Having got a late start on The Giver, I decided to make up for lost time by reading the entire quartet. How beautifully wonderful it was! I don’t know what critics or readers think of it, but I thought it was the perfect ending to an original and piercing series.
The story begins with a girl named Claire. A disappointing student, she is assigned the role of Birthmother. And then it all goes wrong. She feels things she cannot explain, things that no one else is feeling. And she misses the child that was ripped from her body. So she leaves. And she tries desperately to find the child that was lost to her. But of course, as with all journeys, there are many obstacles in her way. And she encounters evil in its worst, rawest form.
Lowry weaves all the threads of her stories together: The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger all culminate into a finale that brought tears to my eyes. It’s masterfully woven, and I won’t say a thing more, because I don’t want to ruin the story for you. But I will say this: it’s a worthwhile end to a series that questions the nature of society and how we interact with one another. What are fame and riches and glory next to the simple power of human kindness? The characters are rich, and we see a few familiar faces that made me glad. If you have questions about how certain things end (and again, I’ll be purposefully vague), then you will be pleased to know that they get answered.
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