Messenger by Lois Lowry

Alright, so this book tied in The Giver and Gathering Blue together.  There were magical aspects to the other two stories, like how memories were transferred in The Giver, and the second one with the gifts, but most of it seemed to be like every day life.  This book however had more fantasy in it.  People could trade a part of themselves for other things.  I mean,  yes, in real life, people sometimes give up a part of themselves to fit in, but physical traits don't change without going to a hair salon, tattoo artist or plastic surgeon.  With that said, I still liked the book and the fact that it tied the other two together.  I didn't really see a correlation to the first book from the second, and this one tied it in.

There was one quote towards the end that I really liked: "He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant.  It was an illusion.  It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark struggles for power that had disguised itself and almost destroyed everything.  Now it was unfolding, like a flower coming into bloom, radiant with possibility."  This whole book has to do with people being generally good, but fears and deceits can take over at times and bring out the worst in people.  Struggling for more power can be evil and many other things.  But I think this theme wraps up the message of this book.

I'll put in one more note: I wish she had figured out another way to end the book... For those who read it, you may understand what I mean, if you think as I do.  I did think that the event was written well.  I wasn't sad like I have been in other books when similar things happen.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

This book I had thought would be a continuation of the first book, The Giver, but it was not.  However, I started reading the third book in this series and within the first few chapters it has alluded to both The Giver and this book- so they do all come together.

This town is another "perfect" town.  The books all seem to be based in the future, where humans have decided to control certain aspects of life in hopes of making life better.  This one is in a village where physical flaws are looked down upon and often people are sent "to the fields" to die if they have an imperfection.  The Elders of this town are in charge of everything and their history is recorded through a coat with woven threads, and on a staff and a person that sings the history once a year in remembrance of what has happened.  In both The Giver and Gathering Blue, someone realizes there is a flaw in the way things are run and someone stays to try and change things for the better.  I read this initially and although I enjoyed it, I enjoy it more knowing that in the third book things will hopefully all be tied together.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

To anyone who hasn't read this book- I would recommend it :)

I had read this book in Elementary School, but recently found out it's part of a series.  I couldn't remember this book well enough to write a review or to read a second book, if the story continues.

I loved this book.  It is placed in the future, where apparently the human race decides to make things better by going to what they call "Sameness".  The Receiver is the one person who holds all the memories from the past, so that when making new rules and decisions- someone can have the wisdom to try and make the best decision based on the past.  When they pick a new Receiver, the old Receiver calls himself the Giver- since he is giving his memories to the new Receiver.

Through all these memories they are able to discuss different emotions, natural phenomena, and other issues without being preachy about any one issue or topic.  It is very well written so as to make us all think about the importance of different things.  For example- what good is war?  Why should we judge based on hair color or skin color?  Should we be tied to emotions?  It doesn't answer those questions, but it brings so many issues up for the reader to think about and come to their own conclusion.  I guess, in one sense it does answer the question, because both the Giver and the Receiver wish to make some drastic changes in the community and revert back in some ways.

SPOILER ALERT:  Throughout the book they talk about Elsewhere.  Old people and sometimes infants are released from the community and the people are told they go "Elsewhere".  If they commit three major crimes (according to the community) they are also released.  And here I'm going to talk about the end of the book- so stop reading if you don't want to know anything about the end.  The boy tries escaping the communities.  Him and the Giver believe that there is still a place where Elsewhere exists, and that people may still live outside the communities and the Sameness.  At the end of the book, the boy is tired, barely still going and holding on.  It ends hopeful, and the last time I read it I took that to mean that there was people in Elsewhere.  But this time I found a new possibility.  When the community would "release" someone and send them to "Elsewhere"  it meant that they were killed.  So this time reading the book I realized that the boy accomplished his goal/mission and it's possible that the last experience in the book is really him dying- similar to the community's way of releasing people, instead of reaching an Elsewhere that the people assumed people were being sent to.  I still would like to believe that there were people living outside the Sameness communities, that he lived and survived, and maybe the next books will tell us, though I don't think they follow the same boy.  From the brief summary of the next book I believe it is a story of the community and how they may hopefully start to change for the better.  I guess we'll see. :)

Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3)

Still really liked it along with the first two, but the ending I thought was sloppy.  I felt like the author became lazy and just decided to wrap up things quickly and the easiest way.  In comparison to the writing up to that point in the book I was disappointed with the way the end didn't really slowly come to a conclusion, but seemed to try to wrap up everything in two pages (exaggeration implied).  I still liked the ending though and would still recommend all three to others to read. :)