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Merissa (11935 KP) rated Estranged in Books

Jun 8, 2023  
Estranged
Estranged
Alex Fedyr | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Set in dystopian/post-apocalyptic urban surroundings, Kalei is a police officer who keeps trying to gain entrance into SWORDE - a crack team who deals with Estranged. Kalei lost her parents and sister to the Estranged, and so she wants nothing more. This all changes one evening when her home is attacked and she becomes Estranged too. Now she not only has to deal with losing her family but becoming the very person she has sworn to kill.

This is an enjoyable story that is full of action. It became a bit difficult to read halfway through, simply due to the amount of action that was taking place, plus the 'street talk' that was prevalent. It did even itself out though, and once again, became a thrilling read. With plenty of twists and turns, you don't ever see what is coming before the author wants you to.

This story is all wrapped up in this book, but it has been left open for a sequel. I hope that the story does continue as I would love to carry on with Kalei's story. Definitely recommended.

* Verified Purchase on Amazon *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 2, 2016
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Giver in Books

Dec 7, 2018  
The Giver
The Giver
Lois Lowry | 2012 | Children
10
8.5 (84 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="http://fuzzysparrow.tumblr.com/post/101435382283/review">October 2014 Book of the Month</a>

<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

It has been over twenty years since Lois Lowry’s controversial children’s story <i>The Giver</i> was published and it certainly deserves its status as an essential modern classic. Jonas has grown up in the perfect world of the Community whose survival relies on strict rules and rituals. Adults are assigned spouses and children (one boy and one girl) as they take up their role within the society. At the beginning of the book Jonas is approaching then end of his eleventh year and feeling apprehensive about the Ceremony of Twelve where he will be assigned a job for him to do for the rest of his adult life. Jonas gets selected as the Receiver of Memory – a very rare position – and begins to experience memories from humans who lived a long time ago. For Jonas this is exciting until he begins to see the flaws in his perfect world.

Dystopian literature has become popular over the past few years and it would not be surprising if it were <i>The Giver</i> that inspired these contemporary works. Lowry claims that she did not intend for The Giver to have a sinister feel about it; she was writing an adventure story and exploring the concept of the importance of memory, but it turned out to be something much more thought provoking. As the children’s novelist Margaret Mahy (<i>The Haunting</i>) pointed out, up until the publication of this novel in 1993 Lowry was best known for her funny stories about Anastasia Krupnik resulting in <i>The Giver</i> being even more shocking and unexpected.

<i>The Giver</i> highlights that attempting to produce perfection can often result in the loss of good things as well as the bad. The notion of the ideal world may seem like a wonderful proposal, but in order to achieve it humans would have to do away with free choice as in ironing out the inequalities and injustices of the present world would result in everything becoming the same for each individual.

This is a difficult concept to grasp, particularly for a child. Although intended as a children’s series, <i>The Giver</i> and its following installments are more suitable for young adults and older. The only issue with this is that the writing style was target at a younger audience meaning that the overall story is short and lacks depth. If it were to have been written for older readers then there would have been the scope for it to become a much lengthier novel.

There are a lot of mixed reviews surrounding this book although they have changed greatly since the original publication. To begin with <i>The Giver</i> was banned in some areas however the dystopian theme has become accepted in today’s society. What many people comment on now is the oversimplification of such strong ideas. Then again, as already mentioned, it needs to be emphasized that this book was aimed at children, thus the language reflects the reading skills of its target audience.

<i>The Giver</i> is a gem of a book that not only is enjoyable but also can educate the reader on the dangers of attempting a utopian society and why it is important to retain human memories – even the bad – in order that wisdom can exist. Those who have become fans of contemporary dystopian novels, for example <i>Divergent</i> by Veronica Roth or <i>Delirium</i> by Lauren Oliver, will be sure to love this series.