Mini-Review/Recommendation: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1)
by Lois Lowry

Published January 24th 2006 by Ember (first published 1993)

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

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Genre: Classics, Dystopia

Publication Date: January 24th, 2006

Publisher: Ember

Format: Paperback, 179 pages 

Series: Technically yes, but can be read as a stand-alone

Source: My own copy

My Review:

As most of you know, I have contracted the Dystopian fever last year, and, as of yet, it still remains uncured. So when I heard so many good things about this 'new classic', I thought, 'why not?'. I was a bit apprehensive to choose a 'classic', because they always sound like very boring difficult readings, but not this one. Not at ALL. Well, this IS a children's book... but the issues dealt within are very adult. That's for sure.

The Giver is a short, sweet, creepy and enticing book. There are no more than 179 pages, but the story is so well-written, the characters are so well developed, and the plot is so easy to get lost into, that you can barely believe that so much has fit into such a small number of pages! And, of course, it leaves you wanting more. Much more. I loved it, but I would have been even more content if the book was just a tad bit longer, showing what happened to the village and what really came to happen at the end. I don't like 'open endings' like this one had, but I hear the other books will explain a couple of things, so I'll just have to look for them. :)

So, the big deal here was: I have read a LOT of dystopians, and I have always thought of how creative they were... well, as it turns out, (in my opinion, at least), most of them must have been somehow inspired by Lois Lowry's world, because the similarities with some titles are uncanny. I won't list them here, because, really, who am I to accuse others? What I mean to say is: once you've read this one... you'll know what I mean.

Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden

by Tabitha Suzuma 

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister. 

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

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My Review
 


Many people liked this book. I didn't so much. It literally ruined my day. It made me so, so depressed and heartbroken. I gave it 3 stars because the writing was great, the story was creative, the characters clearly had soul and content, but if I had to go with my heart I'd give it a 1.
 
The first 160 pages were hell to go through. Lochan Whitely was not a likeable character. I'm sorry, but I couldn't grow to like him much. I felt sorry for him, sometimes cheered for him, but most of the time all I really wanted to do was give him a good shake. Or a slap.
 
He had an anxiety problem, a social phobia, and I get it. But that doesn't give him the right to be such a douche. He whined, he had too many outbursts (maybe becasue he held so much inside all the time?)... he was almost psychotic at times. And bipolar at others. Such a confusing character.

And he could be very mean to Myra, his older sister. Out of nowhere he would go and say something stupid or very hurtful. I have to admit it, he was a good brother. He deeply cared for his siblings, took very good care of them, he was a very promising student, had a good heart, he was attarctive and all... but I CAN'T forgive some very bad choices he made. I can't. I swear, I might hold a grudge against this character for the rest of my life.


Myra was kind. Almost too much. She would never fight or raise her voice, she wouldn't complain or stand up to her drunk, selfish, completely irresponsible and heartless mother. All for the good of keeping her siblings together and Child Service away. I can't even begin to fathom how she did it. I would have started going crazy very soon, had I been in her shoes.


That's one of the things I thought were very weird about this book. The hero, Lachan, was a walking pile of nerves, and the heroine, Maya, sometimes came out a bit... numb. They do grow noticeably in the book, though. Lachan starts coming out his shell, Maya starts yelling at him a bit (LOL), finally speaking her mind.


They share a beautiful, if forbidden and dangerous, love. We start cheering for them madly... things start to look good and then BAM.


The book ends in a very sudden, dramatic way.

Ok, now a bit of of spoiler alert. (highlight to read). Maybe I was too naïve to expect a happy ending, but I certainly never thought it would be so tragic. Romeo and Juliet comes to mind. Why didn't they lock the fucking door? Argh! Not to mention, he was the only sibling with dark hair and different colored hair. And his sister was born so soon after him... I really thought maybe they weren't siblings after all. Or maybe had different fathers. Or something. But I definitely never saw THAT coming.


Like I said before, the beggining of this book was enough to make me (repeatedly) consider giving it up. But I bravely endured. LOL. And it payed off. The love scenes were beautiful, romantic, poetic, of very good taste. I never once thought: "They're siblings. That's gross.". I'm not sure if it's because I have no older, male siblings and can't understand, or if their love really was above all those stupid, prejudiced beliefs.

What I can say for sure is that the author didn't have to make it such a tragedy. It didn't have to be perfect, they didn't have to end up together, but things could have been different.

If you like your realist fiction as a young adult with romance, family problems, lots of drama and taboo relationships, try Forbidden.