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hayley_cook2's review
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Gun violence
jcatzzz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
lri_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse
just_me_hunter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Minor: Rape, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
notreallyregan's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
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.
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
erenrinren's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The plot kind of hinges on the mystery, while the other events supplement it
Our main character, Ed, shows tremendous growth throughout the novel. He becomes obsessive with the mystery, to the point of harming himself
There was so much intensity at certain points within the novel that after reading a significant chunk of the book, I had to put it down to process everything that had happened. This wasn’t to the novel’s detriment, however.
In terms of details on content warnings, I will post them below in the drop down.
Near the end, when we find out the mystery, it seemed very unsatisfactory to me. Maybe if I ruminate on it for a while, I will think differently but for now it seemed very convenient. I also found some of the “messages” Ed had to perform were lacklustre compared to others. Maybe that was the point, but it seemed very off kilter.
This is why I docked down the percentage rating.
All in all, I am the Messenger was not as good as The Book Thief, but it shares the same intensity and character growth. I really do recommend it, if you can handle some of the content.
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Grief
Minor: Grief, Vomit, and Sexual content
-Fat-Shaming/Fatphobia, there is one scene that appears in the novel that constantly refers to a minor character’s weight and is not addressed, but it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the novel. -There is a mention of a sex worker who takes Ed’s cab one night, but is never mentioned again -Rape/Sexual Assault, within the first 50 pages it appears