Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - I Am the Messenger

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

10 reviews

feelsattack's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I would give this book a 3.5/5 MAX but I'm giving a 3/5. I felt like the constant sexual thoughts were just so unnecessary and they made me so uncomfortable whenever I had to read them. There's also the problem with how heavy handed this book's message/theme is, and it was already obvious once you get about halfway through the book, but Zusak, if possible, laid it down even heavier at the end. There's a fine line when you're dealing with making something so obvious/heavy handed and it's the difference between enhancing your book or making it... "not as good" (trying to be nice here).

I feel like the ending made it "not as good," and I'm attributing it to the HEAVY HANDEDNESS.

One thing that was really glaring was the way he writes. I don't even know how to explain it, and oddly enough I watched a AClockworkReader's video where she tried to describe this style of writing. It's like, when Zusak writes really short sentences, sometimes even only two words, and then moves to the next line. Let me find an example:

"Lua kisses her.
Just softly on the lips.
And she kisses back.
Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are."

AND IT'S SO ANNOYING. I understand this is an intentional writing choice but it's so annoying. I feel like Zusak has some sub-group of John Scalzi-itis Syndrome, where John Scalzi literally adds "said" after EVERY dialogue, Zusak can't help but use this format of writing ALL THE TIME. It gets annoying after a while. Usually I only see it used occasionally in other books because this style of writing can really enhance a scene, especially if it is an emotional scene, but because Zusak used it so much it lost its effect very quickly.

Otherwise, the book was fine. I enjoyed it.

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csommerlot's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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sophia_konrad's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jordanreads's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I don’t generally read books written by men at this point in my life. This is the exact reason why not.

Talking about her horrible boss at an old job to the narrator:

“[My boss] tried to put his tongue down my throat!”

Narrator: “Well, we’re all kind of like that.”

The narrator’s entire story line talking about how attractive a 15 year old is, while he himself is 19-20 years old.

He watches sexual assault happen to a child multiple times and just watches it happen??

The premise is interesting, but the entire thing was dissatisfying. Disappointed after being excited to read this book.

TW: sexual violence, assault

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miaaa_lenaaa's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I do love this book a fucking lot, but babe, we get it, audrey is hot and u love her- YOU DONT NEED TO TALK ABOUT HER THIGHS EVERYTIME YOU SEE HER

‘He comes a little closer as the sun falls on its hand and knees behind him.’

Content Warnings

jayda_lily's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This is filled with casual spoilers, i’ve tried not to spoil any major plot points but honestly i’m so mad that I can’t handle talking around things or pointing out the specific spoilers. You have been warned.

I have never been so infuriated while reading a book. By the time I was halfway through, there was nothing that could redeem it for me. I despised Ed and take note, if two people ask you if you’re a pervert, you probably are one. I’m all for reading about characters that aren’t perfect and don’t make good life choices, but when you’re met with the internal monologue of Ed, and his sense of entitlement, I can’t imagine having any sympathy for him.

Speaking of Ed’s entitlement, the way he spoke (yeah it was his internal monologue but i’m just gonna refer to it as him speaking) about Audrey, the entire book, made me so angry!!! If you understand why she can’t be with you, and she has told you that she doesn’t want to be with you, then it’s time to move on. No matter how many times Audrey tells him that she doesn’t want to be with him, Ed not only still tries to make moves in her, he feels as though he deserves her, for all the charitable thing he has done (and if you’re wondering, yes ‘charitable’ is dripping with sarcasm). And to make matters worse, they end up together. Look on the one hand, I’m glad that Audrey was able to finally be with someone who she actually likes and cares about, however, her whole subplot of having to work through that was poorly done, and I hate that it was with Ed, after his relentless complaining and whining (internal) about her not wanting to be with him.

I also just found most of the other characters to be poorly developed, and focusing on each of their problems once in the second last part of the book doesn’t make up for that. Everything felt rushed and although Zusak attempted to show Ed having trouble figuring out what to do, it always seemed as though he made it to every conclusion too easily, and in a very unrealistic way. A lot of the plot seemed to be aided by the other ‘messengers’ one might say, jumping in to show him what he needed to do, in the most cryptic way. I also found a lot of the ways he ‘helped’ people to be too small for him to have boosted his ego as much as it did. I completely understand how much a small gesture from a stranger can mean to someone who is struggling, however that should not lead to the entitlement that Ed got from it.

I could go into specific things about each ‘task’ (for lack of a better word) that I didn’t like, and I might some other time, but that would take too long for now.

Ok I lied, this next part is gonna reveal the entire ending:

So, the ending, I hated it.

Spoiler

The main reason I continued to read the book was to see if there was supposed to be some deeper message when the person pulling the strings was revealed, and I was thoroughly disappointed to say the least. First of all, the ending, the reveal, it was all way too rushed and confusing. Four different interactions, that were supposed to be the big reveal of the book, were fit into eleven pages. In these eleven pages, we also experienced Ed suddenly having a completely new though of whether his dad was behind it all, purely by the fact that he was asked to go to the cemetery on the one year anniversary of his dad’s death, and yeah maybe that does create suspicion and links however, giving everything previously told to us about his father, by Ed, it does not seem like he would have been in any position to orchestrate this. Secondly, the actual reveal, what in the author is playing god was that!!! And basically that’s the whole point, that someone orchestrated every single thing because they didn’t want Ed to end up like his father. They also had written about everything, which they gave to Ed to read, making this fall into, and absolutely butcher, one of my favourite tropes, which is the this book that someone in the book has been writing, yeah it’s actually the one you just read, so that just topped it all off didn’t it. I’m pretty sure the person is supposed to be Markus Zusak and be a supposedly real life kinda spin on how characters in books are completely controlled by the author, and honestly if it had’ve been slightly more likeable characters, I probably would’ve really enjoyed it. However I did not and here we are.

