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The Giver #4
Son
They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn't exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive? She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2012
4118 people are currently reading
81676 people want to read
About the author
Lois Lowry
143 books22.9k followersTaken from Lowry's website:
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,729 reviews
February 7, 2013
no no no no no no no No No No No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
NO
, Lois Lowry!
NO.
No.
This cannot be how you chose to end the quartet.
I am flabbergasted and bereft and... cheated. I feel cheated.
In the same way Suzanne Collins ruined The Hunger Games trilogy in its crummy final act, so too has Lowry with Son.
Despite being weaker efforts, Gathering Blue and Messenger felt like stepping stones toward an ending that would seamlessly combine disparate storylines. Instead we get this.
(I am well aware now that this review has begun as a rambling mess. I am sorting through my emotions as I type, and am hopeful that everything will come together in the end - UNLIKE SON.)
Divided into three parts (Before, Between, and Beyond), Son begins strongly.
Before
Here is Claire, a child of fourteen, forced to live the life of a birthmother in a society that is a striking cross between Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale and George Orwell's 1984. Fully realized in the Newbery Medal winning The Giver, it is a richly drawn community that provokes unease in the reader through subtlety.
Claire's character is developed beautifully, and readers will feel her ache and longing as she navigates the oppressive system in which she has been unwittingly thrust. Lowry is at her sharpest in the Before section. The narrative travels at a piercing clip, and the tumult of Claire's emotions is palpable in the same manner of Jonas' own emergence in The Giver. Further details about the community are provided, each simultaneously intriguing and sickening. It is a section that is gripping and thrilling and that, unfortunately, ends.
And the trouble begins.
Spoilers from here on out.
No.
This cannot be how you chose to end the quartet.
I am flabbergasted and bereft and... cheated. I feel cheated.
In the same way Suzanne Collins ruined The Hunger Games trilogy in its crummy final act, so too has Lowry with Son.
Despite being weaker efforts, Gathering Blue and Messenger felt like stepping stones toward an ending that would seamlessly combine disparate storylines. Instead we get this.
(I am well aware now that this review has begun as a rambling mess. I am sorting through my emotions as I type, and am hopeful that everything will come together in the end - UNLIKE SON.)
Divided into three parts (Before, Between, and Beyond), Son begins strongly.
Before
Here is Claire, a child of fourteen, forced to live the life of a birthmother in a society that is a striking cross between Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale and George Orwell's 1984. Fully realized in the Newbery Medal winning The Giver, it is a richly drawn community that provokes unease in the reader through subtlety.
Claire's character is developed beautifully, and readers will feel her ache and longing as she navigates the oppressive system in which she has been unwittingly thrust. Lowry is at her sharpest in the Before section. The narrative travels at a piercing clip, and the tumult of Claire's emotions is palpable in the same manner of Jonas' own emergence in The Giver. Further details about the community are provided, each simultaneously intriguing and sickening. It is a section that is gripping and thrilling and that, unfortunately, ends.
And the trouble begins.
Spoilers from here on out.
October 27, 2023
Every story has to end sometime.
Claire lives within the safety of the Community, and like everyone, without any kind of emotions, or pain. At the tender age of fourteen she is assigned the life role of Birth Mother, and by artificial insemination delivers a beautiful baby boy. When because birth complications she’s reassigned a new role at the Fish Hatchery, and volunteers at the Nurturing Center, she slowly grows to love him. But in the Community emotions and attachment doesn’t exist; and it won’t be long before the baby is assigned to a new family, or released to ‘Elsewhere’ if the doesn’t meet the genetic standards.
This was an epic tale of a mother trying to find and reconnect with her lost son and an almost perfect conclusion to the series. The story divided into three parts; Before, Between and Beyond, taking place in the Past, Present and Future and connecting with almost every single timeline started in the previous books.
Three seemingly unconnected stories and worlds merge beautifully in this fourth installment. Sadly I can’t go into specifics without terribly spoiling much of the book and series content, so I’m just going to say that this one was SO worth it. Loved how this fourth and final novel also started like yet another seemingly unconnected story and how, as the story progressed, slowly weaved and blended every single character and timeline started in the previous books into one single unified world. It was a wowing emotional rollercoaster too, excruciatingly painful sometimes and lovingly uplifting the next. The ending a marvelous tearful conclusion that did not provide all the answers, but yes more than enough to feel satisfied and put a happy closure to it.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2012] [393p] [Dystopia] [YA] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ 1. The Giver
★★★★☆ 2. Gathering Blue
★★☆☆☆ 3. Messenger
★★★★☆ 4. Son
-----------------------------------------------
Toda historia debe terminar en algún momento.
Claire vive dentro de la seguridad de la Comunidad, y cómo todos, sin ningún tipo de emoción, o dolor. A la tierna edad de catorce es designada en su rol de vida como Madre Partera, y por inseminación artificial entrega un hermoso bebé varón. Cuando a causa de complicaciones de parto es reasignada a un nuevo rol en la Factoría de Pescados, y como voluntaria en el Centro de Nutrición, lentamente empieza a amarlo. Pero en la Comunidad las emociones y el apego no existe; y no será largo tiempo hasta que el bebé sea asignado a su nueva familia, o liberado a ‘Otro Lado’ si no llega a cumplir con los estándares genéticos.
Esta fue una épica historia de una madre tratando de hallar y reconectar con su bebé perdido y una casi perfecta conclusión a la serie. La historia se divide en tres partes; Antes, Entre Medio y Más Allá, tomando lugar en el Pasado, Presente y Futuro y conectando casi todas las líneas temporales empezadas en los anteriores libros.
Tres aparentemente inconexas historias y mundos se fusionan hermosamente en esta cuarta entrega. Lamentablemente no puedo entrar en específicos sin arruinar terriblemente mucho del contenido del libro y la serie, así que sólo voy a decir que esta lo valió ENORMEMENTE. Amé cómo esta cuarta y última novela también empieza como otra aparentemente inconexa historia y cómo, mientras la historia progresa, lentamente va tejiendo y uniendo cada personaje y trama empezada en los libros anteriores en un único mundo unificado. Fue un asombroso viaje emocional también, extremadamente dolorosa a veces y amorosamente elevadora al siguiente. El final una maravillosa y lacrimosa conclusión que no proveyó todas las respuestas, pero sí más que suficiente para sentirme satisfecho y felizmente darle cierre.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2012] [393p] [Distopía] [Joven Adulto] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Claire lives within the safety of the Community, and like everyone, without any kind of emotions, or pain. At the tender age of fourteen she is assigned the life role of Birth Mother, and by artificial insemination delivers a beautiful baby boy. When because birth complications she’s reassigned a new role at the Fish Hatchery, and volunteers at the Nurturing Center, she slowly grows to love him. But in the Community emotions and attachment doesn’t exist; and it won’t be long before the baby is assigned to a new family, or released to ‘Elsewhere’ if the doesn’t meet the genetic standards.
This was an epic tale of a mother trying to find and reconnect with her lost son and an almost perfect conclusion to the series. The story divided into three parts; Before, Between and Beyond, taking place in the Past, Present and Future and connecting with almost every single timeline started in the previous books.
Three seemingly unconnected stories and worlds merge beautifully in this fourth installment. Sadly I can’t go into specifics without terribly spoiling much of the book and series content, so I’m just going to say that this one was SO worth it. Loved how this fourth and final novel also started like yet another seemingly unconnected story and how, as the story progressed, slowly weaved and blended every single character and timeline started in the previous books into one single unified world. It was a wowing emotional rollercoaster too, excruciatingly painful sometimes and lovingly uplifting the next. The ending a marvelous tearful conclusion that did not provide all the answers, but yes more than enough to feel satisfied and put a happy closure to it.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2012] [393p] [Dystopia] [YA] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ 1. The Giver
★★★★☆ 2. Gathering Blue
★★☆☆☆ 3. Messenger
★★★★☆ 4. Son
-----------------------------------------------
Toda historia debe terminar en algún momento.
Claire vive dentro de la seguridad de la Comunidad, y cómo todos, sin ningún tipo de emoción, o dolor. A la tierna edad de catorce es designada en su rol de vida como Madre Partera, y por inseminación artificial entrega un hermoso bebé varón. Cuando a causa de complicaciones de parto es reasignada a un nuevo rol en la Factoría de Pescados, y como voluntaria en el Centro de Nutrición, lentamente empieza a amarlo. Pero en la Comunidad las emociones y el apego no existe; y no será largo tiempo hasta que el bebé sea asignado a su nueva familia, o liberado a ‘Otro Lado’ si no llega a cumplir con los estándares genéticos.
Esta fue una épica historia de una madre tratando de hallar y reconectar con su bebé perdido y una casi perfecta conclusión a la serie. La historia se divide en tres partes; Antes, Entre Medio y Más Allá, tomando lugar en el Pasado, Presente y Futuro y conectando casi todas las líneas temporales empezadas en los anteriores libros.
Tres aparentemente inconexas historias y mundos se fusionan hermosamente en esta cuarta entrega. Lamentablemente no puedo entrar en específicos sin arruinar terriblemente mucho del contenido del libro y la serie, así que sólo voy a decir que esta lo valió ENORMEMENTE. Amé cómo esta cuarta y última novela también empieza como otra aparentemente inconexa historia y cómo, mientras la historia progresa, lentamente va tejiendo y uniendo cada personaje y trama empezada en los libros anteriores en un único mundo unificado. Fue un asombroso viaje emocional también, extremadamente dolorosa a veces y amorosamente elevadora al siguiente. El final una maravillosa y lacrimosa conclusión que no proveyó todas las respuestas, pero sí más que suficiente para sentirme satisfecho y felizmente darle cierre.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2012] [393p] [Distopía] [Joven Adulto] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
March 8, 2013
Was this book awesome? Heck yes.
Did I still have questions at the end? Yes.
1. If there were Birthmothers then they needed sperm from males who didn't take the pill. Where were these guys?
2. What happened to the original community when Jonas, Gabe, and Claire left?
3. Did Lame Einar heal from the destroying of the Trademaster, too?
4. Did Einar heal and then climb out to find Claire?
5. Did Claire and Einar get married?
6. Did Gabe and Deirdre get married?
7. What happened on the boat ride that made Claire come to the coastal community?
8. Why did Trademaster HAVE to be at the top of the cliff. Why can't people get out of the community on their own?
9. What was the point of Book II of Claire's journey if she doesn't get with Einar in the end? She could have just met Trademaster on the beach, not forgotten her past, and went straight to Gabe. The story still would have made sense without the reader giving their hopes up on beloved characters such as Alys and Einar.
10. Why did she wait so long to reveal herself to Gabe? I know what the book says, but she spent her whole life looking for him and risked her life getting out of two communities.
