If you pass your mouse over the star choices, 1 star reads "did not like it"! This does not necessarily mean it is a terrible book, only that the reviewer did not like it. People like different things, right?! This book did not fit me. Hopefully, by explaining my reaction others will be better able to decide if they will like the book or not. He also acts too sexual towards an underage girl, for my liking. He didn't even interact too much with her, but when he did, it left me feeling uncomfortable. For me, this line right there, was the best lesson I got from this book. Towards the end, you'll realize that he made Ed the message, not the messenger. We are not just a somebody, we are all a someone. I hope that made sense. We may think that what we do, are insignificant to someone else, but that's not true. We could affect other people's lives, for the better or for the worse, it is out choice. We have to make that choice. Many readers pointed that the message was beautiful and I don't want to be a spoil-fun, because it is, in some way, but why did Markus Zusak have to be so IN YOUR FACE about it? So glaringly obvious? What happens when the world doesn't care about you? Let's just say it ain't pretty, and since this is one of the big questions I Am the Messenger asks readers to think on, you'll find loads of people in this book that you often don't find in young adult books. Ed is sent to help a rape victim, a poor family, a beaten kid, an overwhelmed mother… need we say more? Author Markus Zusak takes the YA genre to a very serious place and asks readers to consider some very real adult problems.

I know there has to be an element of cluelessness in books like this so the author can develop the story properly… but this was silly. I start the previous paragraph mentioning that this book is odd. It is definitely unique and kind of hard to explain. It has lots of little stories within the main story and kind of a "Pay It Forward" vibe. It can definitely be given the designation as being a feel good story. The ace of hearts is the final challenge for Ed to accept his new role as an agent of change. This card brings Ed face to face with those closest to him and calls him to abandon his friends’ sacrosanct status quo. Ed rises to the challenge. He gives Ritchie the motivation to change. He helps Marv face up to his past and right the mistakes he made. And he conveys Audrey’s specialness to her in a way that can heal her sense of worthlessness. Without understanding why, Ed suddenly behaves out of character and becomes the hero in the situation. He acts impulsively to go after the robber. The gun’s metamorphosis into something soft in his hand has a dream-like quality, as if Ed is a construct of someone’s imagination. In the extraordinary circumstances of a bank robbery, Ed’s disorientation is a normal reaction, but Ed’s perceptions foreshadow events that will unfold over the coming year. Ed’s comment about the message that changes his life marks the bank incident as a turning point in his life. I Am the Messenger will make you happy in at least three ways: it will give you a truly authentic, approachable story that will go straight through your heart, it will make you examine the way you treat complete strangers and it will catch you completely off guard.And the ending is the reason that I ended up liking this book even more than the The Book Thief. I'm not gonna say anything about the ending, except that it blew my mind and that I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Beautiful" is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this book. Because, it just is. Altogether, it's a pretty feel-good and uplifting story about the simple goodness of human nature, and about how the smallest actions can really change people's lives. There’s an eeriness slipping over my hands. It makes its way inside me and travels, quietly gnawing at my thoughts. I read: In that respect, I am the Messenger is utterly different from The Book Thief - it won't make you curl up in bed and cry your eyes out. But that doesn't mean it's any less magnificent a book.

You are the epitome of ordinariness, Ed.” He looks at me seriously. “And if a guy like you can stand up and do what you did for all those people, well, maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of.” He becomes intense now. Emotional. This is everything. “Maybe even I can.”The one relationship I wasn’t a big fan of was the romance. It was very tame, almost bland and just did nothing for me (this may very well be due to the fact that I didn’t like the love interest). I don’t think it was superfluous, but it didn’t really add anything to the story either. stars. Some books you instantly love - they reach you, unconditionally. Others you hate with passion and you would happily burn them if only you weren't reading ebooks (also, you really don't want to have something in common with every tyrant out there). Then they're the mild, non-committal threes and two-and-a-half, better known as the great shelf of meh. I think the first thing that pulled me in was that Ed is a lot like I was at nineteen. I like to think I had a little more confidence but I had no idea what I wanted to do either and I'm reasonably sure I was secretly in love with a girl who was only interested in being friends at the time as well. And hell, I'm damn sure I would have taken up the messenger role like Ed did had I gotten playing cards in the mail. At the end of the road, just before I go around the corner, I turn one last time to see the lights.

Both the ending and the entire book is unrealistic, concocted and too simplified making it childish in tone. The story is drawn as a mystery. The things that happen just would not happen! I would recommend the book to young teenagers not looking for realism, who love mysteries and a dash of romance. All you need to do is look, to pay attention, and to get up, step forward, and gift a smile, a meal, a hug; because sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference and as Zusak wrote, “ Big things are often just small things that are noticed.” This book is one I will highly recommend to everyone. I know I didn't rate it a perfect 5, because of some reasons. Like there were times that I got bored, that I got upset with some of Ed's thoughts... and a bunch of other stuff... but those are very minor things. Not even worth mentioning really. I know it's silly but, I can't rate a book a perfect 5 if there were some things I didn't like about it. So there. Hence, the 4 stars.

This work provides examples of:

After understanding this and coming to terms with the mysterious instances of the story I was hooked in. Simply so awed by the sheer idea of it.

Taxi driver. Local loser. Cornerstone of mediocrity. Sexual midget. Pathetic card-player. And now weird-shit magnet on top of it. The narrator, nineteen-year-old Ed Kennedy, introduces himself. He grew up in the slums where unemployment and teenage pregnancy are norms. His circle of friends—Audrey, Marv, and Ritchie—play the card game Annoyance several times a week. His father, an alcoholic who mismanaged money, died six months prior, leaving behind his mother Bev. Two sisters, Leigh and Katherine, have moved out. Ed’s younger brother Tommy attends college in the city, an option Ed considers out of reach given his father’s neglect of family finances. Ed compares himself to what Bob Dylan, Salvador Dali, and Joan of Arc achieved by age nineteen. In contrast, Ed is an underage cab driver who lives alone with the aged family dog, Doorman. He fantasizes about dating Audrey but respects the boundaries she erects against intimacy as a result of her rough family life. Ed analyzes his dating history and wishes that sexual prowess were regarded like math skills, with no shame in being clueless. Summary: 3♦ the ace of diamonds Then there was the writing, which I had some conflicting feelings about. Zusak does this thing where he sometimes spaces out sentences and makes them into an entire paragraph. This can be an effective literary device, however, I felt that it was overused and the fact that it was always employed when something meaningful was said felt very in-my-face “this is important”. I prefer books to be more subtle. This book teaches a lesson. And what is that? People should live life to the fullest. Appreciate it. Enjoy it. Do something with it. We mustn't be complacent. We mustn't be bystanders. We must dare to put ourselves out on a limb for others. Of course I agree, and of course we all tend to forget. I am not debating the truth of the message but rather the way in which the message is conveyed. It is this that is childish. I am fine with giving the book to young adults, but I prefer gritty over sweet and I don't appreciate simplification.

I Am the Messenger Resources

Yes, the story was told from the perspective of a teenager, but that doesn't justify the crude writing. Tons of books have been written in this perspective, without making me want to go crazy. This book consisted mainly of short sentences, sometimes ending right in the middle. What is this?? If that's a special artistic way of teenagers expressing themselves, then I'm sorry - I just don't get it. Caught Up in a Robbery: The book begins with Ed and his friends getting caught up in a robbery at a gas station. When he accidentally stops the robbery, Ed's life changes but he has the robber's threat that he's "a dead man" hanging over his head. When the robber reappears at the end, he reveals that it wasn't a threat, but a warning that Ed was wasting his life.