The Giver (Giver #1) by Lois Lowry

August 22, 2014 erinbook Book review

The Giver (Giver #1) by Lois Lowry

Release Date: April 26, 1993
Publisher: HMH For Young Readers
179 Pages
Received: Bought Used
Format: Paperback

Rating:

4 Nuts

Description:

Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Review: Unlike a lot of people who have read this book, I never read it for school. It was an option for summer reading but I picked something that had to do with witches that I don’t even remember anymore. I put off reading it for a long time, extremely wary of the hype but now, with the movie adaptation out, I have to read it before I see it.Now that I did read it, something that only took a couple of hours, I regret putting it off for so long. Really it’s one of the best dystopians I’ve read, written before dystopians were cool (boy doesn’t that sound hipster). For such a short book it manages to create a pretty detailed terrifying world. I don’t know about you but I enjoy color.

It’s rare that such a short book catches my imagination the way this one did. I’m a fan of the big book, 500 pages or more. I love nothing more than curling up with an intimidating tome and zipping right through it. I makes me feel accomplished in a way that I never get from smaller books. Still, The Giver was written in such a way that it felt much more massive than the size of the book would indicate.

One minor problem that I had with this book is that it’s very unbelievable that Jonas is 12 years old. No twelve year old talks like he does, thinks like he does, or would do the things that he does. It’s much more believable that he would be 15 or older. There’s a very big difference between how a twelve year old behaves and how an older teenager would.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this book and I’m eager to see the movie. I’m a bit worried that they’ll screw it up but it should be worth seeing regardless. I hope. I’m hoping to get my paws on the other books in this quartet soon.

What did you think of The Giver? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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La La in the LiBrArY

I read The Giver when my son was reading it for Middle School. I loved it. As far as Jonas's maturity, I think alot of it comes from the environment and I have also known some pretty savvy twelve year olds in real life (I have had two different volunteer jobs with that age range). I have read all of the series except The Son, which I plan to read next week before my Amazon Unlimited free trial is up. As far as the movie goes, I probably won't see it because in all of the reviews I've read, the bloggers have said you pretty much have to suspend your knowledge of the book to enjoy the movie.

August 22, 2014, 7:56 pm

BookNut

I promised I'd go see it with my best friend on Sunday so there's no backing out now. She will not be happy if they screw it up. I'm glad that I don't have quite that kind of attachment to it. I'd be annoyed but not devastated, I think.
August 22, 2014, 8:02 pm

Rachel Hoyt

I read and loved this ages ago, but I honestly didn't remember much about it. I also wasn't that excited for the movie, maybe because of the changes I'd been reading about. I am curious to see how it's adapted, but not exactly eager to see it. But yay for it living up to hype! 😀 Great review!

Rachel @ Paper Cuts

August 23, 2014, 5:05 pm

BookNut

Thanks. I'm really wary about the movie. But since I promised I'd see it with my friend so I will.
August 23, 2014, 6:38 pm

Katelyn Cabe

Wait until you get to The Messenger. It wraps everything up nicely and I had soooo many feels, if I may use the colloquialism in books instead of general fandom.

August 24, 2014, 11:39 pm