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A review by lawbooks600
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
adventurous
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? Yes
3.0
Representation: Character with a physical disability
Score: Six points out of ten.
One year ago, I read the first instalment of The Giver Quartet, The Giver--an outstanding read. I hoped the fictional composition after The Giver, Gathering Blue, would be at the same standard as the former. When I glanced at the blurb, it looked intriguing, but the low ratings warned me not to read it. When I read and finished Gathering Blue, I was underwhelmed and felt that it wasn't as good as The Giver.
It starts with the first person I see, Kira, whose last name remains undisclosed, arriving on an unknown location. Surprisingly, there are people living there, but they forced Kira to battle and fight to the death, much to her detriment as she has a disability. The plot twists as Kira does not battle and instead she integrates into the community. After the opening pages, nothing much happens, as all I see is Kira living her new life in a place I don't know the location of. The worldbuilding is worse in Gathering Blue than The Giver as there is no explanation for why everything is the way it is. What is blue? How does the society function? Those are questions the author did not answer. The conclusion petered out Gathering Blue. I'm so dissatisfied.
Score: Six points out of ten.
One year ago, I read the first instalment of The Giver Quartet, The Giver--an outstanding read. I hoped the fictional composition after The Giver, Gathering Blue, would be at the same standard as the former. When I glanced at the blurb, it looked intriguing, but the low ratings warned me not to read it. When I read and finished Gathering Blue, I was underwhelmed and felt that it wasn't as good as The Giver.
It starts with the first person I see, Kira, whose last name remains undisclosed, arriving on an unknown location. Surprisingly, there are people living there, but they forced Kira to battle and fight to the death, much to her detriment as she has a disability. The plot twists as Kira does not battle and instead she integrates into the community. After the opening pages, nothing much happens, as all I see is Kira living her new life in a place I don't know the location of. The worldbuilding is worse in Gathering Blue than The Giver as there is no explanation for why everything is the way it is. What is blue? How does the society function? Those are questions the author did not answer. The conclusion petered out Gathering Blue. I'm so dissatisfied.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Bullying, and Death
Full trigger warnings: Ableism, bullying, physical assault, murder, implied death or disappearance of parents, suicidal thoughts