The Messenger

by Leah Rose

Sixteen year old Jeilin leaves the ordinary behind when she's inducted into the king's service as a horseback riding messenger. She expects a life of adventure and freedom, but those hopes are shattered after being captured by a foreign army. Given the choice between death and conversion, she swears service to the enemy even though, in her heart, she remains loyal to her kingdom.

As Jeilin's youthful innocence crumbles, she wonders if the prince will still be fond of her; if she can even find a way to help place him back on his rightful throne.

Full of turmoil and sacrifice, The Messenger is a powerful tale of survival, bravery, and loyalty.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2012

About the author

Author of adventurous young adult fiction. The Messenger available now, published by Lands Atlantic.

www.leahrosebooks.com

Reviews

[joy *the clean-reader extraordinaire*]

hello, botox lips.

[Charlotte Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect when I started The Messenger. All I knew was the synopsis sounded intriguing and I just had to read it, and I'm so glad I did!

Set in a fantasy world, Jeilin, from a very young age, always wanted to be a Messenger, and to ride across the country delivering messages, warrants and orders on behalf of the King. She sees a life of excitement, challenges and adventures. A life that means an escape from marriage, cooking and raising kids, as her mother thinks she should do. An opportunity arises and soon she's competing with 200 other men for a chance to join the Kings Messengers. After she wins she's paired up with the only other female messenger and together they start Jeilins on-the-job training. Soon she presents her first message to a young prince who catches her eye. But he also sees her as more than just a farm girl. He sees a young woman who's brave, strong and courageous.

Jeilin’s thoughts of Prince Raihnin are put aside as another journey means another message has to be delivered. Only this time it puts her in peril. A war that was not foreseen erupts after twelve years of peace and Jeilin is in the middle of it and right where the most danger is.

From the start of the adventure my excitement grew. I couldn't put this book down. I just had to find out what happened next. Jeilin's character also grows so much in this story. She's got guts to start, she clearly isn't a sissy girl but she's young and you can feel her intimidation when she's in a group of men who laugh at her, such as the tavern scene. She knows she's earned her place as a messenger but she's still a little afraid or even naive about the true dangers of the job.

A character who I loved was Olwen, Jeilin's older female trainer. She allows Jeilin to come into her own and make her own decisions. She never offers unnecessary advice when it comes to matters of the heart, especially when Prince Raihnin is concerned. She's experienced in her work but knows when to keep quiet. And although initially I thought they wouldn't get on I'm glad I was proved wrong.

But the real stars of the book are the horses, especially Fringe. If you're a horsey person you'll love this and it’s plainly clear that the author has a strong bond with horses. The descriptions almost ensure you're able to smell the saddles, bridles and feel the horse’s movements as you ride with Jeilin and Olwen across the plains.

The story sweeps over towns, cities, kingdoms and near oceans. The harsh life of the Ryelnish soldiers really affects Jeilin, not to mention the nasty tattoo she soon wears with shame. The tension towards the end increases as war is at its most aggressive and I almost held my breath in places such as Olwen and Cai being left behind, and Cai and Jeilin heading back behind enemy lines for the final assault.

This is a stand alone book and certainly one of the best I've read this year. And I'm absolutely sure I'll want to read it again soon!

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Messenger is a historical novel based in a made-up world but without fantasy creatures.
The reason I read this book is because I was browsing through my library's new books and it just popped out at me. I'm glad I read it because it had the right hint of suspense and romance.
The main plot in this book is for Jeilin to fulfil her dream of becoming a messenger for King Darnasius and carrying his messages across the country. But along the way she encounters some romance, and some surprise and heartbreak.
Jeilin is a 16-year-old girl who will do anything to achieve her dreams, and she always thinks before she acts. I liked her because she stuck up for herself, and, even though there is only one other female messenger besides her, she didn't allow that to put her off her dream. I didn't like her because she keeps to herself, and doesn't really socialise with the opposite sex.
I didn't like this book because the author made the book stereotypical, what with Jeilin winning the race to become a new messenger, and also with the love between her, a farm girl turned messenger, and Prince Rhainin.
But I did like it because it was just engulfing, a major page-turner.
This book was published this year, and I found it really enjoyable. I liked the cover because it actually related to the book, not like some others I've read.
Overall, this is definitely a recommended book. In my opinion, it's a book for those who like historical fiction, and also horses because it's about her and her horse, and how she feels about him. I give it a 4/5.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a firstreads giveaway.

This is the story of a 16 year old girl, Jeilin, who's not quite ready to follow the norm and get married and have kids. Instead she craves adventure. After having seen one of the Kings messengers in person she dreams of becoming one herself. To her delight the opportunity presents itself and she earns a place in the Kings service. Unfortunately she does not get to enjoy her position for too long before her country is attacked and is at war. Taken captive by the enemy she must choose whether to serve her new master and hope for a chance to help her country or to sacrifice her life.

