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The Giver by Lois Lowry MAG

By Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
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Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
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After reading The Giver, I was left confused and disappointed. It seemed as if it would be interesting, but you can't judge a book by its cover. The contents were dull and predictable. Quite honestly, I wouldn't recommend it to any reader seeking a fine piece of literature. It just doesn't suffice.

The Giver is about a young boy named Jonas. He resides in a futuristic society in which each citizen is assigned a job, a spouse, and children. The children are born to mothers who will never get to see them. Trying not to give anymore away, I will only say that Jonas is assigned an important job and is challenged with the release of an innocent child. Jonas is left with the option of leaving his home, job, and family to save the child, or facing the harsh reality of his community and job, and enduring the release of the child.

This book was dreadful. I became more and more dissatisfied with each page. It was a waste of time and hardly made sense. I'll admit, there were a few interesting lines, but far too few to continue reading after the first chapter. Although I finished it, I regret doing so. It was, by far, the worst book I've ever picked up. It proved to be mediocre, no better than what the average person could conceive. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

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This article has 588 comments.

SophieFloph PLATINUM said...
on Feb. 22 2015 at 11:39 pm
SophieFloph PLATINUM, Seattle, Washington
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The Giver was a REAL dystopian book. The most important thing for me in dystopian literature is to raise questions and The Giver did that. The problem with The Hunger Games and Divergent is that IT DIDN'T RAISE QUESTIONS AT ALL. I liked the Hunger Games and hated Divergent with a burning passion (sorry) but I was disappointed by both in that they didn't raise questions. They were barely dystopias. Well, they WERE dystopias, but all Divergent was for me was a romance (with dystopia in the background). YA dystopias these days are all "dystomances" and I HATE IT SO MUCH. What I like about The Giver is that it didn't have that. They put some in the movie, and even though it wasn't very true to the book I liked the movie because it raised lots of questions...Sorry, I got a little too into it. As you can probably tell, this is not the first time I've ranted about dystopias and the YA shelf of the library. Anyway.
AlejandroG said...
on Feb. 11 2015 at 6:14 pm
The giver is apart of a four piece set, she's broken them up.
AlejandroG BRONZE said...
on Feb. 11 2015 at 6:10 pm
AlejandroG BRONZE, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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That's great dude. I'm seeing all of these comments like "Bland book” etc. Like guys there are other books.
EllyApolloRose GOLD said...
on Feb. 11 2015 at 2:06 pm
EllyApolloRose GOLD, Washington, Pennsylvania
14 articles 18 photos 22 comments

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I do! I've read three of four, I have yet to read "Son".
annycs13 GOLD said...
on Feb. 9 2015 at 5:15 pm
annycs13 GOLD, Davis, California
12 articles 12 photos 13 comments

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&quot;The less you reveal, the more people can wonder..&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -Emma Watson

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In sixth grade my teacher made us rewrite the ending to the book because my whole class disliked it. It isn't a very good book, but the idea it conveys is very strong. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone as well, but I think that it's a very good display of a true dystopian world according to a dictionary's definition.
nishka9 BRONZE said...
on Jan. 30 2015 at 8:32 pm
nishka9 BRONZE, Santa Clara, California
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I believe it depends on when you read this novel. The new books such as Divergent and The Hunger Games really brought out the Dystopian novels, but Th GIver really satrted the trend and people gained interest in the dystopian genre.
AlejandroG BRONZE said...
on Jan. 29 2015 at 6:32 pm
AlejandroG BRONZE, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Does anyone know that this book is part of a four piece set?
Bookworm4610 said...
on Jan. 13 2015 at 6:41 pm
Bookworm4610, Thealka, Kentucky
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I agree..This was an EXTREMLY Bland book... it had no "Flavor"
NoniDoni GOLD said...
on Jan. 12 2015 at 8:41 pm
NoniDoni GOLD, Calabasas, California
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I loved the book and will agree to disagree with you!
HappyEmeal GOLD said...
on Dec. 31 2014 at 2:30 am
HappyEmeal GOLD, Lahore, Other
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I agree with you at some places. I liked the book, but it was dull and the end just left me confused. WHY WOULD LOIS DO THAT TO US? And the movie that came out this year is even worse. I agree at places with you, but I think it was an okay book.
anonymous said...
on Nov. 20 2014 at 9:28 am
I  read this book last year and I am in the 8th grade now, I for one Love the book but I love your opinion.  
GirlGenius SILVER said...
on Nov. 18 2014 at 4:31 pm
GirlGenius SILVER, Oakland, New Jersey
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I can't decide whether or not to read, "The Blood of Olympus." Can someone do a review on that?
Jonah Halbert GOLD said...
on Nov. 12 2014 at 10:01 am
Jonah Halbert GOLD, Booneville, Mississippi
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Well , I read The Giver in the 5 th grade , and I didn't see the point in it. The ending was good and heartfelt in my opinion , but the story just ......... sucks.
DistantNucleus said...
on Oct. 11 2014 at 10:29 pm
DistantNucleus, Sacramento, California
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I also agree. The Giver was a book I had to read in 7th grade. This book took the topic of "dystopia" and added a more modern and technological aspect. However, I do agree that the end felt disappointing. It was too big of a cliffhanger for me to handle... I believe the author did this so that we could imagine our own ending to the story. Maybe this is because Lowry couldn't decide on an ending herself, whether happy or sad.
beAWESOMEstayAWESOME BRONZE said...
on Sep. 26 2014 at 10:21 pm
beAWESOMEstayAWESOME BRONZE, New York City, New York
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Its too late! I already read it! But i liked your review. I felt the same way at the ending. 
kingofwriters BRONZE said...
on Aug. 8 2014 at 10:53 am
kingofwriters BRONZE, DeWitt, Michigan
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I can understand why you don't like this book. I don't think it was dreadful, but it certainly wasn't a masterpiece. The idea surrounding the book is admittedly very unique and interesting, but everything else was just bland. Not dreadful...just bland.
absband SILVER said...
on Aug. 3 2014 at 10:12 pm
absband SILVER, Newfane, New York
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I loved thisbook my class read and I was ahead and finished in at least one day. It was confusing then it got more understanding by the time I finished.
ConstanceContraire said...
on Jul. 1 2014 at 3:39 pm
Did you read all of the books in the series? They were all AMAZING :) My favorite was Son.
micky d said...
on Jun. 6 2014 at 5:20 pm
I just finished reading this book in school, and it was so good that I read the whole book by the time the class was still on like chapter 14. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read.
Jocospock SILVER said...
on May. 30 2014 at 10:03 am
Jocospock SILVER, Raleigh, North Carolina
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I disagree 100% I loved that book, I remember reading it years ago when I was in the sixth grade, and I loved the book so much that I bought it and reread it like a year ago. It's amazing, an absolute thrill to read. Fabulous peice of literature, and if you found it confusing; maybe you just didn't understand the general message. I want to reread it again. I think I shall.