Concept was good. The characters and actual messages were meh. Decent but not enthralling.
Summary:
Ed Kennedy is an average, unassuming cab driver until he stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives with three addresses written on it. These cards send Ed on a mission to change the lives of those listed on them. Some are simple like buying an ice cream for an overworked single mom while others prove more dangerous. But all of them are sure to change Ed's life by the end and lead him on a mysterious quest sent by who knows who.
Verdict: 5/10
So I knew this was going to be very different from Zusak's Book Thief (aka my favorite book). His writing style is still similar and the concept was interesting, but the key difference is that the characters just weren't compelling. Ed is so normal and unambitious. All of his friends are really.
The main four characters are not particularly nice people. They're lazy, rude, and just sort of there, living life without any direction. Which I know is all part of the point as this story goes on to make them better... but it made getting to the ending more difficult than if I liked the characters to begin with. You struggle through so that you can see them change and get some satisfaction from that.
It's not that I didn't like the book; I did by the end. There was enough intrigue with the mystery behind the cards and the tasks Ed is given to keep me going. He gives people what they need in unexpected ways, and there always seemed to be a little message for him as he carried out the task, some life lesson behind it all. The novel kept the action moving and the reader on their toes. I wanted to know who would be next on the ace and how Ed might solve their problem.
Yet the ultimate problem was that most of the solutions weren't thrilling in the way I expected. From the synopsis, I thought it would have more life-threatening situations or more daring feats on the cards. For most of it, it was simply teaching Ed to show kindness to strangers, a good lesson but a little bland compared to my original expectations.
And some of the messages felt heavy-handed at times. It just seemed like Zusak was really reaching to get across too many major themes and points, similar to a school special... with more swearing and a protagonist who isn't quite the ideal moral model.
It was clever and compelling enough to read through once. In the end though, I found it more anti-climatic. I can take or leave this one, but it's good enough to keep on my bookshelf at least.
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