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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
The graphic novel did a fantastic job of conveying the book's color scheme. Although it left out a couple of scenes, I found in an interview online that the author agreed with that artistic choice. The book's ambiguous ending was conveyed well.
Overall, I was pleased with the artwork and the effort to include washes, a light gray and blue background to convey the overall atmosphere, and the depictions of the characters to be very well done.
Overall, I was pleased with the artwork and the effort to include washes, a light gray and blue background to convey the overall atmosphere, and the depictions of the characters to be very well done.
Holy. Smokes. Not me audibly gasping when finishing this in public. Though I know I read this back in middle school, I really didn’t remember most of it and it was an enjoyable, albeit unsettling, experience to read this again in 2025 as an adult. I really loved the graphic novel version and especially the interviews at the end with the author and illustrator about the process of creating that version. This is just such a powerful classic and I’m so glad I reread it.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The plot (which follows the original) is more starkly disturbing in this faster-to-read form. Fun to revisit the story in an afternoon. Missed the feel and texture of the world-building from the original though.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
I have read The Giver hundreds of times since I was introduced to it in 4th grade. It’s been my favorite since then. So when I saw the graphic novel version, I wanted to read it.
First off, the visuals here are wonderful. This is a tough story to make look good, but Craig Russell does an excellent job.
It was also *tough* to look at. This could be that I’ve become a mother since I lead read this book, but having a cute little blond toddler playing while I’m reading scenes of children being “released” only because they don’t sleep through the night or they’re the smaller twin (oh - I also have triplet nieces who were all itty-bitty when they were born. And my husband’s a twin too - he and his brother were preemies) - it was even more of a gut-punch than when I was nine. I needed to go hug my boy after reading those parts.
When I did my undergrad, I had the opportunity to do a project on a favorite author and I picked Lois Lowry because of this book. I read an interview she gave about how the idea for The Giver came about - basically, it’s about what happened to people when you try to erase the memories of your history. There has never been a time when politician or celebrities or media-types or even academics have tried to erase whole sections of history from our collective memory - to pretend things were either better or worse at a certain point (depending on the narrative being spun). I love this book because of the lessons it teaches and I’m glad it continues to be part of the literary landscape. I feel like I learn and feel something new every time I re-read it. It can be a hard read, but it is an important - an even hopeful - read.
First off, the visuals here are wonderful. This is a tough story to make look good, but Craig Russell does an excellent job.
It was also *tough* to look at. This could be that I’ve become a mother since I lead read this book, but having a cute little blond toddler playing while I’m reading scenes of children being “released” only because they don’t sleep through the night or they’re the smaller twin (oh - I also have triplet nieces who were all itty-bitty when they were born. And my husband’s a twin too - he and his brother were preemies) - it was even more of a gut-punch than when I was nine. I needed to go hug my boy after reading those parts.
When I did my undergrad, I had the opportunity to do a project on a favorite author and I picked Lois Lowry because of this book. I read an interview she gave about how the idea for The Giver came about - basically, it’s about what happened to people when you try to erase the memories of your history. There has never been a time when politician or celebrities or media-types or even academics have tried to erase whole sections of history from our collective memory - to pretend things were either better or worse at a certain point (depending on the narrative being spun). I love this book because of the lessons it teaches and I’m glad it continues to be part of the literary landscape. I feel like I learn and feel something new every time I re-read it. It can be a hard read, but it is an important - an even hopeful - read.
I might come back to this, but I basically just read The Giver, and this includes almost all of the text from it, just with added pictures. This is probably a more interesting read once I've gotten farther from having just read the book.
I'm always a little nervous when a book or story I loved is turned into a graphic novel, but I was NOT disappointed by this book. Russell's illustrations are the perfect pairing for Lowry's text. If you loved, The Giver, and it's been a while, I highly recommend revisiting it with this graphic novel.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No