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Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

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The Giver by Lois Lowry cover shows the face of an older, bearded man in top right and a young man in profile on the bottom left. Bare branches of trees extend toward the center from the left side.

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1)
Lois Lowry
Clarion Books
Published April 26, 1993

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Giver

In Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal–winning classic, twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.

Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas.

Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time. Don’t miss the powerful companion novels in Lois Lowry’s Giver Quartet: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

My Review

I think this is the third or fourth time I’ve read this book, but definitely the first since I’ve been blogging. I would like to read and review all four books in the quartet. The second book, GATHERING BLUE, is one I’ve read before, but I haven’t read the other two.

One of the things that stood out to me this time reading the book is the way that Jonas’s role in the pivotal moment in the book is to ride his bike for scene after scene. Whereas back at home, the community members are reeling from the presence of Jonas’s memories, and the Giver is busy helping them process the new feelings.

Reading the book again as an adult, I find it an interesting choice that we follow Jonas out of the community and don’t witness the other community members experiencing those memories. Jonas really wanted his family and Fiona to experience the emotions and memories he experienced.

I love the book, though. Jonas journeys from passively following instructions and believing that the rules of the community are all for the best. As he learns about pain and loneliness (both from the Giver’s memories and his new role which mandates that he not speak about his training to anyone) he begins to question the way the community operates. He begins to wonder if the “sameness” which forbids anyone experiencing color, emotions, or individuality actually robs the community of something precious and valuable.

It’s an important idea, especially in the current conversations about book banning and restrictions on conversations about identity. Is there a point at which we harm ourselves by so completely sanitizing books and conversations? Do we diminish or lose the ability to empathize with others or process the existence of pain in the world this way?

Anyway. All that to say that I’m glad I reread THE GIVER. It’s been thirty years since the book was first published, and it still clearly has some important things to say.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Jonas and the Giver both have light eyes. That appears to be a marker for the ability to receive memories. No other race details given.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jonas feels attraction toward his friend Fiona.

Spiritual Content
The community celebrate the life of members when they reach a certain age, before a “ceremony of release” in which a community worker euthanizes the member with an injection.

Violent Content
Jonas watches a ceremony of release in which an adult injects and euthanizes a small child. Jonas experiences memories of war in which a soldier on a battlefield dies, crying out for water. He also experiences starvation and grief in memories.

Drug Content
Community leaders instruct Jonas to take a daily medication to stop any feelings of attraction/arousal.

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Review: The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

The Stonekeeper’s Curse (The Amulet #2)
Kazu Kibuishi
Graphix
Published September 1, 2009

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About The Stonekeeper’s Curse

A MYSTERIOUS WORLD FULL OF NEW ALLIES… AND OLD ENEMIES!

Emily and Navin’s mother is still in a coma from the arachnopod’s poison, and there’s only one place to find help: Kanalis, the bustling, beautiful city of waterfalls. But when Em, her brother, and Miskit and the rest of the robotic crew aboard the walking house reach the city, they quickly realize that seeking help is looking for trouble…dangerous trouble.

My Review

I feel like this series is really growing on me. I liked the first book, but I think this one was a smoother read. The first book had a lot to set up and introduce, but this one picks up right where the first one left off and immediately throttles forward.

I’m starting to feel like I’m getting to know the characters better, too, which is fun. I like both Em and Navin, and I’m really interested to see where each of their storylines take them. This seems like a series that would be the most enjoyable if you read them all in order, but I think there are enough clues to what happened in the first book that you could probably enjoy this one individually.

Will I continue with this series? Yes, I think so. I can get the books from my library pretty easily, and I am enjoying reading them. My nephews have already read this one, so I’m really just reading them for my own enjoyment at this point, and to broaden my experience with graphic novels.

I think these are great books for fantasy readers and anyone looking for a compelling fantasy story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
I think Emily and Navin are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Emily battles the amulet for control of its power. As she uses it more, the stone’s power grows and so does its desire to take over and control her.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Cartoonish battle scenes.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Book Review and Content, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
Naxos Audiobooks Ltd.
Published September 21, 2022 (Original story first published 1868)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Little Women

Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war, and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another.

Whether they’re putting on a play, forming a secret society, or celebrating Christmas, there’s one thing they can’t help wondering: Will Father return home safely?

Why I Read Little Women

Last year I read two different books that retold LITTLE WOMEN in their own ways. One was set during World War II, and the other was a contemporary novel about a girl named Jo who felt trapped by her family’s obsession with the story of LITTLE WOMEN.

