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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
WHERE has this book been all my life?! I have never had the opportunity to read it in school but I’m soooo glad I picked this up!!!! Such a thought-provoking book with the right amount of details but also the right amount of ambiguity. I highly, highly recommend that everyone should read this if they haven’t already!!
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I know we were assigned to read this in high school, so I must have read it yet didn't remember anything about it. I read it this evening and enjoyed it more than I must have back in the day. A very simple idea of what this book is about: Jonas is a young boy who lives in a world/community where everything is the same (the "Sameness"). When he is twelve, he is assigned as the new "Receiver," which essentially means he will receive memories from the "Giver." The people in this community do not have memories of life before the Sameness, and the "Receiver" stores all of these memories for them. Jonas starts to question the way they are living once he receives memories of things that were before (colors, warmth, love, etc). This was a five star review for me until the last 10 pages or so. I felt like everything kind of slopped together and then came to an abrupt end.
I promise you I will never not love this book. It is so comforting and horrible and scratches my dystopian itch every time. I had to reread it so that I could teach my 7th graders so I will be reading it for a second time this year and honestly I’m not sad. This is a book that most people truly enjoy and I have seen spark a new found love of reading or reignite that same love in middle schoolers around the nation. I am so happy that this book exists and is available to be taught in our schools!
*January 28, 2019*
I listened to this on audiobook for my walks to and from work. The Giver has always been a favorite book from school and it's still just as good. The book is a 5 stars but the audiobook I have to give 4 stars. Whenever something impactful happened in the book whoever directed this felt that needed a weird soundtrack. I listen to my audiobooks at double speed and it just sounded off key, but even at normal speed it was unnecessary for the story. It was like the audiobook was forcing you to feel a certain way about the book when all books should be self-interpreted. It didn't take anything away from the story, but I think I'll just end up physically reading the rest of the series.
I listened to this on audiobook for my walks to and from work. The Giver has always been a favorite book from school and it's still just as good. The book is a 5 stars but the audiobook I have to give 4 stars. Whenever something impactful happened in the book whoever directed this felt that needed a weird soundtrack. I listen to my audiobooks at double speed and it just sounded off key, but even at normal speed it was unnecessary for the story. It was like the audiobook was forcing you to feel a certain way about the book when all books should be self-interpreted. It didn't take anything away from the story, but I think I'll just end up physically reading the rest of the series.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Simple storytelling becomes complex and thought-provoking. Heart-wrenching in its portrayal of the quest to create utopia that results in dystopia. I loved the fact that Lowry did not, like Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth, dwell on the dysfunctions of the dystopia or the rebellion of the individual (though this was indeed the plot mechanism), but on the rehumanization of the whole community. There is something really different about this book, and I believe it is the brevity of its message and the power of its simple storytleling. Brava!
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
I loved this book. It was so interesting that I couldnt keep it down. I couldnt understand the ending though, it was a little abrupt for me....