Book review written by Felix Kenton-Smith (Year 11, 2019)

The Giver by Lois Lowry is a phenomenal book about a mundane society, where a boy begins to see in colour. Because of this, he is given an important job in which he receives the community’s memories. He begins to learn that things weren’t always as they were, people used to have biological parents, biological siblings, grandparents, and were able to choose their jobs and spouses. He decides that he likes this world, and so decides to travel to Elsewhere, and release his memories to the community. The book ends when he crosses the ‘border’ letting the community see colour, and hear birdsong.

I loved this book because it made me notice how our society is slowly becoming dull, with culture dying out, and everyone becoming the same. I realised that we could, one day end up in a community like the one envisioned in The Giver. It was also written very well, and was captivating and invigorating. The plot was set out very well, but the book ended with a cliff hanger, which was a bit of a shame.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read, but also for anyone who likes dystopian genres. This book was very difficult to put down, and made me want to keep reading long past my bedtime. I read it in just two days, which is testament to how incredible this book is.