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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Taken from comments left on the discussion board; [YA Reads for Teachers (And Any Other Adults!) -
Group Reads - Book Discussions > November 2012 - Hot Off the Press - Son by Lois Lowry]
"Son" was like a ghost of the other three books, there were times that I felt like I had read the book before. I realize there were moments when past stories were referenced, but this was stronger, like I had read the entire book before. Needless to say, it made reading difficult and I finished "Son" as I did "Messenger," happy to say that I completed them all, but disappointed that I did not stop at the end of "Gathering Blue."
Group Reads - Book Discussions > November 2012 - Hot Off the Press - Son by Lois Lowry]
"Son" was like a ghost of the other three books, there were times that I felt like I had read the book before. I realize there were moments when past stories were referenced, but this was stronger, like I had read the entire book before. Needless to say, it made reading difficult and I finished "Son" as I did "Messenger," happy to say that I completed them all, but disappointed that I did not stop at the end of "Gathering Blue."
This was a satisfying ending to the Giver series. You will not get information on how the world ended or how the communities formed if that’s what you are looking for , though.
3.5 stars. I adore the first book and thought that the second one was pretty good too. Book 3 was my least favourite but I was excited to pick this one up. I had a lot of questions and was looking forward to ending this series with hopefully a great read. In the end, I think it was okay and roughly as good as the second book but not as good as I hoped. After the first book I just keep on picking books up in this series with a very high expectation but none of them are as good as the first one.
This book is written in three parts and I will be talking about all parts separately.
The first part was 5 stars, amazing. We follow Claire who is a few years older than Jonas and living in the same village. She is a Birthmother and gives birth to the little boy we got to know as Gabriel (Gabe) in The Giver. I loved her perspective. Jonas is a special citizen in his community and I thought it was really interesting to read about the community from a normal citizens point of view. The final chapter was a bit weird and ended abruptly but it wasn't 'bad' enough to change my rating.
The second part was 2 stars, incredibly boring. Claire is learning about stuff that she never knew which was a bit dull for two reasons: 1) we already experienced this with Jonas and 2) there were a lot of things that she was learning about and each was described endlessly (colours, seasons, animals). After we finally get past that we get into the 'training' chapters. Remember how in most movies and books they just show you little clips and then speed up the time to get to the end of the training? Well there is a reason for that and that reason is boredom. I was really bored reading about the training bits. Basically we see Claire running, running with stones in a backpack, running with more stones in her backpack, running with even more tones in her backpack, and so on. I also never connected with the side characters in this part and the romance felt really unnecessary. Why couldn't he just be a nice guy without the romantic feelings?!
The third and final part was 3 stars. It was interesting, the final couple of chapters were really good (loved the tension) but at the same time I thought that there were some weird jumps between characters and events. I also found it a bit frustrating with how things at first went between Claire and Gabe and would have really enjoyed seeing how the village where Jonas and Claire came from was doing after the events of The Giver.
This book is written in three parts and I will be talking about all parts separately.
The first part was 5 stars, amazing. We follow Claire who is a few years older than Jonas and living in the same village. She is a Birthmother and gives birth to the little boy we got to know as Gabriel (Gabe) in The Giver. I loved her perspective. Jonas is a special citizen in his community and I thought it was really interesting to read about the community from a normal citizens point of view. The final chapter was a bit weird and ended abruptly but it wasn't 'bad' enough to change my rating.
The second part was 2 stars, incredibly boring. Claire is learning about stuff that she never knew which was a bit dull for two reasons: 1) we already experienced this with Jonas and 2) there were a lot of things that she was learning about and each was described endlessly (colours, seasons, animals). After we finally get past that we get into the 'training' chapters. Remember how in most movies and books they just show you little clips and then speed up the time to get to the end of the training? Well there is a reason for that and that reason is boredom. I was really bored reading about the training bits. Basically we see Claire running, running with stones in a backpack, running with more stones in her backpack, running with even more tones in her backpack, and so on. I also never connected with the side characters in this part and the romance felt really unnecessary. Why couldn't he just be a nice guy without the romantic feelings?!
The third and final part was 3 stars. It was interesting, the final couple of chapters were really good (loved the tension) but at the same time I thought that there were some weird jumps between characters and events. I also found it a bit frustrating with how things at first went between Claire and Gabe and would have really enjoyed seeing how the village where Jonas and Claire came from was doing after the events of The Giver.
It was a good book, but I would only say that if you want to read it as a solo book.... As far as the series I still have way too many unanswered questions
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes