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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
I have read the prose version of The Giver too many times to count, so I was excited when the graphic novel version was announced and eager to read it when it arrived. P. Craig Russell does an excellent job of illustrating Jonas's world and bringing "sameness" to life. The use of blues instead of greytones to indicate the lack of color is extraordinarily effective, as is the use of a single color in most of the memories that Jonas receives from the Giver. I read an interview with Russell in which he discussed his interpretation of the book's ending (no spoilers here, and we're just going to ignore that the other three books in the Giver Quartet exist) and was pleased to read that he and I shared our view of how the book ends. The graphic rendering of the ending is very well done--and still somewhat open for interpretation. All that said, the fact that I was able to SEE all the horrors of Jonas's society made everything so much worse. It was one thing reading it and imagining it myself, but it was a completely different animal when it was laid out in visual form on the page. Again, no spoilers, but I was extremely affected by chapter 20 and onwards, to the point where I can say that this is an extraordinary and important graphic novel that I never want to read again.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Cool to see as a graphic novel since colour plays an important part in the story.
*I received an ARC for review*
While I enjoy the graphics being in black and white until the character is able to see colors, the illustrations were just off to me.
Story followed the book very closely and got all of the same points across. I think this would be best used as a reading copy for children who get lost easily with traditional books or need something else to help them get engaged in the story (such as pictures). It doesn’t seem as daunting to read a book with pictures for a child who is struggling to read.
While I enjoy the graphics being in black and white until the character is able to see colors, the illustrations were just off to me.
Story followed the book very closely and got all of the same points across. I think this would be best used as a reading copy for children who get lost easily with traditional books or need something else to help them get engaged in the story (such as pictures). It doesn’t seem as daunting to read a book with pictures for a child who is struggling to read.
Read the entire series so when I saw there was a graphic novel I thought "what the heck" it was pretty good! I think Ill give more graphic novels a go.
I remember my first experience with The Giver. I was in grade 7 and I had just moved from Austria to Canada, and we were expected to read The Giver for class. Since it was the middle of term, the rest of the class was already almost done the book, so I felt really overwhelmed. English didn’t come easy to me yet, and I was so behind on the book that I didn’t understand anything that was going on. When the movie adaptation came out in 2014, I was hesitant to watch it because of my past experience, but my boyfriend put it on the TV and I really found myself captivated by the story and what was going on!
I still haven’t read the original novel, but when I found out that a graphic novel was coming out and that ARCs were available, I asked for one! The first impressions that I had with the graphic novel when I started reading it was that the ARC was in black and white, while the finished copy would be in full colour. And since colour plays a part in the story (I won’t spoil it by telling you how), I think that I can’t review that aspect of this book.
The other thing I found was that the art style was not for me, but that it particularly suited the story of The Giver, so I could appreciate that they made a good choice in that. And the last thing was that there was a lot of text on each page, considering that it’s a graphic novel. But, I also understand that they needed to do that in order for the story to make complete sense. So, if you’re already a fan of The Giver, or think that this kind of story is for you (and you like the art on the cover), I recommend it.
I still haven’t read the original novel, but when I found out that a graphic novel was coming out and that ARCs were available, I asked for one! The first impressions that I had with the graphic novel when I started reading it was that the ARC was in black and white, while the finished copy would be in full colour. And since colour plays a part in the story (I won’t spoil it by telling you how), I think that I can’t review that aspect of this book.
The other thing I found was that the art style was not for me, but that it particularly suited the story of The Giver, so I could appreciate that they made a good choice in that. And the last thing was that there was a lot of text on each page, considering that it’s a graphic novel. But, I also understand that they needed to do that in order for the story to make complete sense. So, if you’re already a fan of The Giver, or think that this kind of story is for you (and you like the art on the cover), I recommend it.
I think if I read the actual giver I would get really confused. Thank goodness for this visual.