Review ~ The Giver by Lois Lowry

TITLE: The Giver  

AUTHOR: Lois Lowry
COPYRIGHT: 2006
TYPE: young adult
PAGES: 180
SERIES:  

Yes but no... I'm not sure how but I guess it's suppose to be a quartet

1. The Giver

2. Gathering Blue

3. Messenger

4. Son

REASON FOR READ:

This is one of those books I have always wanted to read but have never gotten around to it. And thought I should just do it with the movie coming out.

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back. 

THOUGHTS/OPINION:

 This book is hit and miss. There were parts I loved and parts I scratched my head going what the heck why did we stop and go down that path. I mean I get this was a young adult novel and maybe a middle school novel but come on lady. This book was only 180 pages so come on there are so many different places you could have gone so let's go there. This book had such potential and at times it went there and other times it was a let down. I see why it won awards and yet at times I am like why did it win that many awards. 

THINGS I LIKED

I liked learning about this world that had no color, no emotions, no nothing. I liked learning about Jonas and why he was picked and what he had to do. He and this story alone was very cool. 

The Giver himself had a great story and I would have liked more on his life and what things must have been like for him. How many screens did he watch a day what did he do? What did he think about things?  How many things did he try to change? How did he do it? How many did he succeed at? There were so many more angles she could have gone done with this story instead she picked the weirdest direction to go...

The world itself was fascinating especially the very little history that we got from this world. I wanted to know why we got here and how long it took. Why did we actually agree to not feel pain or happiness who did we vote in for this? How big was our area? How do we determine who does what what kind of testing? Etc... basically the book was too small LOL 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

I'm going to go against the popular opinion and say that I didn't like the ending. I thought it was weird and confusing. I don't get it and I really don't want to have to read 3 other books about 3 different cultures and worlds just to maybe figure out if Jonas (and spoiler alert) makes it and survive with this kid. Like why did anyone think that a) this was a good idea to send a child out with another child to survive in a land when he has no idea where he is going and b) what the what how the hell is this a book to have teenagers read and think about what are they thinking about? I get that it isn't the typical HEA but there also isn't any closure at all so what are they thinking about the moral of the story? The ambiguity of it? The right and wrong? Cause I work with teenagers everyday and while 1 out of 15 will do that the others are sitting back asking the questions I just did in a not so nice way of WTF? 

Favorite part or line from story: When Jonas was learning about colors or when he was actually learning about anything especially emotions. I enjoyed reading about him learning from the giver.

FINAL GRADE:  I gave it 3 out of 5 stars originally I gave it 4 but now thinking on it I lowered it

Would you recommend this story? yes and no

Is this a part of a reading challenge?

Out Do Yourself Challenge
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