You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I enjoyed the book, however, I felt it was rushed at the end. I feel like the last chapter could have been 2 chapters and given us a bit more. Overall, it is a good book.
The Giver is a pretty tough act to follow, but Lowry does a nice job with Son. I almost wish, though, that she hadn't wrapped everything up so nicely. Part of The Giver's beauty was its ambiguous ending in that it allowed the reader to choose between hope and despair. With Son -- and the other books that are "companions" to The Giver -- that choice is taken from us, which is ironic given that the power of choice is one of the main themes in this series. Still, I do like what Lowry has to say about good and evil in these books (Son was very reminiscent of The Stand in a lot of ways), and I especially liked the theme of the power of love between a mother and her child. A worthy read, but not quite as powerful as its predecessor.
As someone who read The Giver and Gathering Blue in middle school (and loved both of them), and thought that it had ended with Messenger (which I didn't love nearly as much), I was very excited when I saw Son on the shelves of the local library in my college town.
I should say right off the bat that I had very mixed feelings about Son, and view it very similarly to the way that I viewed Mockingjay, the conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy.
What do I mean by that? Well, with both books, the story sucked me in. I enjoyed the ride, and I was excited to see what happened next. Did I enjoy it as much as I did the first book? No. But, the story was good for what it was.
More than anything, though, it was the ending that bothered me. Like Suzanne Collins does with Mockingjay, Lois Lowry sets up several interesting plot points and provides some excellent character development (especially with Claire and Gabe, two of the most important characters in the story), and then doesn't follow through on them. When I came to the end of Son, my immediate reaction was, "That's it?" More than anything, the story builds up several storylines, and then fails to adequately conclude them.
The ending left me with a million questions, including but not limited to (and here be spoilers): "Where do Claire and Gabe go from here?" "What kind of relationship do they have if Claire was absent for most of Gabe's childhood?" "If The Trademaster is dead, does that mean that Einar can walk?" "Will Einar and Claire reunite?" "Does Claire ever see Alys, again?" "Is Alys dead?" "What happened to the community in The Giver after Jonas, Claire, and Gabe left?"
As I said, this book didn't answer questions that I had, so much as left me with even more questions. A good conclusion to a book should wrap things up and answer questions, giving the reader a nice sense of closure. That didn't happen with this series.
I really enjoyed this story, but the fact that it was in desperate need of an epilogue was what ultimately caused me to give it three stars, instead of four. Overall, I'd say that the conclusion to the Giver quartet does a good job at combining the worlds of all of the characters that we meet throughout the series, and has some excellent build up towards a conclusion, but has a premature ending that left me very unsatisfied.
I should say right off the bat that I had very mixed feelings about Son, and view it very similarly to the way that I viewed Mockingjay, the conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy.
What do I mean by that? Well, with both books, the story sucked me in. I enjoyed the ride, and I was excited to see what happened next. Did I enjoy it as much as I did the first book? No. But, the story was good for what it was.
More than anything, though, it was the ending that bothered me. Like Suzanne Collins does with Mockingjay, Lois Lowry sets up several interesting plot points and provides some excellent character development (especially with Claire and Gabe, two of the most important characters in the story), and then doesn't follow through on them. When I came to the end of Son, my immediate reaction was, "That's it?" More than anything, the story builds up several storylines, and then fails to adequately conclude them.
The ending left me with a million questions, including but not limited to (and here be spoilers): "Where do Claire and Gabe go from here?" "What kind of relationship do they have if Claire was absent for most of Gabe's childhood?" "If The Trademaster is dead, does that mean that Einar can walk?" "Will Einar and Claire reunite?" "Does Claire ever see Alys, again?" "Is Alys dead?" "What happened to the community in The Giver after Jonas, Claire, and Gabe left?"
As I said, this book didn't answer questions that I had, so much as left me with even more questions. A good conclusion to a book should wrap things up and answer questions, giving the reader a nice sense of closure. That didn't happen with this series.
I really enjoyed this story, but the fact that it was in desperate need of an epilogue was what ultimately caused me to give it three stars, instead of four. Overall, I'd say that the conclusion to the Giver quartet does a good job at combining the worlds of all of the characters that we meet throughout the series, and has some excellent build up towards a conclusion, but has a premature ending that left me very unsatisfied.
When you don't have heat or electricity you may as well read the whole time theres sunlight
I had forgotten how beautifully written The Giver quartet is. It was delightful to read the books again and see all the variations in good and evil and how different those things can look based on power structures and authority figures in a particular circumstance. Always thought provoking.
I am loved this book almost as much as The Giver! The middle two (Finding Blue &Messenger) I didn't really care for but this one starts back in the community Jonas grew up in. It connects all 4 (although I still don't see the necessity for the Gathering Blue. The Messenger played a part in completing the story a little).
The message I discovered was that leaving or conquering evil (no matter what form it takes) happens when you find and embrace the good in your life.
The message I discovered was that leaving or conquering evil (no matter what form it takes) happens when you find and embrace the good in your life.
I am so pleased with this book and how it wraps up the whole Giver quartet! When I finished book 3, I was really upset at how abruptly it ends, so I was happy to find that some of what's left out is revisited in Son and, overall, wrapped up very well! Admittedly, I felt that this book concluded the same way Messenger concludes: abruptly. That's a bit disappointing, but I feel overall satisfied! I would absolutely recommend the full quartet. I love how much it comments on modern society, and really society overall, and some of the questionable values people uphold. I also like how it comments on corrupt governments and knowledge control. It's really a fantastic series. Thank you, Lois Lowry.
Good final book, but the ending was a bit too abrupt. Still happy to see the loose ends tied up.
This story pulled together the previous three beautifully and it answered so many questions that I'd been left with at the end of The Giver. I loved following Claire through most of her journey. However, I found the third part of the book to be a little forced and the time line to be needlessly dragged out. I wasn't satisfied at the end, either. After such a good book the rest of the way through, I was a little disappointed at the end. Still, the rest was so good that I've already recommended this to my students.