I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this at BEA in the summer of 2014. I also got to meet the author last summer, who I have been a huge fan of ever since I first read his book Gone. Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure I was a big fan of this book.
The main character is Mara, although she doesn’t quite remember who she is when the book first starts. She wakes up in a field that she doesn’t recognize and has no idea how she got there or where she is. As she begins to try to make her way out of the foggy field, she comes across a coffin with a girl inside. But as she looks at the girl, she knows it is not her. She turns around and sees a cute boy, who will only tell her that he is the Messenger of Fear. And he shows her how the girl in the coffin died. She shot herself. So then they follow back in time to the bullying that led to her death. But it’s not only this that he shows Mara. She also sees a boy and girl that run over a dog. I almost quit at that point. But since the book was portraying what they’d done as bad, I went ahead and read on. There was another bullying type of situation that Mara saw. She also saw the people get punished, or tested in a game. Soon, Mara will find out why she is there with the Messenger, she will learn what he does. She will meet other people that he deals with. Some not quite so nice. Some that she can’t quite figure out.
The people are all bad, and for the most part they get what they deserve. And I wondered if the little twist at the end would be what was going to happen early on, but it was done in a very good way. I don’t know if I’ll read on or not. Will see if I feel like it and can fit the next one in. I think I saw an egalley of it on Edelweiss.
I wanted so bad to like it since I’ve loved Grant’s other books, and since I met him when I got this one. I remember when I saw him at BEA last summer. I’d come back and got in line pretty early, before anyone else, and it was during the time when they were having a lunch break for the workers, so there weren’t any authors there at the time. When he came up I was first in line, and he called us up and said he’d sign whatever we had. Well, I felt greedy, but I asked him if there were any books because we’d thought we were supposed to get Messenger of Fear. So he went in the back and helped them bring his books up front to be signed. He was really cool!
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Sorry your weren't thrilled with this one! I've heard mixed reviews. I've met him also and he was very nice!!
He was so nice! Glad to know I'm not the only one who wasn't as happy as they'd hoped with this one.
I haven't heard the best things about this one, even though I know the author has a huge fan base. I haven't read any of his other books, but I think those would be what I would start with, not this. And the dog getting ran over? Nope. Will pass!
Definitely don't start with this. Go for the Gone series, it is the best! The dog scene was horrible.
Hmmm. The beginning of the book sounds almost like a dream — very surreal.
@dino0726 from
FictionZeal – Impartial, Straighforward Fiction Book Reviews
It was very dream like, in fact it felt like it was one. The writing is great, even if I wasn't happy with the story itself.
I got this book last year and tried it but just couldn't get into it. I definitely prefer his Gone Series more. Thanks for the review.
Megan @ reading away the days
Probably not one to go back to. Unless you want to try again. Thanks for stopping by!
I've seen mixed reviews on this one. I'm not removing it from the TBR list but it's definitely not at the top.Thanks for your honest review.
It wasn't a horrible read, just not what I have come to expect from Grant. I say give it a try and see what you think!
I absolutely LOVE Michael Grant and after reading his Gone series like you — I was hooked. I have read many of his other books, but not this series yet. I do own the second book in it, so I should probably get around to trying out the first one. It sounds like it might be different from his usual style, which makes me curious.
I see the 2nd one is up on either Netgalley or Edelweiss, but since I wasn't a fan of this one, not sure if I'll read on.