The Giver Book Review

A little about the book:

"The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community."

What I enjoyed:

The Giver was enthralling. I was sucked into the story, but every part had a deeper meaning.

I liked the way it addressed Jonas' honest feelings about Fiona without making it all gushy and leading on a romance.

When Jonas begins to feel human emotions, he is overwhelmed. It changes his entire view on life. Imagine never experiencing love, and then experiencing it at the same time as you experience what hate feels like for the first time. Love. Hate. Joy. Freedom. Cruelty. Courage. Bravery. Desolation. Friendship. Betrayal. These things all come with the emotions of life. The question is, is it worth it? Is love worth having cruelty in the world?

Being able to feel pain, feel loss, feel horror at man's injustice and cruelty is important. Despite the Elders' decision in the community where The Giver is placed, memories of the past are important to the everyday decisions of life. If we do not know out History we will repeat it.

The way Lois Lowry is able to make the reader understand is amazing. I had so many "aha" moments while reading this book, about the characters and about life in general. She was able to let me, the reader, discover things on my own, by dropping little or big hints.

I think the message Lowry intertwined in this novel will be a part of my life forever.

What I didn't like as much:

Well... I'd say I didn't like the ending... It kind of left me hanging... But since there are 3 more books I suppose we shall have to wait and see how it plays out!

Who I'd recommend this book to:
We read it as a family read aloud. So ages 3 through adult all listened. I think that the older kids, 12 through adult, got the full picture and enjoyed it more.

I would try to stop reading when read-aloud time was over and Hope (12) always asked for "just one more chapter".
I usually gave in because of course, I did't want to put down the book either. :)

A bit about the Author:

"Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader.s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association.s Children.s Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine."

You can also see this review on Amazon and Goodreads. :) Look for my upcoming post on, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, and Son, as well as the movie, The Giver.

Check out my other book reviews on Counted Worthy and Hebbros.