"The Giver" by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Have I Read it Before: Many Times

I had originally planned on saving The Giver for late in the year since it is one of my all time favorite books. However, I just couldn't wait that long. So excuse me while I gush for a bit.

Everything in Jonas' world is perfect. No one has ever known pain, hunger, or suffering. Every single thing from food, to the jobs, to the families is carefully monitored and controlled, but as no one knows anything different, no one questions this. It's not until Jonas is selected as the new Receiver of Memory does he discover that the world was once a very different place and he becomes determined to find a way experience the world for what it could be and not just for what he has always known.

This book is simply brilliant. It is one that I have read many times since I was barely a teen. Each time I read it I get more insight both about Jonas' struggle but about how I see my own world (probably the only time you will see me get even slightly political on this blog, even though I'm not really doing so). This is a book that I strongly encourage everyone read and one people should try to read more than once. As much as the love the Quartet as a whole, I don't feel that the rest of the books are quite as strong as The Giver, but if you read this one, then you must finish the series (please don't be one of those people that argues with other readers because they haven't read Messenger and Son!). If you only read one book this year, make it The Giver (and if you have already read it, read it again!).

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Son" by Lois Lowry

I fail as a book blogger because I had no clue that Lois Lowry was releasing this novel!  It showed up at my library and it took me a second to fully grasp what I was holding in my hands.  I thought that Messenger was the conclusion to TheGiver series (though I did once think that about Gathering Blue.  Oh, and that The Giver was going to be a stand-alone novel.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if a fifth novel gets released).  Anyways, I picked this up and pretty much didn’t put it back down until I had finished it.  Even so, I have mixed emotions about this novel. 

It is broken up into three parts and I loved the first portion.  It opens with Claire giving birth to her first and what will become her only Son.  Though she was selected to be a birthmother, the birth goes wrong and her baby is delivered via c-section.  She is eventually reassigned to another job in the community.  Though she has never had a moment with her child, she cannot stop thinking about him and manages to begin volunteering at the nurturing center as a way to spend time with him.  When I started this book I assumed that Claire was Jonas’ mother (having forgotten that Gabe also had odd colored eyes) so it took me a little bit to get reacquainted with the story once I realized whose story I was reading.  If you have read The Giver, then you know that Jonas and Gabe leave the community.  So what happens to Claire?  That is the focus of the second portion of the book and the third focuses on Gabe as a young man (trying so hard not spoil anything here!).

I was really into the first section of the book.  It was really interesting to see the life of someone else in Jonas’ community.  But once I got through the first third of the book I began to lose interest.  I’m not sure if it was because it felt odd to be somewhere in this universe that I hadn’t visited before or if the rest of the novel was lacking some of the love and dedication I found in the first three novels.  I certainly felt like the last section of the book was very abrupt.  I got to spend so much time with Clair and baby Gabe but so little time with Gabe once he was an adult and even less time with the conclusion of the novel.  This book easily could have been longer.  It felt like that was far too much buildup for that short of an ending. 

Even though I feel this way, I have to recommend this book.  The Giver is one of those that I feel HAS to be on everyone’s reading lists.  I am stunned when I come across someone that hasn’t read this book.  The advantage of this is I then get to recommend it to them (whilst hopping up and down with excitement and stacking all three-now four- books into their arms).  If you have read any of the books in this quartet (and enjoyed them of course), then you really should finish out the series.  And you never know, this series may very well turn into a quintet.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Purity" by Jackson Pearce

I'm a little conflicted about this book.  I heard a lot of good things about it which is why I picked it up.  Maybe I was expecting something a little different (actually, I think I was expecting it to be similar to Kate Brian's The Virginity Club) but I found the story a little over the top but also a little bland.  

In Jackson Pearce's Purity, Shelby has been living her life on the edge ever since her mother passed away.  Before she passed, Shelby's mother made Shelby promise three things: 

1. To listen to her father
2. To love as much as possible
3.To live without restraint

These promises led to a list of life goals that include things such as traveling... and stealing a car.  She crosses things off this list with the help of her best friend, Jonas.  This part of the book makes total sense and is actually kind of sweet.  Shelby lives her life according to these promises and never does anything to potentially break them.  But then her father is put in charge of planning the town's Princess Ball and wants her to partake in the tradition of vowing to lead a pure life.  She now has to make a decision- which promise should she break?  She finally manages to find a loophole- she will lose her virginity before the ball.  The rest of the novel is dedicated to her search for a potential sex partner and the planning of the dance.

The first part of the novel is great.  It's wonderful to see that Shelby is so dedicated to her mother that she will do anything in her power to keep her promises.  However, I don't see how rushing to lose her virginity and trying to find some guy that she is more or less using helps to keep that promise.  Unless she had put on the list something along the lines of "have pre-marital sex" I don't see how taking the vow and following it would go against her mother's wishes.  Maybe I am putting to much thought into it, but I can't help but feel this way.  It almost felt like this was just an easy way to push the plot along.  This wasn't necessarily a bad novel, it just would have been better if I could read without thinking about how the plot could have been better.  It's a decent piece of chick lit that I don't regret reading but will likely not make it onto my list of books to reread..

Happy Reading!
-Melly