Here's the deal. I don't think I could do a review without giving spoilers. There is just so much packed into one book that it is impossible to talk about one part without revealing the other! So, I'm splitting this up into 2 sections. One with spoilers, one without~
Quick book summary:
The Giver by Lois Lowry focuses on a boy named Jonas who happens to live in a dystopian/Utopian society controlled by the rules and traditions of The Council of Elders. At 12 years old, the Council selects Jonas to become the next Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the only person in the society who knows of evils such as warfare, famine, music, abuse, and even color. Jonas is trained by the old Receiver, now known as The Giver, and obtains memories of the Past from him. Eventually, he realizes just how messed up his society is and works to put an end to it.
Let's start with the non-spoilery stuff:
The awesome-sauce that is this book:
I loved this book and read almost the whole thing in one sitting. Lowry does a phenomenal job creating this world that at first seems so good and perfected yet is really so twisted because of the means that it used to achieve its perfection. Lowry paints Jonas perfectly- he is so well written as he is a "product of his surrounds" but is willing to fight for change when he realizes the things that his society is missing out on.
The society in which Jonas lives is written so starkly and it fits perfectly. Citizens have to be as precise as possible with language in order to avoid lying. E.G. Jonas was corrected as a boy for saying, "I'm starving," when really all he was, was hungry. Or, in another case, all citizens must publicly apologize whenever they do something "wrong" like use the wrong wording or are late for school.
As to be expected with a "Utopia," the society obviously had some dark secrets. But... what was revealed about the society was a total plot twist for me and I thought it was done really well. (I'll talk more about it in the spoiler section.)
Overall, this was an extremely well done novel and to me, almost the perfect start to the series. Almost.
What was not so awesome-sauce about the book:
The only two notes I have on the book are the lack of character development and the timing, which really go hand in hand. I appreciated the fast-paced, informative, yet enjoyable pace of the book but I wish Lowry could have slowed down a little in the end. It feels like we were robbed of some character development because of the fast pace. For example, Asher and Fiona I thought were going to end up being much more important to the story and very dynamic characters but we got barely anytime with them. Additionally, the ending felt very rushed to me- not patched up but, lacking the depth I was hoping for.
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I'm going to end it here in order to keep it spoiler free. ;) If you guys would like a better breakdown- spoilers included- of this book, let me know in the comments! And while you're down there, be sure to subscribe to my mailing list and like this review.