Book Review: The Messenger's Handbook by Pamela DuMond

The Messenger's Handbook by Pamela DuMond
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The premise of this book was decent- teenage outsider Madeline's mother disappeared when she was young. At 16, another mystery rocks her life when she time travels to the late 1600's. There she learns she is a "Messenger", one who can inhabit various places and times to alter history or save lives. As Madeline struggles to adapt to life during the dawn of America, she learns about traveling, love, and her lost mother. With the help of Angeni, a magical mentor, and Samuel, her Native American soul mate, she becomes strong and courageous enough to return home to present-day Chicago. Just when she finds she can let go of the love she found 300+ years in the past, she encounters both Samuel and Malachi, the man who hunts her across the ages.

It was just ok for a few reasons. I found the narrative and dialogue to be a bit choppy in places, which was fine when the protagonist was time traveling and ended up in a new time and location, but otherwise distracting. Also (and this may have just been the Kindle edition I was reading), there seemed to be a few grammar and punctuation errors, such as substituting then for than.

Overall, this young adult fantasy story was quick and absorbing, if you can get past the technical stuff.

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