11. How far apart are all these communities? Will it one day be possible to visit each other?
You would think I didn't like the book by all of the questions I'm asking, but I'm asking these questions because I was so completely wrapped up in The Giver series.
This series makes you think about life in such a deep way. It makes you think about what you would do in situations; how you would love, react, plan, and follow through on your dreams.
It led so many discussions and conversations between my husband and me. This book could totally be a movie. Classrooms would have such an easy time using this as discussion and book clubs would really benefit from it.
Did I still have questions at the end? Yes.
1. If there were Birthmothers then they needed sperm from males who didn't take the pill. Where were these guys?
2. What happened to the original community when Jonas, Gabe, and Claire left?
3. Did Lame Einar heal from the destroying of the Trademaster, too?
4. Did Einar heal and then climb out to find Claire?
5. Did Claire and Einar get married?
6. Did Gabe and Deirdre get married?
7. What happened on the boat ride that made Claire come to the coastal community?
8. Why did Trademaster HAVE to be at the top of the cliff. Why can't people get out of the community on their own?
9. What was the point of Book II of Claire's journey if she doesn't get with Einar in the end? She could have just met Trademaster on the beach, not forgotten her past, and went straight to Gabe. The story still would have made sense without the reader giving their hopes up on beloved characters such as Alys and Einar.
10. Why did she wait so long to reveal herself to Gabe? I know what the book says, but she spent her whole life looking for him and risked her life getting out of two communities.
11. How far apart are all these communities? Will it one day be possible to visit each other?
You would think I didn't like the book by all of the questions I'm asking, but I'm asking these questions because I was so completely wrapped up in The Giver series.
This series makes you think about life in such a deep way. It makes you think about what you would do in situations; how you would love, react, plan, and follow through on your dreams.
It led so many discussions and conversations between my husband and me. This book could totally be a movie. Classrooms would have such an easy time using this as discussion and book clubs would really benefit from it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2025
I'm done. I'm so done right now.
This one dragggggged. The answers we've been waiting for since book 1 were never truly given and we were forced to watch (yet another) set of side characters become the mains.
This time we follow Claire - a birth mother from Jonas's original city. Much like Jonas, she doesn't take the emotion-suppressing pills and thus develops the ability to love.
And she loves her son fiercely.
Claire frantically searches from her son, eventually climbing onto a nearby barge to get away from her monstrous city. A storm rolls in and the last thing she remembers is looking for...something.
This whole book felt incredibly convenient.
Claire just happens to wash aboard a small town at the bottom of cliffs.
She happens to lose her memory and by the time she gets it back, the only way out of the town just happens to be climbing that sheer cliffs.
She just happens to have to spend the next 8 or so years training her body to climb out.
Conveniently, during that time Gabe is growing and by the time she gets to him, he's old enough to make other things in the plot happen.
This felt like huge a time waste.
We never got to figure out who the Trader was, where all these magic powers come and why the society is so messed up. At least...we find out what happened to the characters from book 1...kind of.
Thank goodness this series is over.
Audiobook Comments
Read by Bernadette Dunne and she did a really fabulous job. I wasn't a fan of the plot but I certainly enjoyed the audio.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
This one dragggggged. The answers we've been waiting for since book 1 were never truly given and we were forced to watch (yet another) set of side characters become the mains.
This time we follow Claire - a birth mother from Jonas's original city. Much like Jonas, she doesn't take the emotion-suppressing pills and thus develops the ability to love.
And she loves her son fiercely.
As we know from the first book, Gabe was going to be "let go" (aka killed) because he was too fussy of a baby (thus no parents would want to handle him) when Jonas steals him away.
"She would die, Claire realized, before she would give up the love she felt for her son."
Claire frantically searches from her son, eventually climbing onto a nearby barge to get away from her monstrous city. A storm rolls in and the last thing she remembers is looking for...something.
This whole book felt incredibly convenient.
Claire just happens to wash aboard a small town at the bottom of cliffs.
She happens to lose her memory and by the time she gets it back, the only way out of the town just happens to be climbing that sheer cliffs.
She just happens to have to spend the next 8 or so years training her body to climb out.
Conveniently, during that time Gabe is growing and by the time she gets to him, he's old enough to make other things in the plot happen.
This felt like huge a time waste.
We never got to figure out who the Trader was, where all these magic powers come and why the society is so messed up. At least...we find out what happened to the characters from book 1...kind of.
Thank goodness this series is over.
Audiobook Comments
Read by Bernadette Dunne and she did a really fabulous job. I wasn't a fan of the plot but I certainly enjoyed the audio.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
June 26, 2013
Son is made up of three parts: Before, Between, and Beyond. If I were to name them, I would gather them into one book and name it Boring.
WHY THE HELL WAS THIS NOVEL 400 PAGES LONG!?! The previous three were about 200 pages. If you delete the double spaces, this book would be 300 pages, and from there, pointless descriptions and subplots would be easily cut down to 200 pages. Yes, I'm serious.
I mean, we spend 140 pages with Claire JUST TRAINING TO CLIMB THE F*CKING CLIFF!!! I DON'T GIVE A SH!T LOIS LOWRY!!!
Pointless sub-plots/ contrivances:
- Tall Andras storyline. Why was this necessary? Plus, at the beginning, before I knew he was 17, I was getting pedo vibes.
- Too many characters. They bog down the story, and it's a chore to keep them straight. And this is coming from someone who likes to remembers things as a habit, like 100 digits of pi and the periodic table.
- Why was Claire beautiful? Why can't I read about about a normal person?
- Claire forgetting all her experiences. Contrived much?
- Einar speaking about his father:
"I cooked for him like a wife and washed his clothes and was a wife in other ways too terrible to mention." O___O
Thank goodness this book is ages 10+, I'd hate to have a 9-year-old ask me what this means.
- Claire has never seen colors before. When Jonas from The Giver started seeing colors, he was like, "Whoa, what's wrong with that apple? It changed! But Claire was like, "Oh look, colors. Whatevs."
- Why didn't Claire just go around the cliff? "She was afraid of the water" is the only explanation we get. WTF?
- What's with Gabe being so Speshul? I mean in The Giver he had pale eyes, he lived with a Nurturer, the community wanted to release him, AND Jonas stole him. But it was still somehow believable. But now his Birthmother wants him, too? Dude, that WAY too much attention on one baby, and my belief was becoming so suspended that it broke.
- Stupid idiot.
Recommendations: You should read Son if you:
a) want to see what happens to Jonas/Gabe or
b) want to fall asleep.
Other options: If you're desperate for a good children's utopia book, reread The Giver or Gathering Blue. Son is like a little song, off-key and meandering around, compared to a symphony. It feels too much like Lois Lowry was either half-heartedly trying to satisfy her fans or trying to make more $$$.
WHY THE HELL WAS THIS NOVEL 400 PAGES LONG!?! The previous three were about 200 pages. If you delete the double spaces, this book would be 300 pages, and from there, pointless descriptions and subplots would be easily cut down to 200 pages. Yes, I'm serious.
I mean, we spend 140 pages with Claire JUST TRAINING TO CLIMB THE F*CKING CLIFF!!! I DON'T GIVE A SH!T LOIS LOWRY!!!
Pointless sub-plots/ contrivances:
- Tall Andras storyline. Why was this necessary? Plus, at the beginning, before I knew he was 17, I was getting pedo vibes.
- Too many characters. They bog down the story, and it's a chore to keep them straight. And this is coming from someone who likes to remembers things as a habit, like 100 digits of pi and the periodic table.
- Why was Claire beautiful? Why can't I read about about a normal person?
- Claire forgetting all her experiences. Contrived much?
- Einar speaking about his father:
"I cooked for him like a wife and washed his clothes and was a wife in other ways too terrible to mention." O___O
Thank goodness this book is ages 10+, I'd hate to have a 9-year-old ask me what this means.
- Claire has never seen colors before. When Jonas from The Giver started seeing colors, he was like, "Whoa, what's wrong with that apple? It changed! But Claire was like, "Oh look, colors. Whatevs."
- Why didn't Claire just go around the cliff? "She was afraid of the water" is the only explanation we get. WTF?
- What's with Gabe being so Speshul? I mean in The Giver he had pale eyes, he lived with a Nurturer, the community wanted to release him, AND Jonas stole him. But it was still somehow believable. But now his Birthmother wants him, too? Dude, that WAY too much attention on one baby, and my belief was becoming so suspended that it broke.
- Stupid idiot.
Recommendations: You should read Son if you:
a) want to see what happens to Jonas/Gabe or
b) want to fall asleep.
Other options: If you're desperate for a good children's utopia book, reread The Giver or Gathering Blue. Son is like a little song, off-key and meandering around, compared to a symphony. It feels too much like Lois Lowry was either half-heartedly trying to satisfy her fans or trying to make more $$$.
August 17, 2014
I'm struggling with this review. I love Lowry and I love the Giver. The Giver is one of the most poignant stories written for middle grades. I think it lends itself to such great discussion about what it means to be a human being, a community. I also love the companion books: Gathering Blue and Messenger. I especially love the Messenger and the profound message of what it takes to overcome evil. When I got an advance copy of Son, I was thrilled. I have been anticipating this for months. The character of Claire is beautifully rendered. Returning to the original community was interesting. Felt like Lowry was addressing long standing questions about details concerning how the community functioned.
I give this four stars for the reason that it serves as a satisfying conclusion. But...the part of Lowry's writing that I adore is missing. She answers too many questions. She completes the thoughts for us. The reader has little to ask or wonder in the end. Too tidy. As a writer she allows for the questions to linger. I think that's the power in her writing.
But it also felt so much like a long awaited reunion. It is a satisfying closure to a long journey.
I give this four stars for the reason that it serves as a satisfying conclusion. But...the part of Lowry's writing that I adore is missing. She answers too many questions. She completes the thoughts for us. The reader has little to ask or wonder in the end. Too tidy. As a writer she allows for the questions to linger. I think that's the power in her writing.
But it also felt so much like a long awaited reunion. It is a satisfying closure to a long journey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2013
I love The Giver. I count it as one of my favorite books of all time. It was the book that inspired me to read and made me want to write.
And I should have stopped at The Giver. My ratings of the books in the series have gotten progressively worse. I liked Gathering Blue, wish I didn't read The Messenger, and now wish I could take back time with The Son. I spent money on it, and I want it back. Sort of. I do love Lois Lowry.
But this is a great example of how to set rules and not break them. The Giver's rules were a little bit out of the ordinary, a little bit fantasy. That does not mean that suddenly, at the end of the series, you get a personification of evil that gambles and deals like the devil.
No. No. Noooooo.
Where the hell did this come from? Your guess is as good as mine, because I have no idea.
