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4 stars. THIS BOOK. ASDFHKSLFJAJSDS. DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SAY THAT I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE GIVER SERIES??? Like…years. YEARS, BRO. But I'm still not exactly sure I understand it 100% (lololol) which is why I'm not giving 5 stars here BUT! IT WAS SO GOOD. And the ending was amazing I was smiling so hard. :') OKAY LET'S MAKE A LIST BEFORE I RUN AWAY WITH MY EMOTIONS.

LOVELIES:

Everything?? HAHA SO MUCH FOR NOT RUNNING AWAY WITH MY EMOTIONS. This was a good book. It was the most unique of them all, and I was surprised by how invested I was in the story of Claire. And it circled all the way around to the beginning of the series which was AWESOME. I SO APPRECIATE STUFF LIKE THAT. This book also contains three separate "books" (or parts) which are all SUPER different from each other and I liked that element a lot even though there were some major time jumps that threw me off.

Character development was spot-on. JUST SPOT ON!! I loved watching Claire's character start off kind of oatmeal and then transform into deeply caring, empathetic, courageous heroine. It was so well done and not at all rushed. The story itself was just SUPER WELL TOLD. Anybody who knows me also knows that I'm a sucker for good storytelling, and well� Lois Lowry NAILED IT. The characters are all so real and human. It was also super cool to watch the story of THE GIVER sort of transpire off-screen through another character's eyes.

World building. WHEN IS LOWRY NOT GOOD AT WORLD BUILDING?? That's what I want to know, Rodney. Like I said before, all three "parts" in this book had TOTALLY DIFFERENT FLAVORS. Which I loved! The first was kind of cold and unfeeling, matching the vibe of the setting and the deeper meaning behind it; the second was vibrant and rustic, with some old Cornish influence (I dig it); and the last was wholesome and simple…perfect for the setting it matched. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE OK. IT WAS YUMMY.

Gaaaaaabe. MY BABY HE'S ALL GROWN UP. (Well, kind of. 14. Ahem.) He is a precious aggressive cinnamon roll of determination and I loved everything about him. (I also imagined him to look like Lucas Jade Zumann???? ANYBODY ELSE??) I also loved how he discovered his gift and it all tied in PERFECTLY with the ending. *screams into a pillow lest I spoil anything* GABE IS FLAWLESS OKAY.

Einar is also flawless. I SHIPPED HIM AND CLAIRE SO HARD AND GOT SO ANGRY WHEN THE PLOT DIDN'T DO WHAT I WANTED IT TO. Like� I know it couldn't have worked out. But how could anyone not love Einar??? He was a jaded broken blueberry waffle and sang with birds and took care of sheep and he was always so soft and kind and caring <3 UGH. I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH.

THE ENDING. THE ENDING WAS AMAZING. AND THERE WAS A PLOT TWIST THAT I LITERALLY NEVER SAW COMING AND IT WAS JUST SO GOOD I CAN'T PUT IT INTO WORDS EVEN TO SPOIL IT LOL JUST READ IT OKAY.


SQUABBLES:

I didn't get as much closure as I would have liked. I KNOW. NOW I'M JUST BEING PICKY. I understand that the world is different and futuristic but I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW EXACTLY THE HIGH TECH COMMUNITY IS SO HIGH TECH WHEN EVERYONE ELSE LIVES SO PRIMITIVE. And I also don't know where the high tech community is (geographically) in relation to everything else because THAT WHOLE SECTION OF THE BOOK WAS BLIPPED OUT OF CLAIRE'S MEMORY. HOW CONVENIENT. There was SOME closure…but nothing specific. And I guess this is personal preference but I LIKE SPECIFICS. Not a whole bunch of info-dumping, but…one or two sentences?? Just so I can sleep at night??? OH WELL. I'M HAPPY ANYWAY.

The beginning was a bit slow. This is a pretty long book. I may or may not have been peeking ahead in part one because I was WAITING for something to actually happen. It felt like a standalone?? Kind of? But we always know what's going on (unless you didn't read the first three books I guess) so idk I just felt like we could have cut to the chase a lot sooner. BUT HONESTLY THIS ISN'T A BIG DEAL.


All in all, I loved this series. Lowry's deep allegories and themes will forever exceed my expectations and leave me thinking for months after I've put the book back on the shelf. The characters are unforgettable, the story is timeless. SON is a beautiful conclusion to a triumph of a series. I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone. SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.