Messenger by Lois Lowry

Synopsis:

Strange changes are taking place in Village. Once a utopian community that prided itself on its welcome to new strangers, Village will soon be closed to all outsiders. As one of the few people able to travel through the dangerous Forest, Matty must deliver the message of Village's closing and try to convince Seer's daughter to return with him before it's too late. But Forest has become hostile to Matty as well, and he must risk everything to fight his way through it, armed only with an emerging power he cannot yet explain or understand.

Review by Patrick:

This book is more closely related to Gathering Blue, I thought, than The Giver. Although, to be fair, it had clear links to both stories.

This one seems pretty dark from the beginning. The main character, Matty, seems to have some kind of power. And the town folk are trading things that shouldn't be traded. Well, things get worse, and democracy has it's disadvantages.

The story moves on, and the optimist in me wants everything to turn out okay, but the book just keeps giving out lashes. Note, this is not a child's bed time story. Read this as a mature adult, and think about what it is telling us about ourselves, and our society.

I don't know what to say about this one. It has mystery, tragedy, redemption, and hope. It plays on your emotions, and brings up topics that can be difficult to express. It's good, but geez. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars. Keep reading.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Synopsis:

In her strongest work to date, Lois Lowry once again creates a mysterious but plausible future world. It is a society ruled by savagery and deceit that shuns and discards the weak. Left orphaned and physically flawed, young Kira faces a frightening, uncertain future. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, she struggles with ever broadening responsibilities in her quest for truth, discovering things that will change her life forever.

As she did in The Giver, Lowry challenges readers to imagine what our world could become, how people could evolve, and what will be considered valuable. Every reader will be taken by Kira's plight and will long ponder her haunting world and the hope for the future.

Review by Patrick:

While The Giver was possibly the best book I've ever read, this book seems more in line with what I normally read. It's dystopian, where things are sometimes backwards, but sometimes way ahead of our own time. Oh, and then there is the magic, which I have no idea where it comes from or how it works. What makes the magic in this world work?

This book's setting seems to be a different community from the community in The Giver, but still in the same world. There's not much more connection than that. I think they might be more intertwined in the later books. Still, don't skip this one.

The political system in place in this one is very interesting, and the main character is kept around simply because she has a gift. It's odd, but definitely one to keep you reading. I was intrigued about how the gifts worked, and although we see them in use, we hardly ever get to see the "why" behind it. It just... is. And that's all the character's know, so it allows you to feel what they feel better, but still, I want to know.

I'm looking forward to finishing this series and finding out how they interconnect. This particular book is getting 4 stars from me.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Review by Patrick:

This book may be the best book I've actually ever read. Literally. And I don't say that lightly.

Lois Lowry is a master. This book has been on my "to read" list for many years, but, like a lot of things, I haven't gotten around to it. Well, I finally finished one book series, my schedule lightened up a little bit, and I decided to start this one. I'm so glad I did.

The book has about the same reading level and length of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but the depth of the book and the implications are much deeper. An easy read, this book took me three workdays to finish: I just couldn't put it down. The story gripped my mind, heart and soul, and I did not want to eat, sleep, go to work, or do anything until I found out what happened in the next chapter or on the next page.

For those of you who do not know me, I'm pretty stoic. I don't necessarily feel what others feel. My range of emotions tend to range on a normal scale of 4 to 6 (with a normal person going from 1 to 10, and Rachel from probably -5 to 20). So I should warn you: I cried when I finished this book. The first thing I did when I read the end was ask my son to come to me so I could hug him, and he asked me why I was crying. After reading the book, I appreciated what we humans have so much more. There are emotions, such as love, hate, envy, jealousy, hunger, pride, fear, joy, sorrow, desire, frustration... the list goes on forever. And we have personality. We work together, and create new things. We are innovative. We make mistakes. We have loss. We have salvation. We need each other. As I was hugging my son, I felt so overwhelmed and glad that he will grow up in a world where he can experience those things.

In this book, the setting is in "The Community," which is the futuristic utopia that a certain path and thinking leads to over a long time. There is no pain or suffering, no choices to be made. Everyone is a productive member to the Community, and will have no cares or worries. Lowry shows that to obtain this level of utopia, there are trade offs to be made. I won't spoil the book further, but that's the premise. (Actually, this might be the society that Vulcans boast of.)

The story is heart wrenching. As the story went further, I felt the dread of foreshadowing of events to come. I was drawn in by the story, and worried about what happens next. I knew as I was reading it that there would be a different ending than the rest of the book. I knew something had to change, but I didn't know what. As the story unfolded, I realized with a terrible sadness, that this book might end tragically. But I will let you decide for yourself. Tell me in the comments if you think the last two pages were literal or metaphorical, because I'm not sure.

In the end, this book receives nothing but five stars from me. It does not fall short of "Phenomenal! Must read!" If you want to be more aware of the gifts you have in your life, read this book. If you desire to be a better informed citizen of the world, read this book. If you have children, ever want to have children, or know of a child somewhere in the world that you like and desire to have a better future for them, read this book. If you think we should all be nice to each other and never argue again, read this book. If your parents or grandparents are still alive, or you enjoy spending time with your family, read this book. If you want your world to be a better place, read this book. I will argue that this book should be on the required reading list for every high school or equivalent education system in the world. Please read this book.