Then the ending. I don't get it. The moral was fight evil? Okay...that's...no justification for how long this book was. She's training for the cliff! Has she gone up the cliff yet? Nope. Still training. ON THE CLIFF! Still on the cliff. Are we going to get off this cliff?
And then you meet the Devil. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Which, I don't get why if you stand up to Evil, it still wins. Apparently you have to be super special and either Jonas or Gabriel and then, and only then!, will evil be swayed by you.
But seriously.
That entire book just so we can fight a personification of evil?
I feel cheated because there was no point to this. It didn't add anything to the arc. It gave a moral that I realized at five.
One star and a desperately plea for Target to give me my money back.
And I should have stopped at The Giver. My ratings of the books in the series have gotten progressively worse. I liked Gathering Blue, wish I didn't read The Messenger, and now wish I could take back time with The Son. I spent money on it, and I want it back. Sort of. I do love Lois Lowry.
But this is a great example of how to set rules and not break them. The Giver's rules were a little bit out of the ordinary, a little bit fantasy. That does not mean that suddenly, at the end of the series, you get a personification of evil that gambles and deals like the devil.
No. No. Noooooo.
Where the hell did this come from? Your guess is as good as mine, because I have no idea.
Then the ending. I don't get it. The moral was fight evil? Okay...that's...no justification for how long this book was. She's training for the cliff! Has she gone up the cliff yet? Nope. Still training. ON THE CLIFF! Still on the cliff. Are we going to get off this cliff?
And then you meet the Devil. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Which, I don't get why if you stand up to Evil, it still wins. Apparently you have to be super special and either Jonas or Gabriel and then, and only then!, will evil be swayed by you.
But seriously.
That entire book just so we can fight a personification of evil?
I feel cheated because there was no point to this. It didn't add anything to the arc. It gave a moral that I realized at five.
One star and a desperately plea for Target to give me my money back.
November 2, 2014
Spoiler alert!!! I have such mixed feelings about this series and book. The Giver was wonderful, but it was clear to me that the boys died at the end - old handed down memories of a sled in the snow do not lead to real redemption from freezing and starvation. Then I enjoyed Gathering Blue even more, except that it seemed that Lowry believed that her characters from the first book had survived, and were living in some sort of utopian village. Then, in The Messenger , she had a beloved character die for the "sins" of others - which is way too Christological to have meaning for me. And now? Now her message is that the power of love conquers evil. Evil doesn't really exist: it just crumbles when faced with true empathy. While I enjoyed the return, in this book, of The Giver's dystopia, her conclusions left me feeling that the hard "truths" of humanity she captured in the first two books - that things are more complicated than they first appear - has now been reduced to the banal cliche that love can heal all wounds. But I know it can't. I'm very disappointed that she couldn't handle the complications she introduced, even though these are not adult books.
October 22, 2012
This book did everything I wanted it to do. It wrapped up three other books into one story. Book one, The Giver, was suggested to me for reading by my son after he was required to read it for middle school language arts class. I enjoyed the book and the book discussion with my son. He was certain that Jonas and Gabe died at the end and the vision of a cozy, happy world was a dying dream since no two such different worlds could have existed in the same time period. This led to a discussion of the widely varying lifestyles found in first and third world countries today. (Love when books can get my 13 year old to think and talk bout something other than video games and girls!)I began book 2 but put in down since there seemed to be no link to book 1. My sister Joni, a language arts teacher for many years, persuaded me to finish the book and find the link. I did and even moved on to book three. I enjoyed the trilogy but it needed an ending. Imagine my delight when Goodreads friend and co-worker, Ellen, told me about Son. This is a quick read for adults but delivers what anyone who enjoyed the previous book is expecting, a few twists and turns all leading to...well I can't tell you, now can I...
November 17, 2012
Too pat...and the math doesn't add up!
I was disappointed. I had found "The Giver" to be a thought-provoking, well-written book -- especially Lowry's portrayal of a community of chilling banality and the ambiguous ending -- and I was hoping to see this world flushed out in her subsequent books. (Warning, I'm going to discuss the books and while I don't give away endings, you might not want to know these details.)
But this didn't do it. It was too pat -- especially part 3 I wasn't keen on the supernatural elements and couldn't believe Claire & Gabe's actions (or inactions).
I'm also very troubled by Lowry's math -- this whole "birthmother" thing doesn't add up and I wonder why an editor never caught it.
Since there are 50 "newchildren" in each and every birth year, each class must essentially reproduce in the same proportion i.e.. to keep the community's population stable would require that 50 be born to replace the elders when they are eventually "released."
Assuming the population gender is 50:50 (25 female, 25 male), and each "birthmother" has only 3 "products", 2/3 of the women would have to become "birthmothers" -- which is clearly not the case since "birthmother" is only one of many assignments "twelves" receive (and a low status one at that).
Furthermore, since not all adults are assigned to be a couple (birthmothers aren't!) and couples only raise two children, the population simply can't be replacing itself, but would be shrinking rather dramatically....all of which contradicts the supposed stability of this community.
On the science end, I also found myself frustrated that Lowry never explained the "how" of her civilization (why no rain, thunder, animals (even birds!) or seasons) when clearly these existed down the river nor how Jonah and the others could just leave the people they left behind to their fate and not go back and work to change their society.
I was disappointed. I had found "The Giver" to be a thought-provoking, well-written book -- especially Lowry's portrayal of a community of chilling banality and the ambiguous ending -- and I was hoping to see this world flushed out in her subsequent books. (Warning, I'm going to discuss the books and while I don't give away endings, you might not want to know these details.)
But this didn't do it. It was too pat -- especially part 3 I wasn't keen on the supernatural elements and couldn't believe Claire & Gabe's actions (or inactions).
I'm also very troubled by Lowry's math -- this whole "birthmother" thing doesn't add up and I wonder why an editor never caught it.
Since there are 50 "newchildren" in each and every birth year, each class must essentially reproduce in the same proportion i.e.. to keep the community's population stable would require that 50 be born to replace the elders when they are eventually "released."
Assuming the population gender is 50:50 (25 female, 25 male), and each "birthmother" has only 3 "products", 2/3 of the women would have to become "birthmothers" -- which is clearly not the case since "birthmother" is only one of many assignments "twelves" receive (and a low status one at that).
Furthermore, since not all adults are assigned to be a couple (birthmothers aren't!) and couples only raise two children, the population simply can't be replacing itself, but would be shrinking rather dramatically....all of which contradicts the supposed stability of this community.
On the science end, I also found myself frustrated that Lowry never explained the "how" of her civilization (why no rain, thunder, animals (even birds!) or seasons) when clearly these existed down the river nor how Jonah and the others could just leave the people they left behind to their fate and not go back and work to change their society.
March 29, 2019
There is a lovely story in Son, all about a girl who has forgotten her traumatic past, slowly finding herself and redefining herself at a leisurely pace in a small and very rural coastal village. I was enchanted by this deliberately reflective middle section. Lowry's talents were in full bloom: a pastoral scene was perfectly set and a meditative mood established; the sweet peacefulness of this community and its potential for kindness - for human kindness in general - was illustrated while the potential for small-minded behavior in such a setting was still carefully criticized. This entire sequence was in striking contrast to the increasingly nightmarish communities in which the prior three books were located. It almost acted as an antidote: Lowry lets her readers know that her future world of a severely stratified humanity still has room for places that do not diminish, degrade, or infantilize its residents. Not all human paths lead to dark places. This section had a calm and a tenderness that I really appreciated.
Sadly, this section is surrounded by two sections that were less inspiring. The first section is a retread of the first book, albeit from another character's perspective. This part wasn't bad - but it wasn't very interesting either. Been there done that, I guess. Also has to be said that I was less than eager to return to that setting - by the end of the first book, it was such a relief to leave it! The third, final section of the book was very problematic for me. It was unfortunate that "human evil" was so completely literalized into what is basically a fantasy figure, an inhuman bugaboo that can be dispelled. Lowry flirted with fantasy with the evil forest of the third book, but this was a bridge too far for me. Not the fantasy part - although the magical quality of the threat does muddy and confuse this series a bit - but the idea that human evil could be overcome by vanquishing an outside threat. That rather lets humanity off of the hook, I think. Humans are quite capable of vicious behavior without the intercession of some inhuman force. And the entire ending of the book felt rushed and just a bit too easy. Depth and understanding of human nature was replaced by plucky goodness versus snarling magical malice. Eh.
Even more sadly, the middle section is the source of ire for many reviewers of this book who felt it was the weakest section. Apparently they were bored and felt it lacked action. That thirst for facile narrative thrills at the expense of thoughtfulness always annoys me. And I have to say that such discontented readers appear to have forgotten what made the prior books so strong: their careful contemplation of human communities and their interest in defying reader expectations. Those books don't exist to pound the pulse. They exist to quicken the mind, to expand the heart, to nourish the soul. Makes me wonder if, in their yearning for superficial excitement, such readers have missed the entire point of the series.
All that said, Son still functions as a moving ode to the feelings of mother for child. Especially moving when knowing of the passing of the author's own son. The prior book Messenger was a beautiful elegy to that child. This book may be less successful than that one, but it is just as full of heart.
Sadly, this section is surrounded by two sections that were less inspiring. The first section is a retread of the first book, albeit from another character's perspective. This part wasn't bad - but it wasn't very interesting either. Been there done that, I guess. Also has to be said that I was less than eager to return to that setting - by the end of the first book, it was such a relief to leave it! The third, final section of the book was very problematic for me. It was unfortunate that "human evil" was so completely literalized into what is basically a fantasy figure, an inhuman bugaboo that can be dispelled. Lowry flirted with fantasy with the evil forest of the third book, but this was a bridge too far for me. Not the fantasy part - although the magical quality of the threat does muddy and confuse this series a bit - but the idea that human evil could be overcome by vanquishing an outside threat. That rather lets humanity off of the hook, I think. Humans are quite capable of vicious behavior without the intercession of some inhuman force. And the entire ending of the book felt rushed and just a bit too easy. Depth and understanding of human nature was replaced by plucky goodness versus snarling magical malice. Eh.
Even more sadly, the middle section is the source of ire for many reviewers of this book who felt it was the weakest section. Apparently they were bored and felt it lacked action. That thirst for facile narrative thrills at the expense of thoughtfulness always annoys me. And I have to say that such discontented readers appear to have forgotten what made the prior books so strong: their careful contemplation of human communities and their interest in defying reader expectations. Those books don't exist to pound the pulse. They exist to quicken the mind, to expand the heart, to nourish the soul. Makes me wonder if, in their yearning for superficial excitement, such readers have missed the entire point of the series.
All that said, Son still functions as a moving ode to the feelings of mother for child. Especially moving when knowing of the passing of the author's own son. The prior book Messenger was a beautiful elegy to that child. This book may be less successful than that one, but it is just as full of heart.
