I Am the Messenger

I liked The Book Thief so much that I decided to give Zusak's other popular book, I Am the Messenger, a try. First things first, the two books are absolutely nothing alike. I Am the Messenger is a feel-good coming of age novel with a happy, if strange, ending.

The story follows Ed, an under-aged cab driver with no direction in life. Until he starts receiving obscure messages on playing cards that encourage him to perform acts of kindness around his city. Along the way he makes some friends, becomes more involved in his community, and discovers a sense of purpose.

There are a few things that I think could have been handled better. A handful of things that made me cringe. But for the most part, this was a surprisingly uplifting and affecting journey. Some of the things Ed does are as simple as buying someone an ice cream cone. Others as complicated as restoring a sense of family duty to a pair of brothers. And through it all is the mystery of who's sending Ed on these missions.

I have to say that I absolutely hated the ending of this book. Not enough to make me discount the whole thing. But it got weird. It seemed like the author didn't entirely know how to finish his story. He was probably trying to make a grander point, but I think he ended up undercutting it.

This book wasn't quite as good as The Book Thief (which is a goddamn masterpiece). It was obviously written first and Zusak was still figuring some things out. But it's still pretty good for the most part. I'll be happy to hand it off to my son some day.

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