I really enjoyed this story. I found it to be a quick and entertaining read. I'm assuming it's a young adult novel. The battle scenes were not extremely complex and resolved fairly quickly but I don't feel that that took away from the book. The main character, Jeilin, is very likeable. She is fiercly loyal to her friends and her country and is very brave for someone so young. I would recommend this book to others.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Messenger started off a bit slow, but began to pick up the pace quickly. Once the story began moving, it didn't slow down much until the end.

I liked the characters, Jeilin of course the most. She's our main character, that despite the times she is living in, wants something more for herself than the typical marriage and children route. She goes after what she wants and obtains it. Then, she works hard at keeping it despite the cost. She's a girl with attitude that's for sure!

Of course, we see a Jeilin change over the course of the novel which is great. It's nice to see how authors make their characters grow and mature. However, I am quite curious about the ending, how everything changes once the story is over. IT seems our characters are at a turning point, but it's definitely a cliffhanger to see where things lead!

[Alysia Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I didnt really know what to expect at first and was wary as i started it, but i was hooked on the 3rd page. I love the story of a strong feminie heroine with a bit of romance in between:) Really liked it!

[Volpot · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I put down my Kindle after I finished this book, my only thought was: Where was the story?

This is a full length novel, (albeit not one of epic length), yet I can honestly say that I've read many short stories with deeper plots, more imaginative and detailed stories, and greater character development.

This story is basically fully told in the author's synopsis on the main Amazon page. If it was a written book, it could be fully told by a good author on the back cover of the book just as well as the author managed to do in the entire book.

Here's the story. **Caution: some might consider the following paragraph to contain spoilers (I don't really because it's pretty much revealed by the author anyway): Farm girl wants to be a Royal Messenger (a carrier of royal letters/messages). She finds a young colt, that just happens to grow up to be "super-horse". She competes in a royal horse race and wins, thereby becoming a Messenger (and thus revealing the only fascinating thing in the book: this fantasy nation's letter carriers are even less qualified than letter carriers for the US Postal Service!). A couple of days later she carries letters twice. One of these two letters she carries is for the Prince, who of course instantly falls in love with her. A couple of days later she is captured by an invading army. She is forced to become a messenger for them and delivers one letter. She then turns on the bad guys and gives a bad-guy letter to the Prince, who subsequently uses the information to defeat the bad guys in battle. Farm Girl/Messenger and the Prince (now King) marry and live happily ever after.

There, that's it. Now you're probably thinking that my story highlights are just that...highlights and surely there was a great deal of plot and story in between those highlights. Well you would be wrong. I honestly don't know what all the words were between those story highlights, but they were uninspired and utterly forgettable.

At the time of my purchase the book was $7.99 on Kindle. Its takes some real "chutzpah" to list the book for that price. It's at least $7.00 too much for this disappointing story, although even if it was $0.99 I would recommend you save your money.

[Sugar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review:

I haven’t read many YA with a medieval setting so I’m not in any way knowledgeable in this theme, but I can say that I really enjoyed this book. It didn’t possess the lightness of most YA, instead it read as something quite serious and, honestly, that was a welcome change for me.

While slightly dry at times with a quite slow start once the action begins it is nonstop and the pace is fast and eventful. The story is also rather brutal, there is nothing too shocking but it has its fare share of blood, death and battle and the reality of those is not softened for the reader despite this being a YA book. I wouldn’t want to see only flowers and bunnies in a story in a medieval background, so this is something I liked about this book. The author isn’t afraid to make the plot realistic, which is also demonstrated by the fact that she isn’t afraid to kill off prominent characters.

Another aspect I found positive in the story was the lack of magic, the paranormal or anything supernatural, which I’ve grown accustomed to encounter in most YA. This book just focuses on extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstance without any mystical and unexplainable aid. The messengers were not fighters, they only had themselves, their horse and a letter, and despite this they played a highly important role and alone could change the course of the war. No magic or tricks, but plenty of appreciation and utter respect was sent their way.

A small quibble I had with the book was the addition of insta love to the main romantic relationship but to be honest I didn’t mind as much as I usually would have because the focus was on other issues and the love story wasn’t by far the central focus of the book.

Characters:

Jeilin was a role model: driven, brave and honorable. She was very young and slightly too perfect regarding how she managed to show such valor, kindness and intelligence, but she made up for it with showing her fears, not always acting the most rational and beneficial for all in dire situations. All in all, she was likeable, kind and innocent, someone to root for.

Olwen was by far my favorite characters. She just showed a great deal of independence, intelligence and personality that you just have to admire. Her being like a big sister to Jeilin and a great support next to filling her duties as a loyal subject to her country and messenger made her the highlight of this book for me.

