The Giver (Giver Quartet, #1)

by Lois Lowry

[shannonmiz]

I must confess that I just read this book. Like, as in last week. I know, I know, late to the party. The odd thing is, I was a huge Lois Lowry fan at the time this book was released (I was pretty sure that I was Anastasia Krupnik), so how this book got past me, I'll never know. But it did. And while people encouraged me to read this book, arguably the beginning of all YA dystopia, I just never did. Part of it was that the cover super turned me off. Another was that I was worried that it was too middle-grade for my liking. But then there was buzz about the movie (which, incidentally, releases today. Nice timing, no?) so I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

The first thing that struck me about the book was how small it was. Only 179 pages, lightweight. The opposite of the hardcover, 750 page monstrosity I was also reading, it seemed like a good call. I finished it in two days, definitely needing to know what was going to happen.

Some things surprised me about this book. While Jonas was supposed to be eleven, turning twelve, this book was definitely not a middle-grade situation. This book was seriously dark. I know dystopian books aren't exactly lighthearted and fluffy, but I was mildly horrified by most of the book. Which is kind of hard to do, since I read a lot of dystopian.

The setting of this book is vague, perhaps intentionally so, but the point is conveyed. Everyone is the same, everyone follows the rules, no one thinks or feels for themselves. It sounds horrifying, but I suppose if it's all you know, it makes sense. Would I have liked more world-building? Yes, definitely. But in the context of this particular book, I can live with it.

As for the characters, the only ones that we get any real insight into is Jonas and The Giver. To me, this makes perfect sense. In a world where everyone is supposed to be the same unfeeling specimens, other than a few minor differences, I wouldn't expect a lot of character development.

There were some parts that were, quite honestly, very difficult to read. But they illustrated the complete malfunction of this society, it wasn't just meaningless shock value. The end of this book left me with more questions than answers, and I will most definitely be reading the rest of the series, though I've read that the rest of the series isn't a continuation, but a companion.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who considers them a fan of dystopian, and really, for anyone who just likes a book that will make them think. I do wish I had more answers to some of my questions, and a bit more information about the society in general, but an overall great story, and equally groundbreaking.