Book Review: The Lesser-Known Three of The Giver "Quartet"

“We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.” --The Giver

"Take pride in your pain.  You are stronger than those who have none."--Gathering Blue

"We're the ones who fill in the blank spaces.  Maybe we can make it better."--Gathering Blue

“He wept, and it felt as if the tears were cleansing him, as if his body needed to empty itself.” --The Messenger

“It be better, I think, to climb out in search of something, instead of hating, what you're leaving.”--Son

 Did you know that the children's book everyone knows, The Giver, has sequels?  Three of them?  Well, it does.  And I have now just finished the fourth book of the "Quartet" (as Lois Lowry calls them).  The quartet consists of The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, and Son.  I was simultaneously pleased and disappointed with the sequels, and I'll tell you why.  They were good books as stand alones.  But as follow-ups to one of the best middle-grade books ever written, and a book easily in the top five dystopian novels of all time (and we know how I feel about those), they were not up-to-par.  There were elements I loved, but a lot of the resolutions were exceptionally "deus ex machina," which I hate.

 

The Giver

This book, for those who don't know it (which are probably not very many of you), follows the story of Jonas, a boy in a hyper-technological, dystopian society where everything is regulated and regimented.  The organizers of the community feel that emotions and feelings are the source of all evil.  And so, this society has no colors, no feelings, no emotions, no animals, no anything.  There is no sadness, pain, hate or discomfort, but there is no joy or love either.  Children come from artifically inseminated birthmothers, and are raised by parents to whom they are assigned.  These parents are couples who are assigned to one another.  When children turn twelve, they are assigned a role in the society, and they fulfill that role.  Jonas turns twelve and is told that his role is that of "Receiver."  No one knows what that means, and neither does Jonas.  He soon learns that for this society to have no pain, sadness, love, colors or anything, there most be someone who feels all those things for them.  Jonas is that person.  As he learns the real world, he learns that he cannot stay where there is no true life, and especially not where those who do not fit in are "released."

This book is a masterpiece.  I have little to no criticism of this one.  I know there are people who don't like it, but they are generally people who don't like dystopia anyways.

Gathering Blue

Kira lives in a dystopian society in the same world, but a very different one.  Instead of being emotionless and technological, Kira's society is highly subjective to passions and has the technology of about the late middle ages.  Judgements in Kira's society are arbitrary and your life can be manipulated as needed.  But Kira also has a gift.  She can weave like no one ever has before.  She can also weave pictures of the future.  This gift is used and exploited, just like the similar gift of the other little boy, Thomas (who can carve wood).  She thinks that her gift has opened up freedom for her, but she learns that that is not the case, and that she is controlled by those in power.  Unlike Jonas, however, when confronted with the very real possibility of leaving this society, she chooses something different.

This book is, sadly, not very engaging.  It took me a long time to get into it, and I had heard over and over again that it was a sequel to The Giver, but I was bothered by the fact that I couldn't figure out that it was even the same universe for sure until almost the very end.  Even then I wasn't quite sure.  However, I do like the juxtaposition of the exact opposite of Jonas's world, which is not necessarily better, but a different flavor of horrible. 

The Messenger

One of our characters from Gathering Blue comes back to visit us in this book.  Mattie escaped from Kira's society to go to the oasis society in the woods.  It is a conglomerate society of refugees from the many other, horrible societies.  At this time, the Leader is Jonas, who is now in his early-to-mid twenties.  However, the oasis is being invaded by The Trademaker, who is a manifestation of pure evil.  It is infiltrating their town and poisoning the very forest.  Mattie has a gift, just as Kira and Jonas do.  He can heal.  Which is just what the town needs.

This is better than Gathering Blue.  However, I was disappointed with the end.  It was my least favorite thing--Deus Ex Machina.  I did like the way that Jonas decides to lead his town, showing that a strong person can help and love.  I also liked the internal struggle as Mattie tries to find his identity and who he really is and not just who he thinks he is by how others see him.

Son

Claire lives in Jonas' society.  Our story begins as she is a birthmother, about to give birth.  She is blindfolded as she is in labor and eventually she is given a C-section.  When she wakes up, the baby is gone.  Most birthmothers just go on to give birth to the next child, but Claire feels something different. She feels as though she has had something taken away from her, and feels an insatiable desire to quench her mother's love and to find her son.  And she will even run from the community and make a trade to do it.

Son was a lovely story and had some interesting thoughts about motherhood as well.  We eventually get to see Jonas with a family and happy, which is a nice ending to everything.  But this ending was, again, disappointing in how contrived it seemed.

I guess, overall, I think that Lois Lowry made an interesting idea in each and every book and approaches them all well.  However, she has trouble ending things.  And that could be a problem.  The whole series is a 4 out of 5.  Giver is 5 out of 5. Messenger and Son each make a strong showing and get 4 out of 5, and Gathering Blue brings up the rear with 3 out of 5.