November 28, 2012
I've had a really hard time with this series. I read the Giver as a teen, loved it, have thought of it often, and one of my first acts when the internet really became a resource for knowledge was looking up to see if Lowry had ever said whether or not Gabe and Jonas made it, or just died of hypothermia. I remember vividly that the interview said that she left it ambiguous on purpose so the reader could decide.
Years pass and then suddenly I discovered that The Giver was now part of a trilogy. I read the other two books, discovered that Jonas and Gabe did make it, and then at Costco last week found this 'conclusion' to their tale.
For some reason these three additional stories cheapen the original for me. It feels like an attempt to capitalize on the dystopian and series novel trend. The series begins to feel like it pulls too heavily from Harry Potter and the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Evil incarnate and biblical themes (particularly in Messenger). Following on from the sacrificed son in Messenger, the battle Gabe wages against the Trademaster again confuses me. Is this the second coming if we're going with a biblical allegory and evil is finally dealt with once and for all? Or was the allegory limited to Messenger and we're now just in the realm of fiction again?
Gabe's fight with the Trademaster seems to come out of nowhere--when Jonas calls him to the fight it is too sudden and without enough explanation for me. How does he know that fighting the Trademaster will bring back his mom, and why is Jonas (or Claire for that matter) willing to let that happen? Jonas's limited relationship with Gabe after their relocation to this new settlement is another source of deep disappointment to me--they just don't have the brother relationship I had expected or hoped for. Jonas left his family and community for Gabe...and then basically gave him up when they came to the new community? And now is all for throwing him into a one-on-one battle with the devil with no clear sense of why Jonas feels that it should be Gabe. Jonas as a character is just too vague for me after The Giver. Like a tired old man shell of a character...but in his 20s.
Other disappointments include the fact that we didn't get to see what happened in the community after Jonas left and the memories all flooded back to the citizens. I was really hoping we'd get to see that through Claire (it's another one of those things that captured my imagination) but instead all we get is that there was confusion.
Now that I'm done complaining I will say that I did enjoy Son. I was always eager to read what happened next and enjoyed reading about her time in the intermediate settlement, even though it wasn't directly answering the bigger storyline. I think I just felt a sense of disappointment that the three books that followed from The Giver didn't feel like part of the original thought behind that world, but a business decision tapping into some current trends.
Years pass and then suddenly I discovered that The Giver was now part of a trilogy. I read the other two books, discovered that Jonas and Gabe did make it, and then at Costco last week found this 'conclusion' to their tale.
For some reason these three additional stories cheapen the original for me. It feels like an attempt to capitalize on the dystopian and series novel trend. The series begins to feel like it pulls too heavily from Harry Potter and the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Evil incarnate and biblical themes (particularly in Messenger). Following on from the sacrificed son in Messenger, the battle Gabe wages against the Trademaster again confuses me. Is this the second coming if we're going with a biblical allegory and evil is finally dealt with once and for all? Or was the allegory limited to Messenger and we're now just in the realm of fiction again?
Gabe's fight with the Trademaster seems to come out of nowhere--when Jonas calls him to the fight it is too sudden and without enough explanation for me. How does he know that fighting the Trademaster will bring back his mom, and why is Jonas (or Claire for that matter) willing to let that happen? Jonas's limited relationship with Gabe after their relocation to this new settlement is another source of deep disappointment to me--they just don't have the brother relationship I had expected or hoped for. Jonas left his family and community for Gabe...and then basically gave him up when they came to the new community? And now is all for throwing him into a one-on-one battle with the devil with no clear sense of why Jonas feels that it should be Gabe. Jonas as a character is just too vague for me after The Giver. Like a tired old man shell of a character...but in his 20s.
Other disappointments include the fact that we didn't get to see what happened in the community after Jonas left and the memories all flooded back to the citizens. I was really hoping we'd get to see that through Claire (it's another one of those things that captured my imagination) but instead all we get is that there was confusion.
Now that I'm done complaining I will say that I did enjoy Son. I was always eager to read what happened next and enjoyed reading about her time in the intermediate settlement, even though it wasn't directly answering the bigger storyline. I think I just felt a sense of disappointment that the three books that followed from The Giver didn't feel like part of the original thought behind that world, but a business decision tapping into some current trends.
September 2, 2012
Spellbinding Conclusion to "The Giver"
Almost twenty years after "The Giver", Lois Lowry offers up the story's conclusion in "Son" (aptly named). The story begins with Claire, a girl of fourteen who lives in the same Community as Jonas (from "The Giver"). At her Ceremony of Twelve Clarie is given her assignment, Birthmother. But during the birthing something goes wrong and while both Claire and the child (product number 36) are spared, Claire is reassigned. Yet even in her new job, Claire cannot stop thinking about her child, the child that she wasn't allowed to keep or even see. Soon Claire makes the decision to stop at nothing in order to find her child. A decision that will test her endurance, her will, and her commitment, as well as the gracious benevolence and unbounded love of others. A decision that will set her on a collision course with Jonas.
While "Son" may be considered part of "The Worlds of Lois Lowry" trilogy (now a quartet) it is unquestionably the conclusion to "The Giver" (thus making the two books a duo). It is absolutely not necessary for one to have read "Gathering Blue" or "The Messenger" to understand or enjoy this inspirational book. "Son" is beautifully written in Lowry's sing-song type of prose. It's easy to imagine a teller of tales recounting the story to a large audience as they cozy up in front of a roaring fire. The book is quite a bit longer than "The Giver" and is divided into three sections each spanning the length of one leg of Claire's journey. This is both appropriate and intelligent for it becomes a book within a book (which has its own beginning, middle, and end). If I had to complain about something, I would remark on my desire to have a longer book three (the third and final section in the novel). I felt as if it collapsed a little too quickly. However, that took little away from my overall experience. Is the book "better" or "as good as" "The Giver"? *Shrugs* I feel as though that is a rather inane question. Can anything really compete with something that has been idolized and held dear to so many for close to two decades? That's quite a lofty request to make. I will say, that after reading "Son" I can't imagine it ending any other way; and THAT says it all.
Almost twenty years after "The Giver", Lois Lowry offers up the story's conclusion in "Son" (aptly named). The story begins with Claire, a girl of fourteen who lives in the same Community as Jonas (from "The Giver"). At her Ceremony of Twelve Clarie is given her assignment, Birthmother. But during the birthing something goes wrong and while both Claire and the child (product number 36) are spared, Claire is reassigned. Yet even in her new job, Claire cannot stop thinking about her child, the child that she wasn't allowed to keep or even see. Soon Claire makes the decision to stop at nothing in order to find her child. A decision that will test her endurance, her will, and her commitment, as well as the gracious benevolence and unbounded love of others. A decision that will set her on a collision course with Jonas.
While "Son" may be considered part of "The Worlds of Lois Lowry" trilogy (now a quartet) it is unquestionably the conclusion to "The Giver" (thus making the two books a duo). It is absolutely not necessary for one to have read "Gathering Blue" or "The Messenger" to understand or enjoy this inspirational book. "Son" is beautifully written in Lowry's sing-song type of prose. It's easy to imagine a teller of tales recounting the story to a large audience as they cozy up in front of a roaring fire. The book is quite a bit longer than "The Giver" and is divided into three sections each spanning the length of one leg of Claire's journey. This is both appropriate and intelligent for it becomes a book within a book (which has its own beginning, middle, and end). If I had to complain about something, I would remark on my desire to have a longer book three (the third and final section in the novel). I felt as if it collapsed a little too quickly. However, that took little away from my overall experience. Is the book "better" or "as good as" "The Giver"? *Shrugs* I feel as though that is a rather inane question. Can anything really compete with something that has been idolized and held dear to so many for close to two decades? That's quite a lofty request to make. I will say, that after reading "Son" I can't imagine it ending any other way; and THAT says it all.
February 2, 2018
4 stars. THIS BOOK. ASDFHKSLFJAJSDS. DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SAY THAT I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE GIVER SERIES??? Like…years. YEARS, BRO. But I'm still not exactly sure I understand it 100% (lololol) which is why I'm not giving 5 stars here BUT! IT WAS SO GOOD. And the ending was amazing I was smiling so hard. :') OKAY LET'S MAKE A LIST BEFORE I RUN AWAY WITH MY EMOTIONS.
LOVELIES:
Everything?? HAHA SO MUCH FOR NOT RUNNING AWAY WITH MY EMOTIONS. This was a good book. It was the most unique of them all, and I was surprised by how invested I was in the story of Claire. And it circled all the way around to the beginning of the series which was AWESOME. I SO APPRECIATE STUFF LIKE THAT. This book also contains three separate "books" (or parts) which are all SUPER different from each other and I liked that element a lot even though there were some major time jumps that threw me off.
Character development was spot-on. JUST SPOT ON!! I loved watching Claire's character start off kind of oatmeal and then transform into deeply caring, empathetic, courageous heroine. It was so well done and not at all rushed. The story itself was just SUPER WELL TOLD. Anybody who knows me also knows that I'm a sucker for good storytelling, and well… Lois Lowry NAILED IT. The characters are all so real and human. It was also super cool to watch the story of THE GIVER sort of transpire off-screen through another character's eyes.
World building. WHEN IS LOWRY NOT GOOD AT WORLD BUILDING?? That's what I want to know, Rodney. Like I said before, all three "parts" in this book had TOTALLY DIFFERENT FLAVORS. Which I loved! The first was kind of cold and unfeeling, matching the vibe of the setting and the deeper meaning behind it; the second was vibrant and rustic, with some old Cornish influence (I dig it); and the last was wholesome and simple…perfect for the setting it matched. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE OK. IT WAS YUMMY.
Gaaaaaabe. MY BABY HE'S ALL GROWN UP. (Well, kind of. 14. Ahem.) He is a precious aggressive cinnamon roll of determination and I loved everything about him. (I also imagined him to look like Lucas Jade Zumann???? ANYBODY ELSE??) I also loved how he discovered his gift and it all tied in PERFECTLY with the ending. *screams into a pillow lest I spoil anything* GABE IS FLAWLESS OKAY.
Einar is also flawless. I SHIPPED HIM AND CLAIRE SO HARD AND GOT SO ANGRY WHEN THE PLOT DIDN'T DO WHAT I WANTED IT TO. Like… I know it couldn't have worked out. But how could anyone not love Einar??? He was a jaded broken blueberry waffle and sang with birds and took care of sheep and he was always so soft and kind and caring <3 UGH. I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH.
THE ENDING. THE ENDING WAS AMAZING. AND THERE WAS A PLOT TWIST THAT I LITERALLY NEVER SAW COMING AND IT WAS JUST SO GOOD I CAN'T PUT IT INTO WORDS EVEN TO SPOIL IT LOL JUST READ IT OKAY.