In BELITTLED WOMEN, the contemporary story, one character stated some things about Louisa May Alcott that I didn’t know, so before I wrote up my review, I checked online, looking for information about whether the book’s assertions were true. And it looked like they were. I also found a book called MEG, JO, BETH, AND AMY by Anne Boyd Rioux that I really wanted to read. The book gives some biographical information about Alcott’s life and why audiences have loved the story so much through the decades.

Anyway, I realized that first, if LITTLE WOMEN retellings are going to be a thing, I want to read the original. Plus, I really want to read the book about the author’s life and the public’s reception of the story over the years. So anyway. That’s how I came to listen to this 21 hour audiobook narrated by Laurel Lefkow.

My Review

I grew up watching the movie version of LITTLE WOMEN starring Winona Ryder as Jo, so I went into the book familiar with the basic story. There are a lot of differences, obviously, since nobody can take a seven or eight hundred page book and turn it into a two hour movie without cutting and rearranging quite a bit. The thing that struck me immediately was how young the characters are at the beginning (which makes so much sense since it’s marketed as a book for middle grade readers. At the start of the story, Amy is 11, Beth 13, Jo 15, and Meg 17. And for a large portion of the novel, those are the ages they remain. The second part of the novel kind of skips ahead to when they’re older. By the end they’re all adults.

Overall it’s a sweet story about the relationships between sisters and then their transitions to adulthood and marriage. There are some statements in the book that didn’t age so great– Alcott talks several times about a woman’s perfect place being a wife and in caring for her home. But in a scene in which Amy chastises Laurie for being idle, she also says that she disagrees with the idea that young men must act out and sew wild oats. She suggests that if we expected them to act more mature then many of them would meet those expectations– which sounds to me a lot like some of the things I’ve heard in conversations about consent and modesty.

I’m glad I read the book, finally. Considering my love for sister stories, I don’t know why it took me so long to read the classic novel that’s literally most widely known for that exact thing. Those scenes between the sisters were some of my favorite parts of the book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl sits on the knee of her fiancé and later her husband.

Spiritual Content
Jo and Marmee talk about how reading the Bible and praying can help Jo deal with feelings of anger. Some references to the girls taking time to read or pray.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
The March family does not believe in drinking alcohol except for medicinal purposes. When families give them wine to serve at Meg’s wedding, the family donate them to the veteran’s hospital instead.

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Review: Where There’s Smoke by E. B. Vickers

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Where There’s Smoke
E. B. Vickers
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published December 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where There’s Smoke

In this fast-paced thriller, eighteen-year-old Calli finds herself alone after the loss of her father—until a bruised and broken girl shows up on her property, forcing her to face the present, rethink her future, and unearth the skeletons of her own past.

Life has never been easy in the small desert town of Harmony, but even on the day Calli Christopher buries her father, she knows she is surrounded by people who care about her. But after the funeral, when everyone has finally gone home, Calli discovers a girl on her property. A girl who’s dirty and bruised and unable to speak. And petrified.

Calli keeps the girl secret—well, almost secret. She calls her Ash and begins to nurture her back to health. But word spreads in a small town, and soon a detective comes around asking questions about a missing girl from another town. But these only raise more questions–about Ash and about the people Calli knows well. Still, she must ask: is Ash in danger…or is she the danger?

My Review

I love the way the author has chosen to tell this story. It’s got prose chapters from Calli’s perspective, and some short chapters or scenes in poetry in between them. The poems tell several other characters’ perspectives, and they’re a little bit veiled, really anchored in the context of what Calli learns in the scenes from her point of view.

It’s hard to talk about some of my feelings about this book without spoilers, but I’m going to do my best.

One of the things that made a lot of sense but sometimes frustrated me as a reader is the way that Calli waffled back and forth in her theories about what had happened to Ash. Sometimes, minute to minute, she’s convinced this person is totally guilty of harming Ash, and the next minute, she’s certain they’re innocent, and it must be someone else. It makes sense because new things keep happening, and she’s never sure who’s telling her the truth.

I did see some of the reveals in the book coming, but I think they were ones that maybe you were supposed to figure out ahead of time. There were definitely plenty of things I didn’t expect and some things that made me look back at earlier scenes with new eyes.

On the whole, I think the author did an amazing job creating a suspenseful story and including commentary on faith and faith communities in a neutral way that allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the characters separately from religion.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I think the major characters are white? Several characters are people who fled from a local cult.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Calli references a past dating relationship with a boy. She also wonders if she’s falling in love with another boy.

Spiritual Content
Calli’s dad used to be the Bishop of her local church. Now, her dad’s cousin serves as Bishop. Calli still maintains her faith, and she references some Bible verses in times of need or when she faces tough decisions. Not far from Calli’s hometown is a small, very closed cult. There are rumors of children forced into marriage with much older men and girls who disappear, possibly murdered. Several characters have escaped from this group.

