Review of the Messenger

The Messenger 

(Mortal Beloved)

By Pamela DuMond

About:

Do you remember the first time you fell in love? 

Read The Messenger (Mortal Beloved, Book One) and feel that beautiful—again. 

Sixteen-year-old Madeline’s meant to fall in love with Samuel in every lifetime. But she meets him for the first time when she accidentally time travels into the past—hundreds years before she’s even born! 

Their relationship is forbidden—Samuel’s half Native, Madeline’s white. Every rendezvous they share must be secret. Each moment they spend together tempts the odds that they’ll be discovered and brutally punished. But their love is fated—they musk risk all. 

Danger intensifies when Madeline learns she’s in the past not only to fall in love, but also to claim her birth right as a Messenger—a soul who can slip through time’s fabric at will. 

Deadly Hunters, dark-souled time travelers, crave Madeline’s powers and seek to seduce or kill her. Can Madeline find her way back to the future in time to save herself and Samuel?

Source: Goodreads

My rating: 3.5/5

My Thoughts:

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

If you've read the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon or watched the show then you'll find that there are a fair few similarities between that and 'The Messenger.' The main things were that both female protagonists accidentally travelled back in time, found themselves in the middle of a war and because of their oddities were suspected of being witches, which at the time was a death sentence. Both ladies also fell in love, the deep-shit-soul-consuming-forever-and-ever-after kind. Until they're forced to part of course because, as is the case in most love series, the happily ever after doesn't last for very long.

The similarities should have bugged me but they didn't because they were outweighed by a lot of differences. Yes, time travel and forbidden love was crucial to the story, but in this book Madeline finds out she is a Messenger and that she plays an important part in the lives of others. She learns about birth and rebirth, and how souls travel many lives. She might not be any good at the messenger business, but it was interesting to see her learning, and trying to use yoga to focus! Whilst in the past she comes across souls from her future, both good and bad. Most importantly (spoiler alert) she finds out the truth about why her mother left her as a baby just after a car crash.

Unfortunately, the story was predictable at times, and often the dialogue was stilted. But at other times I found myself lost in Samuel and Madeline's adventures and eager to find out what happens next, which made the book a success in my eyes.

I loved Angeni's character, the blind, yet gifted, healer. She brought the element of magic and mystery into the book, and helped teach Madeline (Abigail at the time) to face her fears. 

Madeline / Abigail was funny and lightened the story up. At 16, her reaction to this 'ancient' and backwards way of living made the time travel believable. Her 'eternal love' was a leeetle intense considering she barely knew the guy, but I'm a cynic so what do I know?!

In conclusion,this is a series I would like to continue reading. I'm particularly intrigued given the twisted ending.

Zed (:

Favourite Quotes:

Nah, this wasn't another dream. Just a continuation of my previous nightmare.

"Oh." It seemed being labeled different wasn't trouble-free in any year. People would make your life a living hell in the year I came from. But in the year 1675, they would torture and kill you.

I was in my pilgrim underwear. These were definitely not Victoria's Secrets-more like Victoria's Rejects. They were hideous, fluffy pajamas with a big girdle around the middle. The girdle, called a corset, was most likely damaging my organs, and I was done with it. 

"Sa means forever. Infinity. Some souls meet. They fall into hate, or crash into love and chase after each other, through different bodies and lifetimes. They are meant to be together, but they must first learn lessons in order to figure out how to do that," Angeni said.

"If I fall, I'd die," I said. "If I live, I'm in heaven."

Just get on with it, I thought. Tell me the next thing I have to practice, or say, or do, or attempt to become a Messenger. Don't flirt. Please don't mess with my heart.

I felt like I was falling. But for once, falling was a good thing.

"Why did you take the dark medicine?"
"What's the dark medicine?" I rubbed my head. "Is this what a hangover feels like?"
"No. It is what nearly dying from poison feels like," Angeni said.