SQUABBLES:
I didn't get as much closure as I would have liked. I KNOW. NOW I'M JUST BEING PICKY. I understand that the world is different and futuristic but I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW EXACTLY THE HIGH TECH COMMUNITY IS SO HIGH TECH WHEN EVERYONE ELSE LIVES SO PRIMITIVE. And I also don't know where the high tech community is (geographically) in relation to everything else because THAT WHOLE SECTION OF THE BOOK WAS BLIPPED OUT OF CLAIRE'S MEMORY. HOW CONVENIENT. There was SOME closure…but nothing specific. And I guess this is personal preference but I LIKE SPECIFICS. Not a whole bunch of info-dumping, but…one or two sentences?? Just so I can sleep at night??? OH WELL. I'M HAPPY ANYWAY.
The beginning was a bit slow. This is a pretty long book. I may or may not have been peeking ahead in part one because I was WAITING for something to actually happen. It felt like a standalone?? Kind of? But we always know what's going on (unless you didn't read the first three books I guess) so idk I just felt like we could have cut to the chase a lot sooner. BUT HONESTLY THIS ISN'T A BIG DEAL.
All in all, I loved this series. Lowry's deep allegories and themes will forever exceed my expectations and leave me thinking for months after I've put the book back on the shelf. The characters are unforgettable, the story is timeless. SON is a beautiful conclusion to a triumph of a series. I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone. SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.
LOVELIES:
Everything?? HAHA SO MUCH FOR NOT RUNNING AWAY WITH MY EMOTIONS. This was a good book. It was the most unique of them all, and I was surprised by how invested I was in the story of Claire. And it circled all the way around to the beginning of the series which was AWESOME. I SO APPRECIATE STUFF LIKE THAT. This book also contains three separate "books" (or parts) which are all SUPER different from each other and I liked that element a lot even though there were some major time jumps that threw me off.
Character development was spot-on. JUST SPOT ON!! I loved watching Claire's character start off kind of oatmeal and then transform into deeply caring, empathetic, courageous heroine. It was so well done and not at all rushed. The story itself was just SUPER WELL TOLD. Anybody who knows me also knows that I'm a sucker for good storytelling, and well… Lois Lowry NAILED IT. The characters are all so real and human. It was also super cool to watch the story of THE GIVER sort of transpire off-screen through another character's eyes.
World building. WHEN IS LOWRY NOT GOOD AT WORLD BUILDING?? That's what I want to know, Rodney. Like I said before, all three "parts" in this book had TOTALLY DIFFERENT FLAVORS. Which I loved! The first was kind of cold and unfeeling, matching the vibe of the setting and the deeper meaning behind it; the second was vibrant and rustic, with some old Cornish influence (I dig it); and the last was wholesome and simple…perfect for the setting it matched. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE OK. IT WAS YUMMY.
Gaaaaaabe. MY BABY HE'S ALL GROWN UP. (Well, kind of. 14. Ahem.) He is a precious aggressive cinnamon roll of determination and I loved everything about him. (I also imagined him to look like Lucas Jade Zumann???? ANYBODY ELSE??) I also loved how he discovered his gift and it all tied in PERFECTLY with the ending. *screams into a pillow lest I spoil anything* GABE IS FLAWLESS OKAY.
Einar is also flawless. I SHIPPED HIM AND CLAIRE SO HARD AND GOT SO ANGRY WHEN THE PLOT DIDN'T DO WHAT I WANTED IT TO. Like… I know it couldn't have worked out. But how could anyone not love Einar??? He was a jaded broken blueberry waffle and sang with birds and took care of sheep and he was always so soft and kind and caring <3 UGH. I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH.
THE ENDING. THE ENDING WAS AMAZING. AND THERE WAS A PLOT TWIST THAT I LITERALLY NEVER SAW COMING AND IT WAS JUST SO GOOD I CAN'T PUT IT INTO WORDS EVEN TO SPOIL IT LOL JUST READ IT OKAY.
SQUABBLES:
I didn't get as much closure as I would have liked. I KNOW. NOW I'M JUST BEING PICKY. I understand that the world is different and futuristic but I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW EXACTLY THE HIGH TECH COMMUNITY IS SO HIGH TECH WHEN EVERYONE ELSE LIVES SO PRIMITIVE. And I also don't know where the high tech community is (geographically) in relation to everything else because THAT WHOLE SECTION OF THE BOOK WAS BLIPPED OUT OF CLAIRE'S MEMORY. HOW CONVENIENT. There was SOME closure…but nothing specific. And I guess this is personal preference but I LIKE SPECIFICS. Not a whole bunch of info-dumping, but…one or two sentences?? Just so I can sleep at night??? OH WELL. I'M HAPPY ANYWAY.
The beginning was a bit slow. This is a pretty long book. I may or may not have been peeking ahead in part one because I was WAITING for something to actually happen. It felt like a standalone?? Kind of? But we always know what's going on (unless you didn't read the first three books I guess) so idk I just felt like we could have cut to the chase a lot sooner. BUT HONESTLY THIS ISN'T A BIG DEAL.
All in all, I loved this series. Lowry's deep allegories and themes will forever exceed my expectations and leave me thinking for months after I've put the book back on the shelf. The characters are unforgettable, the story is timeless. SON is a beautiful conclusion to a triumph of a series. I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone. SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.
August 18, 2013
I'm reasonably certain that Lois Lowry wrote this after overhearing two potheads discussing their great philosophical ideas from inside a massive cloud of smoke.
-What if evil was, like, a dude?
-If you could trade, like, 40 years of your life for anything you wanted, would you do it?
-Oh dude, I think I can actually feel inside your brain. Like I can feel your thoughts, dude.
-I bet a dude who was, like, really evil would smell evil.
-I could beat that evil dude with just good thoughts, man. Good vibes.
-My mom is creeping me out, dude.
-I got so high last week, I tried to climb the rock wall and fell and almost broke my legs.
-We should go to the pet store and get a bird, man. A cool bird.
-Babies are like biology factory products. We're all just machines that make themselves, man. If you could take a pill to, like, remove all your emotions, that's how you'd see it. Just products, dude.
-I bet everyone really, deep down, has some sort of superpower. Most people haven't discovered theirs yet, though.
-What if, like, we couldn't see colors? But then one guy could see colors. That guy would be fucked up.
-Fish are cool.
-What if evil was, like, a dude?
-If you could trade, like, 40 years of your life for anything you wanted, would you do it?
-Oh dude, I think I can actually feel inside your brain. Like I can feel your thoughts, dude.
-I bet a dude who was, like, really evil would smell evil.
-I could beat that evil dude with just good thoughts, man. Good vibes.
-My mom is creeping me out, dude.
-I got so high last week, I tried to climb the rock wall and fell and almost broke my legs.
-We should go to the pet store and get a bird, man. A cool bird.
-Babies are like biology factory products. We're all just machines that make themselves, man. If you could take a pill to, like, remove all your emotions, that's how you'd see it. Just products, dude.
-I bet everyone really, deep down, has some sort of superpower. Most people haven't discovered theirs yet, though.
-What if, like, we couldn't see colors? But then one guy could see colors. That guy would be fucked up.
-Fish are cool.
February 12, 2024
The final book in the Giver quartet tried to pull all the themes from the previous books together into a viable conclusion, and it did somewhat. I found this wandering three part story to be tedious at best, the final ending a disappointment. I have enjoyed the entire quartet, the first book really grabbed me, but the remaining three worked somewhat. Only three stars for me, although there was some nice storytelling within at times.
February 2, 2024
3.5 stars ☆☆☆.5 (rounded down)
●The final installment and conclusion of The Giver series●
Achievement✔️I did it! I finished the whole series!
The book Son goes back to the roots of the first book The Giver and takes you back to the original community the series strayed so far away from in books 2 and 3.
The first 20% or so held my attention solidly because it was backtracking with a side story during the events of The Giver which was very well constructed. Claire is the main character of this story, and she has been assigned the role of birthmother in The Giver community. She is only 14 years old though when she gives birth! Yikes!
“Birthmothers provide our future population.”
Birthmothers birth the children for the community family units and give them up immediately for the nurturing center to prepare them to be assigned, but something goes wrong for Claire. Somehow, she has this strong desire to be with her son. And she won’t give up…
“More and more she despised her life: the dull routine of the job, the mindless conversation with her coworkers, the endless repetition of her days. She wanted only to be with the child, to feel the warm softness of his neck as he curled against her, to whisper to him and to sense how he listened happily to her voice.”
And then a turn of events: Claire becomes known as water Claire when she washes up in Village from the sea with no prior memories. Everything all starts to tie in as characters from all the books make an appearance to form a conclusion. Ultimately, this ends up being a story of a mother’s love and sacrifice.
My Overall Thoughts on the Series:
I really think the reason for the lower ratings for the 2nd and 3rd books, at least for me, was the fact that the setting changed. The original community in The Giver was so profoundly unique and bizarre and emotionally stimulating that changing the scenery led to this abrupt loss of power or identity. Had it remained within the same community, the complexity could have been further explored, possibly making this series more successful. I don’t regret finishing out the series because it still vaguely held my interest, but I still feel like it’s an achievement! I do appreciate Lois Lowry's attempt to go in different directions with this theme and explore other possible futuristic dystopian-type societies. I can imagine it was an interesting journey and concept to explore. But it just didn’t do it for me.
●The final installment and conclusion of The Giver series●
Achievement✔️I did it! I finished the whole series!
The book Son goes back to the roots of the first book The Giver and takes you back to the original community the series strayed so far away from in books 2 and 3.
The first 20% or so held my attention solidly because it was backtracking with a side story during the events of The Giver which was very well constructed. Claire is the main character of this story, and she has been assigned the role of birthmother in The Giver community. She is only 14 years old though when she gives birth! Yikes!
“Birthmothers provide our future population.”
Birthmothers birth the children for the community family units and give them up immediately for the nurturing center to prepare them to be assigned, but something goes wrong for Claire. Somehow, she has this strong desire to be with her son. And she won’t give up…
“More and more she despised her life: the dull routine of the job, the mindless conversation with her coworkers, the endless repetition of her days. She wanted only to be with the child, to feel the warm softness of his neck as he curled against her, to whisper to him and to sense how he listened happily to her voice.”
And then a turn of events: Claire becomes known as water Claire when she washes up in Village from the sea with no prior memories. Everything all starts to tie in as characters from all the books make an appearance to form a conclusion. Ultimately, this ends up being a story of a mother’s love and sacrifice.
