Showing posts with label The Giver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Giver. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Forgetting

By: Sharon Cameron
Genre: YA Dystopian Fiction
Pages: 403
Published: 2016
Told in: First Person

Compare to:
Divergent, Veronica Roth
The Giver, Lois Lowry
Delirium, Lauren Oliver

In a nutshell:
In the city of Canaan, every twelve years, the people forget everything―everything except what they record in their personal books. But Nadia does not forget. With the next forgetting fast approaching she will do everything she can to keep together those she loves. But there are things in Canaan’s past that even Nadia does not remember.


What you may enjoy:
This is a dystopian that you can wrap up in one book instead of three. Cameron has developed a fascinating world with interesting, consistent characters. The premise behind the book is fresh and interesting and the plot is full of twists and mysteries that will keep surprising you up until the very end.  

What you may NOT enjoy:
The book starts out slowly with most of the action concentrated at the end of the book―a book that is longer than necessary. The characters are your standard teen dystopian archetypes: angsty and unique heroine; handsome and mysterious love interest; corrupt and controlling villain.

Warnings:
Violence and Disturbing Images:
Girl mentions possibility of being flogged; girl slaps boy twice; boy burns arms; girl tackles man; women raped, implied; woman stabs herself in the arm; man whipped, mentioned; men drag a bloody girl through the street, mentioned; 3 children lay dead in the street, mentioned; man hit over the head with a board; men attack a boy; man holds knife to a girl’s throat; woman stabs a girl with a needle; girl’s wrists bleed from being tied up; boy’s hand burns and blisters from acid poison; girl dies from poison; boy tortured with drops of acid poison, non-graphic; man slaps girl; boy knocks man unconscious; building burns with people locked inside; man walks into a burning building; dead man lays in the road; man’s arm cut by a knife; boy beats man’s head against the road; boy strangles man; woman holds a knife to a girl’s throat; man stabs woman repeatedly, mildly graphic

Sex and Nudity:
Affairs implied; implies sexual relations; two sisters sit naked in a bath; boy and girl hold hands several times; boy and girl kiss passionately in a lake, mildly graphic; boy and girl kiss; girl runs hands over boy’s naked chest; boy takes off his shirt; boy and girl kiss passionately on a bed, non-graphic; man gropes girl; homosexual romantic interest implied

Language and profanity:

A** (in Russian) 4 separate times

Buy it on Amazon

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Messenger


By: Lois Lowry
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopia
Published: 2006
Pages: 169
Told in: Third Person
Series: The Giver, #3

In a nutshell:
Matty lives in Village, a place that takes those who have been rejected by their communities. But things in Village are starting to change. People want to close their borders to new arrivals and the forest is growing increasingly threatening, even to Matty who has always been safe there.

What you may enjoy:
If you’ve read The Giver and wanted to know more, work your way on to this book. Messenger is the connecting piece between the first two books, The Giver and Gathering Blue. Each book tells a story of a different dystopian community. The books aren’t action packed or “rebel against Big Brother” type stories, but are more of an awakening where the characters discover the flaws of their society.

What you may NOT enjoy:
If you prefer fast moving, action packed dystopian then this book is not for you. The story focuses primarily on relationships and the flaws of humankind. This book is very strongly a “connector” book, meaning that in ways it’s less of a story and more of the link between books. It leaves a lot of open holes and unanswered questions, concluding abruptly with many loose ends.

Warnings:

Violence: man is strangled to death in vines, non-graphic; man is stabbed in the foot by a vine, non-graphic; woman’s feet are cut up and bleed, mildly graphic; boy gets infected blisters on arms that ooze, mildly graphic; boy was beaten, mentioned; boy dies, non-graphic.

Sex and Nudity: boy and girl kiss, mentioned.


Language and profanity: None

Buy it on Amazon