From the Bookshelf of Shut Up & Read…

Son (The Giver, #4)

Lois Lowry

Start date: December 1, 2014

Finish date: December 31, 2014

Discussion leader: Tanecia

Why we're reading this: Series Read-Along
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What Members Thought

Apr 20, 2020 Midu Hadi rated it it was ok

Shelves: premissing, series-completed, female-author, female-protag, series, dystopian, young-adult, reviewed, us-author, last-one-in-the-series

So, remember the previous book in this series seriously ticked me off? This one didn’t um mostly; here’s why:

What I Liked

We get to meet with some of the characters from the other books. They’ve created a kind of haven for themselves where they’re thriving. It was a good payoff, considering the last book just ended on a cliffhanger.

The main character goes through an amazing transformation and the author doesn’t gloss over it. We keep pace with her as she trains to literally climb a mountain and g ...more

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Aug 22, 2014 Meran rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, politics, novels, magic, fiction, ya, culture, satire, philosophy, apocalypse

The other books in this series all ended in huge, very sad sacrifices. I hope this one, the last book in The Giver series, does not.
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Book I - BEFORE
The story begins back in the Giver's own village. Claire at 12 was given Birthmother. At 14, at the birthing of the Product, a problem occurs. They have to cut the Product out; as a result, Claire is "decertified" as a Vessel and reassigned to the Fish Hatchery.

In fact, this is The Giver from Claire's viewpoint. She was the mother to the ba The other books in this series all ended in huge, very sad sacrifices. I hope this one, the last book in The Giver series, does not.
___________

Book I - BEFORE
The story begins back in the Giver's own village. Claire at 12 was given Birthmother. At 14, at the birthing of the Product, a problem occurs. They have to cut the Product out; as a result, Claire is "decertified" as a Vessel and reassigned to the Fish Hatchery.

In fact, this is The Giver from Claire's viewpoint. She was the mother to the baby Jonas' father brought home every night, the baby Jonas escaped with.

Book II - BETWEEN
Claire is shipwrecked, arrives during a storm at a small sea-and-land-locked fishing village, no easy way in or out. She stays many years but makes friends, one especially. She begins her healing there, finds some of her memories, and makes friends with the only man to survive the cliff-climb out, who trains her for the same escape.
She is single minded about finding her boy. At the top of the cliff, she meets Trademaster, as her friend had told her. She trades finding her son, a surety, with him (He smells horrible, like extreme decay.) Her part of the bargain? Her youth. She immediately becomes "an old hag."

Book ### - BEYOND
7 yrs have passed since Matty, Healer, had died, healing Forest and saving Kira and Jonas in the process, also negating all the trades Trademaster had made with the villagers. Gabe is a young man of 15 yrs now, being watched sneakily by an old woman, while he builds a boat, determined to leave Village and find his past. We know who the old woman is, of course.

Jonas and Kira are married, with 2 kids; Christopher is buried next to Matty. So, at the beginning of Book III, these events are taking place about 14 yrs after the ending of The Giver.

Now, the Trademaster is back, Claire, Gabe's mother is on her last breath. It's Gabe's task to use his power, his skill, to overcome the evil that is Trademaster for once and for all. Because it's the only way to save his mother. And, well, he's Evil. That just can't be tolerated.

As usual with this series, the book ends with a sacrifice. This time though, an acceptable one, to this reader. ...more

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