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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Son by Lois Lowry is the fourth and final book in THE GIVER series. I’ve had serious problems with previous installments in this series, and unfortunately this book does little to nothing to resolve those problems. My main issues have been that there is no source or explanation given for the mystical gifts that very few of the people possess, and that there is no explanation for the evil force that pervaded Forest in the last book.
Son starts back in the first community in the series. Clare has been chosen to be a Vessel, or a birthmother as they were called in the first book. When her first delivery goes wrong, she is reassigned to work in the fish hatchery. However, she can’t forget her baby. She starts volunteering in the nursery, and eventually discovers which child is hers. When the baby is transferred to another community, she swears she is going to track him down and runs away on one of the delivery boats.
And then there’s a middle section of the book where she lives in a fishing village for several years. I’m really not even sure what the point of this section was. That she’s never seen a chipmunk? That they aren’t taught the names for colors back in the original village (which is presented differently than it was in the first book, where it seemed as if people all saw in greyscale, which made Jonas actually seeing red so revolutionary, but now it just seems they aren’t given words for them)? She does fall in love with Einar in this section, but he teaches her how to be strong enough to climb the cliffs surrounding the village, so she does, and leaves him. Also, I think we would be seeing serious inbreeding problems in a village this isolated that is this small and has apparently been here for hundreds of years, but there is no evidence of that. The only reason I can see for the second section is to make Clare’s overwhelming dedication to finding her son even more obvious, and to have her be so physically fit that the contrast between who she is at the end of the second section and who she is in the third section is more stark.
And then we get to the third section. I'm going to talk about the third section later so you can avoid spoilers.
My suggestion is to read the first and possibly second book in the GIVER series. Really though, just read the first, The Giver. Lowry writes really interesting worlds and charismatic characters, which only slightly makes up for the fact that the plot really doesn’t make any sense at all.
Spoilers:
Okay, seriously, you have personified Evil as the bad guy? Doesn’t that seem a little… simplistic? How does Evil become a person with whom you can interact? And if Evil is a person, are there other attributes walking around as well? And how does Evil have magical powers? And then we beat the personification of evil by telling him that some of his evil plans didn’t come to fruition. If he’s been watching the village for so long, wouldn’t he have known that? I mean, Matty died in the last book defeating all of the evil, but apparently not this Evil, and I just give up. You think he would have noticed by now that there was a huge setback to his evil plans. I mean seriously, I read the last chapter, and literally was shaking my head in disbelief that this was how she was going to end the series. And again, no explanation for the gifts – they just show up around puberty it seems, and then fade away when you get middle aged. [END SPOILERS]
Son starts back in the first community in the series. Clare has been chosen to be a Vessel, or a birthmother as they were called in the first book. When her first delivery goes wrong, she is reassigned to work in the fish hatchery. However, she can’t forget her baby. She starts volunteering in the nursery, and eventually discovers which child is hers. When the baby is transferred to another community, she swears she is going to track him down and runs away on one of the delivery boats.
And then there’s a middle section of the book where she lives in a fishing village for several years. I’m really not even sure what the point of this section was. That she’s never seen a chipmunk? That they aren’t taught the names for colors back in the original village (which is presented differently than it was in the first book, where it seemed as if people all saw in greyscale, which made Jonas actually seeing red so revolutionary, but now it just seems they aren’t given words for them)? She does fall in love with Einar in this section, but he teaches her how to be strong enough to climb the cliffs surrounding the village, so she does, and leaves him. Also, I think we would be seeing serious inbreeding problems in a village this isolated that is this small and has apparently been here for hundreds of years, but there is no evidence of that. The only reason I can see for the second section is to make Clare’s overwhelming dedication to finding her son even more obvious, and to have her be so physically fit that the contrast between who she is at the end of the second section and who she is in the third section is more stark.
And then we get to the third section. I'm going to talk about the third section later so you can avoid spoilers.
My suggestion is to read the first and possibly second book in the GIVER series. Really though, just read the first, The Giver. Lowry writes really interesting worlds and charismatic characters, which only slightly makes up for the fact that the plot really doesn’t make any sense at all.
Spoilers:
Okay, seriously, you have personified Evil as the bad guy? Doesn’t that seem a little… simplistic? How does Evil become a person with whom you can interact? And if Evil is a person, are there other attributes walking around as well? And how does Evil have magical powers? And then we beat the personification of evil by telling him that some of his evil plans didn’t come to fruition. If he’s been watching the village for so long, wouldn’t he have known that? I mean, Matty died in the last book defeating all of the evil, but apparently not this Evil, and I just give up. You think he would have noticed by now that there was a huge setback to his evil plans. I mean seriously, I read the last chapter, and literally was shaking my head in disbelief that this was how she was going to end the series. And again, no explanation for the gifts – they just show up around puberty it seems, and then fade away when you get middle aged. [END SPOILERS]
The middle section was my favorite.
Having read the entire series now, I do have lots of questions about how this post-apocalyptic (I'm guessing) world works, but I also think it's sort of a blank canvas on which Lowery can paint whatever she wants.
I'm kind of bummed we never found out if Jonas' original escape had any positive effect on his community.
Having read the entire series now, I do have lots of questions about how this post-apocalyptic (I'm guessing) world works, but I also think it's sort of a blank canvas on which Lowery can paint whatever she wants.
I'm kind of bummed we never found out if Jonas' original escape had any positive effect on his community.
Good read
The first 3 books end abruptly in the center of an event with no closure. I hate cliffhangers so I was hoping this last book brought it all together. It did well enough and presented a reasonable and happy ending. I will admit these books would have gotten much lower ratings if everything was just left hanging with no explanation.
The first 3 books end abruptly in the center of an event with no closure. I hate cliffhangers so I was hoping this last book brought it all together. It did well enough and presented a reasonable and happy ending. I will admit these books would have gotten much lower ratings if everything was just left hanging with no explanation.
The beginning of this book has me very happy with Claire. In her love for her child and her need to be by his side. She is told that he is a product and her just a birth mother, more a manufacturer. Due to complications she is displaced and forgotten, while she is able to find ways to be with her son. Flash forward to memory loss and "Water Claire" is born. There is yet only more to love. More fight and tenacity and love. In her battle to become stronger to find her son you see just how far she will go for the love of her son. I can say that the journey leaves something to be desired. It was overall a very decent book, it just had a chance to be phenomenal.
This book tied the first three together nicely. I finished a few weeks ago. Don't remember the exact date.
I stumbled on this series accidently! I had actually wanted to read The Giver for many years, and I had no idea that it was a four-book series. Throughout Son, connections were made and stories lined up; I loved reading the characters as aging and flawed and hopeful beings. And I was especially thrilled about the theme of sacrifice and redemption. It all just came together so well.
This was a fitting end to the Giver quartet. The ending felt a bit rushed, I wished it had been fuller, but nonetheless I enjoyed the story.
Overall it was entertaining and a good conclusion to the series, but there were several huge plot holes that were a little aggravating and points that seemed forced. If you've read the other three, you might as well read this one.
Seems familiar......
While I struggled through the first two books and failed to see how they related, the second two in the "quartet" brought me full circle and it's a wonderful story. The ending reminds one forcefully of when Lord Voldemort is vanquished finally. Definitely recommend the whole "quartet"!
While I struggled through the first two books and failed to see how they related, the second two in the "quartet" brought me full circle and it's a wonderful story. The ending reminds one forcefully of when Lord Voldemort is vanquished finally. Definitely recommend the whole "quartet"!