Prince Raihnin remained distant and mysterious, which isn’t necessarily a negative thing at all. He filled his purpose as the perfect noble prince but there wasn’t any detailed background info or major character development for him. He and Jeilin were a cute match.

Other characters all served their role and were nicely created but I would have liked to see more Cai, he was intriguing and there wasn’t nearly enough time spent on him. From when he was first introduced, I hoped he would play a bigger part in the story. Raihnin’s cousin, prince Stephen, was also a pleasant comical relief to the otherwise mostly solemn book. Jeilin’s family was very loving and supportive as well.

Overall:

An enjoyable medieval set YA for those who crave something more serious and realistic. No fluff and wands for magic here. A traditional adventure with a strong heroine out to save her country and all dear to her. I recommend to all who want a slight change to the majority of YA books out there.

[Elise Marion · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

This is a very sweet, well written Young Adult Romance with a Fantasy twist. When 16 year old Jeilin first saw a royal messenger as a child, she was awestruck. She spent the rest of her adolescent life dreaming of becoming one, and waiting for her chance. When she happens upon a motherless colt in the woods near her family's farm, she takes him in and raises him, with hopes of messenger glory still in her mind. She knows that it's a long shot, but her dreams keep her from caving to the demands placed on her by her mother, who wants her to marry. These are medieval times after all, and at 16 Jeilin is practically an old maid. When she sees a notice in town advertising a race to determine who the next crop of royal messengers will be, Jeilin is thrilled and goes there with hopes of winning.

What happens to Jeilin next? Well, you would just have to read this book to find out! While I found the beginning to be a bit on the draggy side and was left wondering if we were going to get any real conflict, the second half of the book kicks things into high gear for sure. When being a messenger becomes dangerous, Jeilin is left in a very precarious position, one that I won't reveal for the sake of spoiling anything. When the danger does come, though, it is gripping and intriguing and I rooted for Jeilin, her kingdom, and her prince until the end. Speaking of 'the end', I adored the ending of this book. I especially liked the steadfastness of the prince. Even in a situation where Jeilin could be made out to look like a traitor, his trust in her in endearing. While Jeilin doesn't always have much confidence in herself or her appeal, Prince Rainhain makes her truly shine.

I'll also say that this is definitely a book for horse lovers. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about horses and her love for them is clear. The horses in this story were just as much characters as the people were. They were also just as endearing and I enjoyed the various descriptions of them.

All in all, an enjoyable read, mature enough to be enjoyed by an adult such as myself, but tailored so that a young teen could just as easily read and enjoy.

[Lady Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Leah Rose's The Messenger after seeing it pop up on a Listopia list, here on GoodReads. I'm always intrigued by the idea of a fantasy novel without any magical elements and am always very eager to pick up YA titles with a strong female lead. Unfortunately, I found this to be a little lacking.

First the good:
I quite liked Jeilin. She felt believable to me. I liked her strong sense of self (she knew herself), and yet the balance with her confusion at the greater world and her need for mentorship.

I liked the world. While we didn’t spend much time exploring it (despite the premise of a far travelling messenger…), but it felt real to me and I could easily picture it without having to re-read descriptions.

Now, the bad:
The romance. While I like the idea of Jeilin and the Prince being in love, the whole of it felt incredibly unrealistic and rushed. I understand that they are at war and people make decisions more quickly, I really felt that their meetings were far too few and far between to have developed the kind of love/relationship they have by the end of the novel.

Bottom line:
I liked this. I liked the premise, I liked the world and I liked the characters. The biggest issue here for me, was that it was simply too short for the relationship it was trying to build. I would have gladly had another 100 pages or so to make the mutual attraction more plausible.

[Emma Schirmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Messenger was an extremely good that was very well written. I loved the plot. Sixteen year old Jeilin wants to become a royal messenger, when she finally reaches her dream, she goes on many adventure with her mentor Olwen and is in the midst of war. Along the way she also falls in love with the prince.
I really enjoyed the characters and grew to love all of them. It was very interesting to watch Jeilin's development throughout the book, as she grew from a stubborn girl to a strong and independent young girl.
The ending was fantastic and I overall very much enjoyed reading it. It was a quick read and defiantly something to pick up.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because of the incredible cover, but the story was better than I expected :) Loved reading Jeilin's story, her family, and her journey being a messenger!! I'm not a horse lover, but I totally connected with them in this story and the bond with their riders. Such a great book, two thumbs up!!

[Deanne]

I'm not in the right frame of mind to read The Messenger. Maybe I'll finish it another time.

[Melody]

Is it just me or does this sound like Maria V Snyder's "Study" series? I want to read it but I want it to be unique.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a good book with great storyline though the storyline was quite predicable but still enjoyed it.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

**REVIEW IS TO COME**

[Rebecka · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been such a great book. I was very disappointed.

[Lovelee]

Sounds interesting. Same cover as Magic Gifts?