The Giver by Lois Lowry
📚 Book Review (Spoilers!): The Giver by Lois Lowry
⭐️ 3 out of 5 stars | Genre: Classic YA / Dystopian Fiction
🚨 Full spoilers ahead! If you don’t want to know how Jonas saves a baby and discovers his community is the worst, look away now.
📍 The Giver — A Dystopian Classic That Was… Just Okay for Me
I know, I know — this is one of those books that’s been in English classrooms forever and gets called deep and thought-provoking. And maybe it is. But for me?
👉 It read like a pretty standard dystopian story.
Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t bad. It just didn’t blow me away. Maybe if I’m ever stuck in a waiting room with nothing else, I’ll pick up the sequel.
🧵 The Full Plot — All the Spoilers
🌟 Welcome to the “Perfect” Community
The story takes place in a future society where:
✔️ Everything is safe.
✔️ Everything is orderly.
✔️ No one feels sadness, or joy, or love.
✔️ There’s no war… or color… or individuality.
Basically, it looks like a utopia at first glance — but surprise! It’s a dystopia.
👦 Meet Jonas
Jonas is about to turn 12, which is when kids get assigned their life’s work at the Ceremony of Twelve.
➡ Jonas lives with his mom, dad, and little sister Lily.
➡ His dad works as a Nurturer at the baby center.
➡ One day, Dad brings home a baby named Gabriel because Gabe isn’t thriving and needs extra care.
Fun fact: If Gabriel doesn’t start meeting the community’s standards? He’ll be “sent to Elsewhere.” (Spoiler: That means they kill him. Harsh, right?)
🎨 Jonas is Different
Before his ceremony, Jonas notices something strange — he sees an apple’s true color (because, oh yeah, this world has no color).
At the ceremony, Jonas is chosen for the most honored job: the new Receiver of Memory.
➡ Jonas has pale eyes — a rare trait that means he can see what others can’t.
➡ Gabriel and the current Receiver (soon to be called The Giver) have pale eyes too.
🧠 The Weight of the World
Jonas trains with the current Receiver, now called The Giver, who transfers memories of the world’s past:
✔️ Pain
✔️ War
✔️ Love
✔️ Happiness
✔️ Suffering
It’s a lot.
👉 The community lives free of pain because Jonas (and The Giver before him) hold all that pain for them.
Jonas starts to see the truth:
➡ His society isn’t safe and perfect — it’s empty, cold, and controlling.
➡ People have no freedom. No emotions. No real choices.
💀 The Darkest Secrets
Jonas learns about a previous Receiver, Rosemary, who couldn’t handle the memories and applied for “release” — aka, she chose death.
He also discovers the dark truth about his community’s “releases”:
➡ Babies like Gabriel who don’t meet standards? Put to death.
➡ The elderly? Same.
➡ His own father does the killing, thinking it’s just a normal part of life.
🚲 The Escape
When Jonas finds out Gabriel is scheduled for release, he knows he has to act.
➡ He takes Gabriel and flees the community on a bike.
➡ He shares peaceful, happy memories with Gabe to keep him calm.
➡ They travel far, starving and freezing, but determined.
Finally, they find a sled at the top of a hill.
➡ They sled down and see a house — with music playing.
➡ The book ends on a hopeful (if ambiguous) note, with Jonas and Gabriel possibly finding a better world.
🧠 My Take
✅ It’s a solid dystopian story.
✅ Interesting world-building.
✅ Thought-provoking themes (even if they didn’t totally wow me).
❌ Kind of predictable if you’ve read other dystopias.
❌ Felt a bit flat for me — didn’t hook me emotionally like I hoped.
✨ Final Thoughts
I’m giving The Giver 3 out of 5 stars.
✔️ Worth reading if you like dystopian classics.
✔️ Great for classroom discussions.
✔️ Maybe I’ll try the sequel someday.
📚 If You Liked This, Try:
🏹 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — dystopian, but way more intense
👦 Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry — the next book in this series
🌎 The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau — another dystopian society with secrets
🛒 Buy The Giver
👉 Grab it on Amazon (affiliate link)
💬 Let’s Chat!
Did The Giver blow your mind? Or did it feel like another dystopian story you’ve seen before? Drop a comment and let’s talk!
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