My Overall Thoughts on the Series:
I really think the reason for the lower ratings for the 2nd and 3rd books, at least for me, was the fact that the setting changed. The original community in The Giver was so profoundly unique and bizarre and emotionally stimulating that changing the scenery led to this abrupt loss of power or identity. Had it remained within the same community, the complexity could have been further explored, possibly making this series more successful. I don’t regret finishing out the series because it still vaguely held my interest, but I still feel like it’s an achievement! I do appreciate Lois Lowry's attempt to go in different directions with this theme and explore other possible futuristic dystopian-type societies. I can imagine it was an interesting journey and concept to explore. But it just didn’t do it for me.
July 20, 2017
Let me be frank. These books got super weird.
As mentioned in my review of book three, The Giver (book 1) was a fast favorite for me because I read it when I was much younger, and it kind of helped transition me into more adult writing. Lots of real world themes, great characters, a convincing plot, and a truly touching story. The remaining books attempt to continue this story, beginning with the development of Kira, who lives in a Community that is extremely different from the one Jonas was raised in.
It is later discovered that after escaping his Community, Jonas starts a refuge called Village, which is the setting for book three, and partially book four. But the way that this is all explained and uncovered makes absolutely no sense.
This series is living proof that Lois Lowry was a one-hit wonder.
Let me try to explain what was so weird about these books. Jonas and Gabe, who escape the Community in book one, are not seen again until book three. And once we see them return in book three, we aren't directly told who they are until book four. I can handle that. That's okay.
But book four actually starts out where book one did. (weird)
And books two and three, as you'll find out at the end of this book, were completely pointless in comparison to the larger story that was happening. Like, they literally served no purpose at all. (annoying)
And after the disappointment of discovering that books two and three were pointless, we find out that the larger story that was happening is actually just really bad. Poorly developed plot, unconvincing characters and storyline, and one of the dumbest villains I've ever read about. (disappointing).
You'd expect that you'd learn more about the world as a whole, but you never do. The worldbuilding is basically non-existent. I wish I stopped at book one.
Continuing that thought about the villain in this story.... He is not even introduced until book three, and by book four, we're supposed to believe that he is the penultimate evil and author of all the suffering in these books. His name is the Trademaster. We are not told anything about him beyond that he trades things. Somebody might ask him for a boat, and he would take their honor in exchange. Somebody might ask him for their youth, and he would make them young again, but he would take their happiness.
How does he do these things? Nobody knows. It's just some magical ability that he has... Almost like Lois Lowry got tired of writing dystopian and wanted to turn this into fantasy at the last minute, and it doesn't work AT ALL.
Speaking of magical abilities, all of the main characters in this book gain mysterious magical abilities in book three. Why does this happen? Nobody knows. What purpose does it serve? None that I know of.
And all of this stuff works up to the ultimate defeat of the Trademaster, who we still know nothing about by the end, and NOTHING is done to explain the government behind the Communities.
Read something else. Only reason this got two stars is because Lowry's prose is quite good at times, and I did enjoy the main character in this book, but both of those things were drowned out by a torrent of negatives that rolled in the further I read. But at least I can cross one out on my incomplete series list =D.
As mentioned in my review of book three, The Giver (book 1) was a fast favorite for me because I read it when I was much younger, and it kind of helped transition me into more adult writing. Lots of real world themes, great characters, a convincing plot, and a truly touching story. The remaining books attempt to continue this story, beginning with the development of Kira, who lives in a Community that is extremely different from the one Jonas was raised in.
It is later discovered that after escaping his Community, Jonas starts a refuge called Village, which is the setting for book three, and partially book four. But the way that this is all explained and uncovered makes absolutely no sense.
This series is living proof that Lois Lowry was a one-hit wonder.
Let me try to explain what was so weird about these books. Jonas and Gabe, who escape the Community in book one, are not seen again until book three. And once we see them return in book three, we aren't directly told who they are until book four. I can handle that. That's okay.
But book four actually starts out where book one did. (weird)
And books two and three, as you'll find out at the end of this book, were completely pointless in comparison to the larger story that was happening. Like, they literally served no purpose at all. (annoying)
And after the disappointment of discovering that books two and three were pointless, we find out that the larger story that was happening is actually just really bad. Poorly developed plot, unconvincing characters and storyline, and one of the dumbest villains I've ever read about. (disappointing).
You'd expect that you'd learn more about the world as a whole, but you never do. The worldbuilding is basically non-existent. I wish I stopped at book one.
Continuing that thought about the villain in this story.... He is not even introduced until book three, and by book four, we're supposed to believe that he is the penultimate evil and author of all the suffering in these books. His name is the Trademaster. We are not told anything about him beyond that he trades things. Somebody might ask him for a boat, and he would take their honor in exchange. Somebody might ask him for their youth, and he would make them young again, but he would take their happiness.
How does he do these things? Nobody knows. It's just some magical ability that he has... Almost like Lois Lowry got tired of writing dystopian and wanted to turn this into fantasy at the last minute, and it doesn't work AT ALL.
Speaking of magical abilities, all of the main characters in this book gain mysterious magical abilities in book three. Why does this happen? Nobody knows. What purpose does it serve? None that I know of.
And all of this stuff works up to the ultimate defeat of the Trademaster, who we still know nothing about by the end, and NOTHING is done to explain the government behind the Communities.
Read something else. Only reason this got two stars is because Lowry's prose is quite good at times, and I did enjoy the main character in this book, but both of those things were drowned out by a torrent of negatives that rolled in the further I read. But at least I can cross one out on my incomplete series list =D.
December 28, 2012
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. "The Giver" is one of my all time favorites, the story was just so poignant, moving, and left so much room for independent thought and interpretation. I also enjoyed "Gathering Blue" and while I was sort of underwhelmed by "Messenger" I enjoyed seeing the three protagonists of the books come together to vanquish evil through the giving of one of their own lives. It satisfied me as an end to this loosely tied together trilogy and then this book comes out of nowhere and all I'm asking is "WHY?!"
Beware spoilers ahead
In conclusion this was a rather uninspired end to these stories. Personally, I will pretend this book doesn't exist.
Beware spoilers ahead
In conclusion this was a rather uninspired end to these stories. Personally, I will pretend this book doesn't exist.
December 16, 2018
I'm sorry, but this book could have been better. Like did we need the long scenes of Claire climbing? That could have been cut in half and left more room for the climax at the end which went by too fast. Really the Tradesmaster should have been built up more. I find this world confusing. Do you have the Communist Community? The place were everyone is an asshole, the place where everyone is very nice plus the place with people who seem to be Norwegian but everyone speaks the same language.
How do you just get rid of seasons and turn off of nature? Where do the fathers of these children come from? There are a lot of questions that aren't answered so other than characters popping up in earlier books, it really doesn't seem to take place in the same world.
So this could have been better. It started off OK, looking at the Community in the perspective of a young, powerless girl and a Birthmother no less who got to lose her child. But the part at the middle is rather dull. The ending happens too fast and there are things that could have been cut out to make the story better and tighter.
Also, I'm sorry, but there was NO REASON NOT TO TELL GABE THAT YOU'RE HIS MOTHER! AND he had a way of finding out! I hate when writers introduce some way of finding out all the answers and there is not a good reason for them to just do this. Like, Lyra had her Alethiameter. And when she didn't check it, she had a good reason like she couldn't see it, or her friend just didn't want to know behind taking a hot bath what was going to happen next. It made sense. But this kid has this power and doesn't use it. He's not about to lose it. He just fears it. Just once can't a person go, I have a POWER. WOOO WEE I'm going to use it. This would make more sense!
ALSO WHY DID SHE KILL THOSE POOR BABY GULLS?!?!?!? AUGH!
This book could have been so MUCH BETTER! GAAAAAH!
12/15/18
Having read this book again I hate it even more. It needs like 5 rewrites an an editor. Fanfiction is better than this. Ugh.
How do you just get rid of seasons and turn off of nature? Where do the fathers of these children come from? There are a lot of questions that aren't answered so other than characters popping up in earlier books, it really doesn't seem to take place in the same world.
So this could have been better. It started off OK, looking at the Community in the perspective of a young, powerless girl and a Birthmother no less who got to lose her child. But the part at the middle is rather dull. The ending happens too fast and there are things that could have been cut out to make the story better and tighter.
Also, I'm sorry, but there was NO REASON NOT TO TELL GABE THAT YOU'RE HIS MOTHER! AND he had a way of finding out! I hate when writers introduce some way of finding out all the answers and there is not a good reason for them to just do this. Like, Lyra had her Alethiameter. And when she didn't check it, she had a good reason like she couldn't see it, or her friend just didn't want to know behind taking a hot bath what was going to happen next. It made sense. But this kid has this power and doesn't use it. He's not about to lose it. He just fears it. Just once can't a person go, I have a POWER. WOOO WEE I'm going to use it. This would make more sense!
ALSO WHY DID SHE KILL THOSE POOR BABY GULLS?!?!?!? AUGH!
This book could have been so MUCH BETTER! GAAAAAH!
12/15/18
Having read this book again I hate it even more. It needs like 5 rewrites an an editor. Fanfiction is better than this. Ugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2012
Son opens with a captivating scene of a girl, referred to by her watchers as a Vessel, being blindfolded before ‘the process’ begins. The process is birth and the girl is Claire, a first-time Birthmother. She has been told little about ‘the process,’ but becomes even more confused as things get complicated and ‘the product’ (the baby) has to be surgically removed. After the process Claire is reassigned, but she can’t stop thinking about her baby. She finds a way into the Nurturing Centre, where all the babies are kept until ready to be assigned to family units. Claire finds her child and from that moment forward her live changes.
Her child, of course, is Gabe, the baby who comes to live with Jonas’ family in The Giver.
The book is divided into three distinct parts. Part one happens simultaneously as The Giver, only we are experiencing the story through the very limited and unaware perspective of Gabe’s mother, Claire. Part two takes place in another community, where Claire struggles to regain both memory and strength before she is able to continue to search for her son. Part three takes place some years later in a third community that has achieved relative peace, with the exception of a dark force known as The Tradesman who stands between Claire and her son.
Each section felt like a complete novella. The middle section reminded me of classic historical fiction that takes place in fishing villages or small hunter-gather communities. It is here we meet my favourite character, Einar. He is the strong, silent type, crippled from a meeting with The Tradesman (a truly horrific and frightening creature). Einar is a gentle soul who trains Claire for her dangerous climb out of the village. Their love story is unusual and unrequited and beautifully rendered.
Like many other final books in series, Son dips into philosophical waters and Lowry makes eloquent statements about desire versus love, service versus sacrifice, and destiny. This often divides readers. Some people get caught up in the concept, story, and world-building of the first book in a series and are unsettled when the final book rocks the boat in terms of spirituality or social commentary. (Think of The Amber Spyglass, Mockingjay, and to some extent, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows). Fortunately, Lowry’s great strength is her subtlety. The book is simultaneously sophisticated and accessible. Like a well-written fable, it appeals to all readers, regardless of age, though I do think some of the themes will resonate more deeply with readers who have read the previous books in the series and are in that 11+ range. The whole book is a great display of craftsmanship, but some paragraphs (the final one in particular) moved me to tears. Her language is full-bodied: rounded, sharp, salty. I would love to have this book read aloud to me.