The final kinda theme or message, also the main one seemingly, is basically wrapped up in this quote:

Spoiler
‘I did it because 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, we’ll 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… ‘

Spoiler

So, the entire point of the book was to show people that they can be more than ordinary. If it means that i’m gonna end up with the entitlement that Ed develops throughout the book, I think I’ll pass

A final note on the book, there are a couple of things throughout the book that are just outdated and unnecessary. The two that come to mind are the speculation of the gender of a player in a football game, which was brought up multiple times, way more than it should’ve (that being zero), and referring to a child whose gender was unknown as ‘it’. Yes the book was written in 2002, but that was not that long ago and these things, although probably more accepted in media (idk I wasn’t born then) can not be excused and just don’t make for a good time when reading. Another thing that just made me deeply uncomfortable, was Ed’s comments on one of the characters that he helps, who is a 15 year old girl, Ed is 19, and he makes both internal comments about how beautiful he finds her and says it to her. There are also two times he is asked by a character if he is a pervert (one of them being Sophie, the 15 year old), and in both situations he denies it. As well as at least three times in his internal monologue where he makes a point to himself, and also the reader I guess, that he is not a pervert. So make of that what you will but as I said earlier, if two people have to ask you, then you probably should do some self evaluation on that.

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notreallyregan's review

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

This review is going to be a rollercoaster ride and will contain some spoilers. This is one of the lowest ratings I have ever given a novel in my life. I wasn't expecting this to be anything like The Book Thief. I went into it with an open-mind. In short, I hated this book.

I just did not care about anything that was supposed to be emotional. It didn’t work. This book was a flop in my eyes.

Live footage of me the whole time I was dragging myself through this book: 😐😐

Were all of the characters meant to be so unlikable? Everyone is greasy. The men are disgusting and oversexualize everything the women do. Ed claims to have strong feelings for Audrey but he views her as a sexual object more than anything else. His descriptions of his mother are disrespectful. He is 19, but sexualizes a literal 14 year old girl. It's repulsive. The women in this novel are treated like sexual objects. That being said, I think every character in the novel is flat and boring! Ed is awful. He's so uninteresting and has no complexity. No wonder his mom hates him. His friends are greasy. The banter is not funny. The dialogue is not funny at all. If some of the crude parts are meant to add something, it was lost on me. The fucking dog is the best character.

I had a hard time finishing this novel because it was not even a little engaging. The opening scene was awesome. There were sprinkles of intrigue throughout the novel, but it did not hold my attention. Trust me, I'm not hard to please. I'm just looking for a good time but this book was gross AND boring! I am finished with it and hardly understand the concept because it was done poorly. The entire thing felt cheap.

If I were Ed, you can bet your ass I would not have done 95% of the things he did. He stalked people. He was creepy. His moral compass was so questionable even though he developed a savior complex through his mission. He came to conclusions that no one else except the author who knows the fucking plot could have come to. The people on the receiving end of Ed's messengers were so calm with a strange man stalking them and loitering. No one would actually react that way. A girl like Sophie would have been terrified of him and likely avoided him. If someone came to my house for no reason and said, "I don't know why I'm here yet but I have a purpose," I would laugh in their face and tell them to get the hell out of my home. I would call the police if I caught someone watching me. Unless stalking is more socially acceptable in Australia . . . yeah, no. I'm still giving Bridge of Clay a chance with an open mind, but this is probably the worst and most forgettable book I have ever read. And I'm being nice.

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jayjm94's review

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dark emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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samanthawattam's review

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ed Kennedy, 19 is an underage taxi driver, his friends are Marv and Ritchie, he is in love with Audrey but a love that is unrequited as she just wants to be friends and he has a dog called The Doorman who is stinky but Ed still loves him. At the outset Ed finds himself foiling a bank robbery he wasn’t trying to be brave he just did - then the messages begin arriving on playing cards.

The book seems to be aimed at young adults and although it does have a lot of humour it covers some tough subjects including sexual abuse, loneliness and violence.

It is also a seriously weird book which at times you are baffled as to where it is going but it is also intriguing and interesting as Ed receives messages via playing cards he is faced with dilemmas, problems to solve often with moral conundrums. Who is sending these messages and why?

We learn that Ed is basically a nice guy and I like how Ed keeps checking up on the people he encounters he doesn’t just move on he keeps returning making contact again hanging around. The book gets a point for mentioning one of my favourite actors George Kennedy and I agree he is “unforgettable” :)

I have to say I found the ending bloody confusing and seriously strange I didn’t really understand it so after thinking about it I have to reduce my rating by 1 star BUT I do think the journey was still worth it. I recommend.

Content Warnings

latsin's review

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hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Although the story is so so interesting and suspenseful and you want to keep reading it because the pace is so fast you don't want to put the book down, the thing that would most often jar me out of the story was the excessive comments objectifying women. You can find yourself gripped by the emotions of the story and feeling good about humanity ant then the main character will add an unnecessary sexist or objectifying comment and it honestly made me want to throw the book against the wall several times. I think the story would have done much better without, and I don't know if it was the author trying to write the character (the character is like that) or just the author projecting his views on the character (the author is like that). This book suffers from a terrible case of "Men writing women".

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