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A great introduction to the first world war. I feel like I got more out of this than my high-school history class.

Not a quick read by any stretch, it is incredibly dense with information. Well worth the read.
Makes whats going on in policing much more tangible.

Throughout the first book and this one, I often found myself struggling to accept Mary’s thoughts and actions. She seems like a forced character who feels what she feels and does what she does just to move the plot along.
But… I did manage to overcome this by looking at her a different way. We all know people who seem to do things out of character, or with no logical reason for their actions, and Mary is no exception. Is she a weakly written character? Maybe (but I’m no expert). Is she a believable character? Well I think so, she’s just not what I expected her to be.

Overall, the themes and subject matter of this series outweigh those potential shortcomings too much for any of that to have any bearing on my enjoyment. On to book three!

Despite being nearly 20 years old now, the social commentary in this book is shockingly relevant now more than ever. It feels that western society has made little to no forward progress since this book was published, still struggling with the basic concepts of human decency the book puts forward regularly.

This was already a 5 star book for me, and this reread would have me rate it even higher if I could.

Give the readers some credit Lowry… Watching The Giver devolve into this was truly disappointing. This story feels beyond forced, and it spoon feeds every single detail. We don’t need every metaphor and simile spelled out for us.

I’d recommend giving this a pass. Definitely read The Giver; and even Gathering Blue—but only as a separate work, not a sequel. Skip Messenger and Son, they aren’t worth your time.

Despite being nearly 20 years old now, the social commentary in this book is shockingly relevant now more than ever.
It feels that western society has made little to no forward progress since this book was published, still struggling with the basic concepts of human decency the book puts forward regularly.

This was already a 5 star book for me, and this reread would have me rate it even higher if I could.

I’m very conflicted about this book... as a “companion” to The Giver it falls totally flat. As a novel it its own right it’s... fine. I enjoyed The Giver and Gathering Blue as separate works, and was excited to read this to tie them together but it feels so disconnected from the worlds of both. There were also passages that directly conflicted with the previous book, really disappointing from an editing standpoint.

If this was presented as its own story I may be able to give it a 3 or 4 star rating. But it’s the third book of a quartet and it just doesn’t hit the standard that The Giver sets.