Her child, of course, is Gabe, the baby who comes to live with Jonas’ family in The Giver.
The book is divided into three distinct parts. Part one happens simultaneously as The Giver, only we are experiencing the story through the very limited and unaware perspective of Gabe’s mother, Claire. Part two takes place in another community, where Claire struggles to regain both memory and strength before she is able to continue to search for her son. Part three takes place some years later in a third community that has achieved relative peace, with the exception of a dark force known as The Tradesman who stands between Claire and her son.
Each section felt like a complete novella. The middle section reminded me of classic historical fiction that takes place in fishing villages or small hunter-gather communities. It is here we meet my favourite character, Einar. He is the strong, silent type, crippled from a meeting with The Tradesman (a truly horrific and frightening creature). Einar is a gentle soul who trains Claire for her dangerous climb out of the village. Their love story is unusual and unrequited and beautifully rendered.
Like many other final books in series, Son dips into philosophical waters and Lowry makes eloquent statements about desire versus love, service versus sacrifice, and destiny. This often divides readers. Some people get caught up in the concept, story, and world-building of the first book in a series and are unsettled when the final book rocks the boat in terms of spirituality or social commentary. (Think of The Amber Spyglass, Mockingjay, and to some extent, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows). Fortunately, Lowry’s great strength is her subtlety. The book is simultaneously sophisticated and accessible. Like a well-written fable, it appeals to all readers, regardless of age, though I do think some of the themes will resonate more deeply with readers who have read the previous books in the series and are in that 11+ range. The whole book is a great display of craftsmanship, but some paragraphs (the final one in particular) moved me to tears. Her language is full-bodied: rounded, sharp, salty. I would love to have this book read aloud to me.
March 13, 2013
I think my rating is a bit of an emotional one, rather than strictly rational. If I stop and think/critique SON, there are things I didn't understand or care for ... but as soon as I picked up the book, I was immediately captivated and couldn't put it down. And as I finished it, I think back on it fondly *Ü*
The book is divided into three parts .. Before, Between and Beyond. Part 1 takes you right back to The Giver. Back to the community, with Jonas. You get to see the same things from another perspective, from Claire, a birthmother... and if you hadn't guessed already, there is a very strong connection to a beloved character in the first book. It's a unique experience reading about events when you already know what is coming up.
The second portion of the book (Between) is ok. It's interesting again to be reminded of the things the "community" lacked, as Claire is introduced (as Jonas was) to such things as color and music ... and seasons, mountains, pets.
The third portion of the book (Beyond) ... EVERYTHING comes together. I hope you've read Gathering Blue and Messenger, as we see many of those characters again, including ... THE TRADEMASTER (evil music playing in the background).
Like I said, I HAD to keep going, had to reach the conclusion of not only the book, but the series. Again, as mentioned before (and I mentioned in reviews of the other books), if you really stop and think about certain things, there are portions that don't really make sense and leave you wondering. And while many questions are answered, there are still many things left up to the reader to ponder.
I feel lucky that I didn't discover this series until recently, and was able to read all four books close together, as I know they were actually written years and years apart.
The book is divided into three parts .. Before, Between and Beyond. Part 1 takes you right back to The Giver. Back to the community, with Jonas. You get to see the same things from another perspective, from Claire, a birthmother... and if you hadn't guessed already, there is a very strong connection to a beloved character in the first book. It's a unique experience reading about events when you already know what is coming up.
The second portion of the book (Between) is ok. It's interesting again to be reminded of the things the "community" lacked, as Claire is introduced (as Jonas was) to such things as color and music ... and seasons, mountains, pets.
The third portion of the book (Beyond) ... EVERYTHING comes together. I hope you've read Gathering Blue and Messenger, as we see many of those characters again, including ... THE TRADEMASTER (evil music playing in the background).
Like I said, I HAD to keep going, had to reach the conclusion of not only the book, but the series. Again, as mentioned before (and I mentioned in reviews of the other books), if you really stop and think about certain things, there are portions that don't really make sense and leave you wondering. And while many questions are answered, there are still many things left up to the reader to ponder.
I feel lucky that I didn't discover this series until recently, and was able to read all four books close together, as I know they were actually written years and years apart.
December 11, 2015
This was a good end to the series, and my favourite book of the series too. I liked that things finally came together, I liked how things from the previous books that I hadn’t understood were finally explained, and I liked that we got a kind-of happy ending!
6.5 out of 10
6.5 out of 10
November 23, 2012
What a disappointment! "Son" is divided into three parts: Before, Between, and Beyond. The first part started off really exciting. We were back in The Giver’s community, now through the eyes of Claire, contemporaneous of Jonas. Claire is the mother of the baby Gabe, with whom Jonas had fled the community. As soon as Claire finds out that Jonas has left the community with Gabe, Claire escapes too, aboard a boat, which ends up wrecking during a storm. Claire is rescued by some fishermen of a remote, isolated village.
The second part is completely unnecessary. It is about the seven years Claire spends in this remote village, slowly recovering all her memory lost in the shipwreck.
The third part is where Claire is expected to find her son, but it becomes weird, with supernatural elements, the devil dressed as a human, etc. Claire makes a deal with the devil, and trades her youth with her wish to find her son. Now all of a sudden, young, beautiful Claire turns into a very old lady (reminded me of Miyazaki’s Howls Moving Castle). I just couldn't believe what I was reading. "The Giver" is a very good book, which left me and so many readers wondering if Jonas and Gabe had ever made it or not. Lois Lowry should have left it there.
The second part is completely unnecessary. It is about the seven years Claire spends in this remote village, slowly recovering all her memory lost in the shipwreck.
The third part is where Claire is expected to find her son, but it becomes weird, with supernatural elements, the devil dressed as a human, etc. Claire makes a deal with the devil, and trades her youth with her wish to find her son. Now all of a sudden, young, beautiful Claire turns into a very old lady (reminded me of Miyazaki’s Howls Moving Castle). I just couldn't believe what I was reading. "The Giver" is a very good book, which left me and so many readers wondering if Jonas and Gabe had ever made it or not. Lois Lowry should have left it there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2015
I am glad this was a satisfying conclusion to this series (I sometimes wondered if it would be satisfying in the end). As a whole, this series had many highs and many lows. In the end, I was pleased with the resolution.
Son was divided into 3 books - here is a quick review of each:
Book 1 - 5 stars
This was an interesting return to the world of The Giver. I was very drawn in by Clare's story and her yearning for her son - I think having kids myself helped me connect to this part.
Book 2 - 2 Stars
Filler - this was the longest and most boring part of the book. It does tie the beginning to the end, but it was a painfully boring transition.
Book 3 - 4 Stars
A good ending tying all of the previous storylines from all the books together. I wondered several times throughout the series if we would get where everything interconnected, but this was it.
If you have read the previous three, you should read this one (if you can make it through the middle!)
Son was divided into 3 books - here is a quick review of each:
Book 1 - 5 stars
This was an interesting return to the world of The Giver. I was very drawn in by Clare's story and her yearning for her son - I think having kids myself helped me connect to this part.
Book 2 - 2 Stars
Filler - this was the longest and most boring part of the book. It does tie the beginning to the end, but it was a painfully boring transition.
Book 3 - 4 Stars
A good ending tying all of the previous storylines from all the books together. I wondered several times throughout the series if we would get where everything interconnected, but this was it.
If you have read the previous three, you should read this one (if you can make it through the middle!)
June 21, 2017
I wish the connections were deeper to all the stories, but it was a nice end to this quartet. See 'The Giver', it's a great movie..
February 2, 2013
Son brings us back to the original community we read about in The Giver, and tells us the story from the perspective of Water Claire and ties up the questions about the place where Jonas and Gabe were born.
Everyone in the community is assigned a ‘job’ at the age of 13. Claire was given the job of Vessel. ‘Vessels’ carried ‘Products’ (um, babies) and at 14 Claire produced her one and only product in the form of a Son. There was an issue with the birth and she was relieved of her vessel duties, but she never forgot about her son and was determined to find him at any cost.
I loved The Giver, and really enjoyed the Messenger and The Gathering Blue, so I was very pleased to find out there would be a final chapter in the story. I thought Son delivered nicely upon my expectations. I also have to say that I really like Lois Lowry’s style of writing, everything I’ve read of hers is a bit hard to describe, dreamlike would be the closest I could come.
“It be better, I think, to climb out in search of something, instead of hating, what you're leaving.”
Everyone in the community is assigned a ‘job’ at the age of 13. Claire was given the job of Vessel. ‘Vessels’ carried ‘Products’ (um, babies) and at 14 Claire produced her one and only product in the form of a Son. There was an issue with the birth and she was relieved of her vessel duties, but she never forgot about her son and was determined to find him at any cost.
I loved The Giver, and really enjoyed the Messenger and The Gathering Blue, so I was very pleased to find out there would be a final chapter in the story. I thought Son delivered nicely upon my expectations. I also have to say that I really like Lois Lowry’s style of writing, everything I’ve read of hers is a bit hard to describe, dreamlike would be the closest I could come.
“It be better, I think, to climb out in search of something, instead of hating, what you're leaving.”
December 5, 2019
The Finale
In Son, Lowry returns to the original socialist village from whence Jonas came and traces the story of Claire, who was also in the Village. Claire was a fourteen year old birthmother, who lived in the birthmother’s house and was tasked with producing products (babies) for the nursery to then be distributed to families who qualified for another child. Claire gives birth to a son and longs to rescue him, but her son, Gabe, is taken by Jonas on his sled to a new world. This is Claire’s painful story and the moral choices she makes.
At its best, Son shines (no pun intended) in book one where Claire shows what life is like stripped of actual parents and strong familial connections and what it looks like when procreation is merely a job, divorced from love, family, and future.
The story of Claire’s eventual reunification with Gabe in book three takes a long time to tell and is perhaps far longer than it needed to be, particularly in the telling of the lost years when Claire didn’t know where she came from or what happened.
In Son, Lowry returns to the original socialist village from whence Jonas came and traces the story of Claire, who was also in the Village. Claire was a fourteen year old birthmother, who lived in the birthmother’s house and was tasked with producing products (babies) for the nursery to then be distributed to families who qualified for another child. Claire gives birth to a son and longs to rescue him, but her son, Gabe, is taken by Jonas on his sled to a new world. This is Claire’s painful story and the moral choices she makes.
At its best, Son shines (no pun intended) in book one where Claire shows what life is like stripped of actual parents and strong familial connections and what it looks like when procreation is merely a job, divorced from love, family, and future.
