Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant

Release Date: August 26, 2014

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Series: Messenger of Fear, Book 1

Rated: YA 14+

Format: Paperback

Source: Pansing

Buy: Available at all good bookstores!

Goodreads ● Website

I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself.

And then the games began.

The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game. Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear. 

But what does any of this have to do with Mara? She is about to find out . . .

Messenger of Fear has been on my shelf for AGES. It's only with announcing the giveaway that I realised that I'd never gotten to it, which is why I made it a priority to pick it up soon. This is the second Michael Grant book I've read. Other than this one, I've only read Gone, which I really enjoyed, but since I have a terrible track-record for keeping up with series, I never managed to get to reading the others. Grant is such an awesome author and a really nice person too–I got to meet him at ALA 2013 in Chicago, and he spent a little bit of time talking to me about books, blogging and Singapore. Anyway, I can't believe I didn't get to Messenger of Fear sooner. It was a quick read, too, and I devoured it in one sitting. 

This was such a different book; it was eerie and mysterious, and the synopsis doesn't give much away, so I went into this book pretty unclear of what exactly was going on. While it was confusing at first, as you read further on you do get a better understanding. I mean, sure there were things that were still not answered by the end of the book, which I had questioned from the beginning, but that's what sequels are for, right? Messenger of Fear also had a big twist, one that I only saw coming a few pages ahead of time with a lucky guess. 

❝I had the thought then that I was dead.
It was not a certainty to me but an uneasy possibility, a doubt, a guess whose truth I was not willing to test.
Why were my memories so far out of reach? I had a life, didn't I? I was a person. I was a girl. I had a name. Of course I had a name.

Mara.❞

–p. 3, paperback

The characters were pretty great, but I will say that I didn't really feel connected to them at all. Sure, Mara and the Messenger, as well as the other people (or not really "people" at times), were interesting characters, but I just didn't connect to them on a level that I expect to with books. I mean, I didn't mind it, because I was so taken away with the story and unraveling the mystery behind why Mara's stuck in this place and working for the Messenger, but it's just something I hope changes with the rest of the series.

While slightly perplexing to begin with, Messenger of Fear was ultimately a fantastic story. Dark and creepy with a frightful secret at it's core, I definitely need to pick up more of Michael Grant's books. It just so happens that (thankfully!) I did download an eGalley of The Tattooed Heart a while back, and it's ready to go on my Kindle. I can't wait to dive back into the world of mystery and fear in Grant's captivating series.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski ● Goodreads
• (Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn ● Goodreads

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