👶👶👶 The Giver, by Lois Lowry

I picked up this book in an effort to find a suitable replacement for "The Hunger Games" since I'm still not comfortable with my daughter reading that series. Her curiosity in dystopian novels is such that I feel compelled to find an age-appropriate novel within the genre that is worth her time. This is no easy feat! Luckily, I truly enjoy a well-written dystopian novel myself, so I was all too excited to delve into this book based on such positive reviews.

It was a decent story with a compelling concept. It was, however, written in a very simplistic style, likely with the intent to complement the nature of the characters. Yet, it managed to address some important societal issues, namely the loss of individualism due in part to efforts to rid the world of pain and conflict. I struggled with the end, as did many readers, because it left me with too many unanswered questions that are unfortunately not addressed in the sequels.

This is one of very few novels where I enjoyed the movie more than the book.

Read 12/4/13