Violent Content
References to domestic violence and sexual assault. (Nothing graphically described or shown on scene.)

Drug Content
Calli finds empty beer bottles in a cabin that should be empty. References to adults drinking alcohol. Calli’s dad preached against drinking any alcohol at all.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of WHERE THERE’S SMOKE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

What the River Knows
Isabel Ibañez
Wednesday Books
Published November 14, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About What the River Knows

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth-century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old-world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

My Review

Last year, the book I read by this author, TOGETHER WE BURN, was one of my favorite books. I’ve enjoyed the other books she’s written, so I went into this book fully expecting it to be amazing. And it really is.

The story is different than I expected, though. I liked how quickly Inez reaches Egypt and her quest there begins. It did feel like she was often at the mercy of other characters or that there were brief lulls in the action.

It really might just be me, though. I started and stopped a lot during my reading, so that might have made the book seem choppier than it is. Once I got to about the 60% mark, I felt a significant uptick in my investment in the book, and I think I read from there to the end in one sitting.

I love how this author creates strong, independent characters and delivers some great connections between female characters. The romance, as in her other books, definitely had me hooked.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book and loved getting to read a book set in Egypt. I think fans of Isabel Ibañez’s other books will not be disappointed in this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Inez and her family are Argentinian. Some characters are Egyptian. Others are British.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to more than kissing. One kissing scene is pretty intense.

Spiritual Content
There used to be people who could create magic. Now, the magic only remains in artifacts, which transfer some of their magic to someone who touches them.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Several characters carry guns. In a couple of scenes, people fire their guns at others. References to domestic abuse.

Drug Content
One character was formerly addicted to alcohol. He still occasionally drinks. Others drink alcohol recreationally.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen

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Artifacts of an Ex
Jennifer Chen
Wednesday Books
Published November 14, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen

When Chloe Chang gets dumped via USPS after moving across the county from NYC to LA, her first instinct is to throw her box of memories in the garbage. Instead, she starts buying other teenagers’ break-up boxes to create an art exhibit, Heartifacts. Opening night is going great, until she spots Daniel Kwak illicitly filming his best friend’s reaction to his ex’s box. When she tries to stop him, an intense discussion ends up launching a creative partnership and friendship… and a major crush for Chloe.

There’s just one problem: Daniel is dead set on not being another rebound.

Five times he’s been the guy who makes the girls he’s dating realize they want to get back with their ex. And he refuses for there to be a sixth. She insists she’s over her ex, but when he shows up unexpectedly with his new girlfriend, it turns out Daniel was right. She isn’t ready for a new relationship.

She throws herself into making Heartifacts successful, but flashy influencers threaten her original vision of the exhibit. To create the exhibit she’s always wanted, Chloe needs to go back to basics, learn to work with artists in a more collaborative way, and discover what love can be. Only then will she convince Daniel she’s truly ready for everything they could be to one another.

In the tradition of Jenny Han and Emma Lord, Jennifer Chen’s ARTIFACTS OF AN EX is a story of love, art, and finding your way when everything you know has changed completely.

My Review

The whole story is told from Chloe’s point of view, which makes this a little different than some of the other contemporary YA romances I’ve read lately. I liked it that way, though. I felt like there was a good balance between the romance and Chloe’s family relationships and her investment in her exhibit, and I had no trouble figuring out what Daniel was thinking or doing because he appeared in a lot of scenes and was a pretty straightforward guy.

I liked Chloe’s friends, especially Vincent and Francesca, friends Chloe meets in Los Angeles. I felt like they contributed the right amounts of truth and humor in all the right places. Chloe’s grandmother has dementia, and watching Chloe and her family navigate the stages of that loss took me back to my own grandmother’s battle with Lewy Body dementia. I loved that Chloe’s Ahma still had moments of clarity and was able to connect with her, but it broke my heart every time her illness prevented her from being able to do that.

All in all, I loved reading this sweet romance peppered with strong side characters and full of art and life in Los Angeles. I can definitely see fans of Jenny Han and Emma Lord liking this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Chloe and Daniel are Asian American. Chloe’s best friend is bisexual. Daniel’s best friend is gay. Chloe makes another friend who is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used a few times; mild profanity used more frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. Chloe notices Daniel’s butt in one scene. In one scene, Daniel answers the door in a towel. References to sex. Brief touching on top of clothes in one scene.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of ARTIFACTS OF AN EX in exchange for my honest review.