That aside, I would hesitate to pick this novel up again because there weren't as many ideological aspects (like the moral/point of the story if there was one was so glaringly obvious that I don't feel like there's that much more the book could offer).

I feel like there could've been more character development through actions rather than telling (something that I learned in a creative writing class :P) and the plot could've had a little more depth. I don't know I felt like perhaps the plot and characters were too linear.

I don't know if I would recommend this book because The Giver is such a better book and this one I feel just has a really lukewarm quality to it.