The story of Claire’s eventual reunification with Gabe in book three takes a long time to tell and is perhaps far longer than it needed to be, particularly in the telling of the lost years when Claire didn’t know where she came from or what happened.
March 7, 2016
***Some plot points mentioned throughout, and many spoilers for the Giver, but no major surprises from the Son are revealed (hint, there aren’t exactly any surprises in this book, period).***
The Giver books have gotten steadily worse. The first is obviously amazing, Gathering Blue is quite good, the Messenger is a better-than-average YA book. Then we have Son, which is what you get when you put cow manure in a firework and toss a match. Shit. Shit everywhere. I’m blinded by the shit.
I am genuinely convinced someone else wrote this book and pawned it off under Lowry’s name somehow. There is no fucking way the same person who wrote the Giver almost 20 years ago wrote this. I refuse to accept it.
Issues:
1) Pacing. Lowry just skips over some things in a freakishly rushed way (at one point she’s basically “Claire realized Jonas had left. The next few hours were pretty cray cray. She got on the boat that was parked in the river and the boat chef for some reason welcomes this complete stranger and gives her a hug and let her come with them and they sail away.” I could have used more than like, two sentences for how exactly that happened.) Other things she draws out obscenely. We get it. Claire exercised. Please stop telling us that over and over for thirty pages. We also get that Claire climbed a cliff. Considering nothing eventful happened on said climb, did we need yet another thirty pages to describe it? I know what a rock looks like, thanks. Where the fuck is the editor who approved this? They should be dragged out into the street and shot.
2) These people don’t act in reasonable ways. Jonas, you fucking loon, the Giver didn’t refuse to come with you because he thought “it was a journey you needed to do on your own.” The fuck is that supposed to mean? No, he didn’t come with you because after you left, your memories would go to all the people in the community and the Giver had to stay to help them deal.
(BY THE WAY why doesn’t Claire talk about this? I know she leaves the day after Jonas does, but the memories were supposed to come back immediately— they did when Rosemary died. Claire doesn’t receive any of Jonas’s memories. K. Love the consistency).
Jonas, the Giver didn’t just stay behind to teach you a fucking lesson. He’s not a sadist. So don’t give me that crap when you send Gabe out to find the Trademaster alone. Jonas even says himself that “Trademaster was so inhuman, so dangerous. So evil. And Gabe was so young and vulnerable.” YES. Do you hear what you’re saying? You don’t let a young boy that you love go into danger, facing off a force that you yourself has described as “pure Evil” (you used an actual capital E, I’m not making his up) just to “find his own strengths” and “face his own fears.” Please stop talking.
Continuing with the “these people are so stupid they deserve Darwin Awards” thread: Claire. Admittedly, she was selected to be a Birthmother, so maybe we’re supposed to think she’s pretty dim, but my God. So there are two ways out of the little village she stays in after she leaves her community: the ocean, and the cliff. The ocean is objectively safer; we know this because everyone sensible tells Claire she should go by ocean. But no, she’d rather risk her life climbing an incredibly steep cliff, at the top of which she already knows a mysterious evil wizard-sorcerer with a history of crippling people by cutting off their feet is waiting for her. Why would she rather do this? Why won’t she go by ocean?
Because she just won’t, that’s why.
ARGHHHH.
3) Impressive lack of characterization and/or character arcs. Those who are recurring characters, like Jonas and Kira, are but pale generic wisps of their former selves. Quite frankly I can’t tell any of the characters apart. And our main character, Claire, just doesn’t make sense. She’s a perfectly law-abiding citizen one day and the next she’s… not? Without any provocation? Let me give you an example: “[Lying was] against the rules. She knew that. Once, she would have cared. Now she didn’t. As simple as that.”
Okay, what? Nothing has made her change so far. She’s going to violate one of the most serious rules of the community (that she’s been brainwashed by all her life) without preamble or explanation, and it’s “as simple as that”? I’m going to need a little more here, Lois.
4) Lack of consistency, especially regarding the community Jonas, Gabe, and Claire came from. I struggle to conceive of it as the same community as the one we saw in the Giver. Will I get some ironic giggles if I use the word “colourless” to describe it? Somehow the world-building lost depth, rather than gained it. Didn’t know that was possible.
Language is all wrong. Among other things, Claire refers to the baby she gives birth to as “her son.” Claire’s only understanding of “son” would be an adopted son. It’s very clear that Birthmothers are not mothers to their children. The “Product” as they call it, would have no connection to the word “son,” which in their word means “the boy who was assigned to be raised by your family unit.” So her use of this word annoyed me. She also uses the word "suit" to describe what the Trademaster is wearing. The community she and Jonas are from, everyone wears tunics. Are you telling me that these unbelievably isolated 16th-century-level villagers are wearing three-piece suits? This is not a word you would know.
I’m also curious by the fact that a Twelve picked to become an engineer studies, among the other sciences, *astrophysics.* This community sending rockets into space? They don’t even let their citizens cross the river. And they don’t exactly seem the “knowledge for knowledge’s sake” type, do they?
And the fact that Claire doesn’t know/has forgotten that everyone was designated a number at their birth? This makes zero sense. Jonas made it clear that it was VERY well known, and part and parcel of their daily lives as children.
And they talk about mammals freely- but in the Giver, we’re told that nobody knows what the word “animals” is, or that such things really existed, once.
Also in the Giver, discussing differences was the height of rudeness, but Jonas’s father calls baby Gabe “special” like it’s a compliment.
I could go on and on, but basically the whole vibe is off.
Sigh. Oh, Lois. If we’re going to write sequels to the book we wrote nineteen years ago, perhaps we should reread said book before attempting it?
The Giver books have gotten steadily worse. The first is obviously amazing, Gathering Blue is quite good, the Messenger is a better-than-average YA book. Then we have Son, which is what you get when you put cow manure in a firework and toss a match. Shit. Shit everywhere. I’m blinded by the shit.
I am genuinely convinced someone else wrote this book and pawned it off under Lowry’s name somehow. There is no fucking way the same person who wrote the Giver almost 20 years ago wrote this. I refuse to accept it.
Issues:
1) Pacing. Lowry just skips over some things in a freakishly rushed way (at one point she’s basically “Claire realized Jonas had left. The next few hours were pretty cray cray. She got on the boat that was parked in the river and the boat chef for some reason welcomes this complete stranger and gives her a hug and let her come with them and they sail away.” I could have used more than like, two sentences for how exactly that happened.) Other things she draws out obscenely. We get it. Claire exercised. Please stop telling us that over and over for thirty pages. We also get that Claire climbed a cliff. Considering nothing eventful happened on said climb, did we need yet another thirty pages to describe it? I know what a rock looks like, thanks. Where the fuck is the editor who approved this? They should be dragged out into the street and shot.
2) These people don’t act in reasonable ways. Jonas, you fucking loon, the Giver didn’t refuse to come with you because he thought “it was a journey you needed to do on your own.” The fuck is that supposed to mean? No, he didn’t come with you because after you left, your memories would go to all the people in the community and the Giver had to stay to help them deal.
(BY THE WAY why doesn’t Claire talk about this? I know she leaves the day after Jonas does, but the memories were supposed to come back immediately— they did when Rosemary died. Claire doesn’t receive any of Jonas’s memories. K. Love the consistency).
Jonas, the Giver didn’t just stay behind to teach you a fucking lesson. He’s not a sadist. So don’t give me that crap when you send Gabe out to find the Trademaster alone. Jonas even says himself that “Trademaster was so inhuman, so dangerous. So evil. And Gabe was so young and vulnerable.” YES. Do you hear what you’re saying? You don’t let a young boy that you love go into danger, facing off a force that you yourself has described as “pure Evil” (you used an actual capital E, I’m not making his up) just to “find his own strengths” and “face his own fears.” Please stop talking.
Continuing with the “these people are so stupid they deserve Darwin Awards” thread: Claire. Admittedly, she was selected to be a Birthmother, so maybe we’re supposed to think she’s pretty dim, but my God. So there are two ways out of the little village she stays in after she leaves her community: the ocean, and the cliff. The ocean is objectively safer; we know this because everyone sensible tells Claire she should go by ocean. But no, she’d rather risk her life climbing an incredibly steep cliff, at the top of which she already knows a mysterious evil wizard-sorcerer with a history of crippling people by cutting off their feet is waiting for her. Why would she rather do this? Why won’t she go by ocean?
Because she just won’t, that’s why.
ARGHHHH.
3) Impressive lack of characterization and/or character arcs. Those who are recurring characters, like Jonas and Kira, are but pale generic wisps of their former selves. Quite frankly I can’t tell any of the characters apart. And our main character, Claire, just doesn’t make sense. She’s a perfectly law-abiding citizen one day and the next she’s… not? Without any provocation? Let me give you an example: “[Lying was] against the rules. She knew that. Once, she would have cared. Now she didn’t. As simple as that.”
Okay, what? Nothing has made her change so far. She’s going to violate one of the most serious rules of the community (that she’s been brainwashed by all her life) without preamble or explanation, and it’s “as simple as that”? I’m going to need a little more here, Lois.
4) Lack of consistency, especially regarding the community Jonas, Gabe, and Claire came from. I struggle to conceive of it as the same community as the one we saw in the Giver. Will I get some ironic giggles if I use the word “colourless” to describe it? Somehow the world-building lost depth, rather than gained it. Didn’t know that was possible.
Language is all wrong. Among other things, Claire refers to the baby she gives birth to as “her son.” Claire’s only understanding of “son” would be an adopted son. It’s very clear that Birthmothers are not mothers to their children. The “Product” as they call it, would have no connection to the word “son,” which in their word means “the boy who was assigned to be raised by your family unit.” So her use of this word annoyed me. She also uses the word "suit" to describe what the Trademaster is wearing. The community she and Jonas are from, everyone wears tunics. Are you telling me that these unbelievably isolated 16th-century-level villagers are wearing three-piece suits? This is not a word you would know.
I’m also curious by the fact that a Twelve picked to become an engineer studies, among the other sciences, *astrophysics.* This community sending rockets into space? They don’t even let their citizens cross the river. And they don’t exactly seem the “knowledge for knowledge’s sake” type, do they?
And the fact that Claire doesn’t know/has forgotten that everyone was designated a number at their birth? This makes zero sense. Jonas made it clear that it was VERY well known, and part and parcel of their daily lives as children.
And they talk about mammals freely- but in the Giver, we’re told that nobody knows what the word “animals” is, or that such things really existed, once.
Also in the Giver, discussing differences was the height of rudeness, but Jonas’s father calls baby Gabe “special” like it’s a compliment.
I could go on and on, but basically the whole vibe is off.
Sigh. Oh, Lois. If we’re going to write sequels to the book we wrote nineteen years ago, perhaps we should reread said book before attempting it?
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