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Book Review of Son (Giver, Bk 4)

Son (Giver, Bk 4)
Son (Giver, Bk 4)
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
BaileysBooks avatar reviewed on + 491 more book reviews


This is the Book 4 in The Giver Quartet.

This final book returns to the beginning of the series following the selection, pregnancy, and delivery of a birthmother in Jonass original community. The timeline follows along with The Giver, providing the reader with a different perspective on life within that community, as well as viewing the same original characters from a different angle.

Like The Giver, this book explores the pain of love and emotion in a community where none of those feelings truly exist. Then, when the plot reaches a crisis point, Lowry splits the story. One part follows the mother on her quest to find her missing son. The other part follows the son in the new community where he is growing up.

The evil that was present like a vapor in The Messenger is given flesh and a name in this final book. The conflict that results manages to shed some light on the state and cause of the post-apocalyptic world that we have come to know, but in true Lowry fashion, much of the details are left to your imagination.

My spoiler-free assessment of the ending is that it came about too easily, was too quick, and actually seemed to lack any true challenge. (Think Harry Potter vs Voldemort in Book 7 but without all of the fireworks). Then again, this book (like all the others) isn't so much about ramming home excessive detail but giving the reader more of an outline than a dissertation, and allowing each reader to fill in the blanks for themselves.

In all, this was a worthy conclusion to an incredible series. Again, dont let the supposed simplicity of each book fool you into thinking that the work lacks depth. In truth, these are some of the most thought-provoking books I have read and I recommend them for everyone.