Son discussion

I recently read this book. It was real emotional to me; Seeing the character development, and how Claire fell in love but had to leave, how everything tied together. I thought the over all theme of the book would be Love. Claire tried to find her son because she had something nobody else had, a true feeling of love, and so on, I won't spoil it. But, my librarian had said she was disappointed in the book, and thought if was to much of a coincidence that Jonas, Claire, Kira and Gabe all tied together. But I liked it. Your thoughts?

I really loved this book. I haven't read it in a while so I can't go into detail, but I rated it 5 stars, and I remember loving this book and this whole series. :)

This book couldn't have sucked more if Lowry wrote it in her sleep. The first third was ok as it explain the end of the Giver, and the last was fine as it gives closure, but what the HELL was the middle third about????????

I love this book, and this series. I have a very strong connection to it and its characters for whatever reason. I know that a lot of people disliked the ending of Son and from what I can see, that comes from two things - they did not like the good vs. evil analogy and they thought the ending was too concise and did not leave enough open for interpretation (whereas the Giver ended with the debate about Jonas' & Gabe's fate). Personally, and this is just a personal preference kind of thing but I much MUCH prefer answers, concise answers that make sense and kind of put you at peace with how things ended. Granted, the series did leave a lot of things unanswered (what happened to the Community that Jonas and Claire left behind???) but I really liked the way Son left things. It was beautiful, and the good vs evil thing was really powerful to me. And that Claire sacrificed everything...true love, a peaceful life as the next medicine lady on the island, and possibly her life and youth to find her son. That really meant a lot to me. I loved how the story prioritized different relationships over romantic love.

I'm just a sucker for a happy ending :-)

Son was also kind of more "adult" or mature or however you want to put it in my opinion. Whereas the Giver is common in middle school curriculum across the US (and is highly controversial in some areas) Son probably would never make that cut in terms of appropriateness. I remember at one point when Lame Elinar discusses how his father substituted him for his wife in ways too terrible to mention and things like that. The implication of sexual abuse is clear. Not to mention the whole birthing scene with Claire being strapped to a bed and blindfolded...honestly, I liked that it was a slightly darker book than the others. It was like the series was really growing up :)

Yes, I agree. The beginning few chapters were.... weird, to me. I wouldn't let a nine year old read that, even if they could get through the mild thickness of the book. I adored how Claire gave her YOUTH for Gabe. It shows the DEPTH of her love! Love is so powerfull, like in the ending chapter when Gabe is fighting the Tradesmaster, he wants to just hate him, knowing how many things he'd done and changed. But he thought of his love for others and their love for him.

I couldn't agree more with both points:) It is a tad disappointing that a kid would have trouble reading Son, because I remember in my class several kids expressed interest in reading any sequels to the Giver. At that time, of course, Son wasn't out, so they read Gathering Blue & Messenger and were anxiously awaiting another installment. So if there are any other current young children in the same position...I don't know if I would recommend the Son to them! But it's all give and take. I enjoyed the darker themes as an adult reader.

Claire is such an incredibly powerful character. She really suffers through an incredible amount all for the pursuit of a son she barely knows and is not even sure is still alive, for a chunk of the book. And then, even after all Claire has been through, she gives up her youth to see him again. And even after all that, you are so right, Gabe takes pity on the Trademaster. He feels bad for the devil. I can't imagine the sheer amount of empathy that would take, and I really admire that. Especially as it did not compromise, but strengthened his ability to destroy the Trademaster. Now THAT is a powerful ending. :-)

I agree with your statement about Claire. She has this burden she has to carry around from the time she's fourteen. She lives the next year or two with these feelings that she wasnt quite sure of at first. And later she risks everything to find this boy, her son. And the amount of love in this story is overwhelming. It's beautiful.

I read The Giver last year, and just recently read the other three in the quartet in a row. As a mother myself, I really loved "Son" and its profound message of love for a son she hardly knew. Claire was so brave and persistent that she endured the hard training with Einar. Her unrequited love story with him, a kind young man with such a painful past with all sorts of abuse unimaginable, was very poignant too. When Claire first started climbing, I had exactly the same what-if questions in my mind. She loved Einar and probably thought of staying with him, but her love for Gabe was even stronger.

That was why I felt incredibly sad for both Claire and Einar that she ended up being a dying old woman after the cruel trade. I was hoping that her trade would be reversed (wonder why it hadn't happened when the Mentor and the others got healed by Matty) so that she could reunite with Gabe. Then she could probably find Einar again. I felt so disappointed that such a well-developed character like Einar wasn't mentioned again after the climbing out. I mean Claire still remembered him when relating her past to Jonas, and Gabe used Einar's example to defeat the evil, but nothing about Einar was mentioned again. How I wish for an epilogue! Sigh

Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like three books in one! Loved it so much, i just wished Einar came back and Claire and they got married :)

Cierra and Alexa wrote: "Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like three books in one! Loved it so much, i just wished Einar came back and Claire and they got married :)"

Me too, especially about the pair Einar and Claire!! I don't like part 3 as much as parts 1 and 2 though because the final section seems rushed (or under-developed) to me.

YJ wrote: "Cierra and Alexa wrote: "Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like three books in one! Loved it so much, i just wished Einar came back and Claire and they got married :)"

Me too, especially about th..."




I agree, but i liked it because that is were Gabe and Claire met and everything unfolds.

That's true, Cierra and Alexa. That's why I like the book overall. It's just that after reading part 3, it left me a sense of wanting a lot more. It wasn't the closure I had expected for a long book like this. I still have questions in my head, like if Claire would go find Einar at all... he couldn't find her because he was crippled, or what had happened to Einar and Alys. In the beginning of Part 2 they mentioned the brief stay of Water Claire but nothing about Einar and Alys, only the guy Old Benedict. :(

YJ wrote: "That's true, Cierra and Alexa. That's why I like the book overall. It's just that after reading part 3, it left me a sense of wanting a lot more. It wasn't the closure I had expected for a long boo..."

True, but i also wanted to know about them. Did Gabe go live with Claire and how did he feel about her, and plenty more. I do agree about all of that, I just felt like she was rushing to get it over with, because at the beginning of the book it goes on and on and on. But at the end it felt just rushed.

Emily wrote: ""



Oh my gosh i love your gif!!! I love <3 David Tennat

Thank you, thank you. I hadn't really thought anyone was going to comment, and I was happy.