The Giver Quartet

The Giver Quartet is a beautiful series. It’s short. It’s punchy. And the author, Lois Lowry, writes it in a unique focus. Each book has a separate setting, each from different points of view and written in such a way that they could almost be standalone. Yet every single one silently weaves with the other stories, creating a strong series with a rich (though obscure) plot.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the whole series was the different pieces of choice that each character wrestled with. From the surface, the books are fun reads with a heavy edge. But after rereading it several times, each kind of choice came to light, bringing a new dimension to the story. Books one through four focused on different sides of choice: a world without choice, a world with unlimited selfish choice, self-sacrificial choice, and the choice to love, respectively.

I appreciated how each book had a relatively small character cast. Instead of focusing on a complex series of relationships, the author delved into the characters to build more interesting personalities. She chose not to focus on big and grand but small and personal. And that allowed her to build on the choices her characters made and on the people they became.

The Giver

This book is the most well known of the whole series, and it is sometimes taken as a standalone. The book is set in a utopia that seems idyllic from the surface. It’s a world of sameness and monotony, colorless and without imagination. It’s a world without choice.

I loved the progression as Jonas grew and began to question his world. Instead of starting off rebellious, he fought the change and he wanted to conform to the society. But as he began to realize what he was missing, I, the reader, watched him discover what I myself take for granted.

Trigger Warnings: Infanticide, Euthanasia, Suicide

Gathering Blue

I read this book and was rather confused to be honest. The entire book has no connection with the previous one at all and seemed like a completely separate plot and idea. This is probably my least favorite of the series, though it is a critical book to the overarching plot. 

I liked Kira as a character, though I did find that she lacked a little in negative qualities, which made her feel more one-sided. Her relationship with Matt, however, was quite wonderful. They acted like an older sister and younger brother. And I found that to be fun and whimsical, despite the filthy, depressing place they lived in.

Trigger Warnings: Infantcide (discussed), Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Suicide, Ableism, Murder, Confinement

Messenger

Messenger is the shortest novel in the series. It is also the first that touches on both Giver and Gathering Blue, allowing us to begin seeing how the plot threads intertwine. I appreciated the focus on self-service versus self-sacrifice and how that not only affects you, but everyone else as well.

Matty’s growth is somewhat simplistic, as he learns habits that many of us learned in early childhood. Because of this, the novel initially feels like a strange combination of slice-of-life and speculative fiction. But the combination is actually quite potent. Messenger develops on characters from Gathering Blue and, in my opinion, enriches the previous novel even more. 

Trigger Warnings: Ableism, Body horror

Son

This novel is my favorite, contested only by The Giver. As the conclusion to the series, it ties each of the novels together. For me, this was the most poignant, powerful novel. The main character’s struggle was beautiful, and I found the overarching plot to be compelling and bittersweet. Lowry develops a larger cast of characters, each one contributing to the main character's growth in noticeable ways.

My main fault with this one, however, was the ending, which felt a bit too perfect. The build up and the main character’s fight to get there was wonderful, it just felt like the last couple of chapters made light of her battle. And that was quite the letdown.

However, despite the ending, it still definitely won its place as my favorite of the series.

Trigger Warnings: Childbirth, Infanticide (discussed), Emotional Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse (off-page), Ableism