A review by bergsteiger
Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

4.0

I actually read the young reader's edition so I'm not sure what all I may have missed from the original. Like other Hyde books, this is Hallmark Heavy. What I mean by that is, it is certainly meant to inspire and there is nothing subtle in its delivery, but it does provoke some deeper thought from the reader. The concept is simple, but it still drives a solid plot and the main characters are flawed and believable (supporting characters are more apt to be archetypal/caricatures). The ending was deliberately meant to be ambiguous, but my personal feeling on endings like this are that the author wasn't really sure HOW to end the story and maintain the spell they've woven, which, ironically, does just as much to break the spell. Based on this and the forced feel of the emotions I have to knock off a star but still a lovely story with a genuinely good message.