Book Review: The Giver Series

The Giver is a quartet which will have you hooked till you finish it.

This quartet series of 4 books is written by Lois Lowry. She has won several awards  including the John Newbery Media, Golden Kite Award for Fiction and several more. 

I started reading this book in 10th grade when the year began, on a recommendation from my teacher.  Initially, I just read the first part, The Giver, as I was unaware it was part of a series. Later when I was made aware, I excitedly took upon the task of finishing the series. I had decided that I would read all the books whether I liked it or not. And I must say, the time and effort I put into completing this series was most definitely worth it.

The series follows a few main characters Jonas,Kira,Matty and others in different types of world and we see what challenges they face and how each of them is able to sustain themselves.

The 4 parts have the following titles

1.The Giver

2.Gathering Blue

3.Messenger

4.Son

Just imagine a world that has a set of rules for you to follow through your life journey. Or can you imagine being assigned jobs,partners or even children? If such a choiceless world seems unimaginable, this series can give you just the idea. I honestly wondered, how cruel or even sustainable such a world was?

Lowry has a gift for writing simply. Reading her books, I’m reminded that to be a good writer, one doesn’t need to crowd the page with adjectives. Sometimes her simplest passages are the most moving.Another thing I appreciate about The Giver quartet is that they present several visions of societies that have somehow gone wrong, but which are ultimately solved by human compassion.  

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My personal favorite is the first part (The Giver) as it can be read as an individual book and you can interpret your own ending. Alternatively, you can also choose to continue  the series and find out what happens. But I highly recommend that if you decide to read it , read all the parts of the book.

I don’t think I can relate to what the characters might have gone through,but I am most definitely more awakened to the realities of the world around us.Reading this book, I realised how much small and big things matter. 

I am really happy I could enjoy my moments reading this series and if this review has intrigued you even a little bit, I think you will enjoy The Giver series. 

Avnika Singh

Std. X (2023-24)

The Giver Quartet

Written by Lois Lowry 

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

This book is available in the school library.