Last year, I read the Giver. I’ve read other books by Louis Lowry, and liked them, so I had high expectations for this one. However, it turned out to be quite dull. The storyline lacked emotion. Most of the characters weren’t even able to feel emotion, and this made the entire book feel mechanical. It did have some interesting parts, but overall it was boring. The storyline was also fairly predictable, there were no surprising twist at the end. I was able to predict most of the major events before they took place( for example when Jonas and the Receiver decided to leave the community). And it probably is not a book I would have read outside of school. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone I know.

The main character of the book is a boy named Jonas, who lives in a futuristic utopia, a perfect world, divided into small villages called communities. At age 12, he is selected to become the new Receiver of Memory, an individual entrusted with storing the memories of his community. But as the old Receiver begins training him and he discovers the truth behind being released, Jonas begins to realize his world is far from perfect.