This is a hard one to put into a genre. YA almost, but not quite. Almost post-apocalyptic or dystopian, but not exactly (not in the way The Giver was). It has the same dystopian elements as The Giver, since it starts out in the same town/village/area, but then it switches immediately to a valley where the very oldest of remedies and ways of life are lived out.... to the point of not even imagining a Cesarean section. Regardless, I though it neatly wrapped up the whole quartet and put the pieces together (almost a little TOO neatly, but considering this series isn't aimed at adults exactly, I can ignore that).
We finally see the outcome of the Trademaster who was introduced and just kind of faded away in Messenger. We see the origins of Gabriel and see Jonas' village from another perspective. We see other villages and cultures (although the combination of one group who is futuristically advanced with another who is very "regressed" was a bit confusing) in Lowry's world. We see how those with "gifts" are drawn together and how each of them use their gifts for the betterment of the whole. And the whole "good vs. evil" where Evil is literally personified, but in a very representative sense.
The most compelling part of the story is Claire's long journey trying to strengthen herself to reach her son, only to have most of her precious time with him apparently snatched away from her by her "trade" at the end of that climb by the Trademaster. She's spent all these years and this effort just to get there, and she immediately gets her desire, but at even greater cost than the time she'd already spent.
Compared to Messenger, the ending is neatly tied up in a bow and the stand-off ends a little too easily for all the build-up. It's like a couple of paragraphs of the Trademaster realizing he didn't fully get his way, then suddenly hes destroyed. Seemed a little too easy to me.
I was very into the story while reading though, and very invested in the characters. The story moved along well and ultimately I was satisfied with the conclusion. I will probably re-read all four of them again one day.
This is a hard one to put into a genre. YA almost, but not quite. Almost post-apocalyptic or dystopian, but not exactly (not in the way The Giver was). It has the same dystopian elements as The Giver, since it starts out in the same town/village/area, but then it switches immediately to a valley where the very oldest of remedies and ways of life are lived out.... to the point of not even imagining a Cesarean section. Regardless, I though it neatly wrapped up the whole quartet and put the pieces together (almost a little TOO neatly, but considering this series isn't aimed at adults exactly, I can ignore that).
We finally see the outcome of the Trademaster who was introduced and just kind of faded away in Messenger. We see the origins of Gabriel and see Jonas' village from another perspective. We see other villages and cultures (although the combination of one group who is futuristically advanced with another who is very "regressed" was a bit confusing) in Lowry's world. We see how those with "gifts" are drawn together and how each of them use their gifts for the betterment of the whole. And the whole "good vs. evil" where Evil is literally personified, but in a very representative sense.
The most compelling part of the story is Claire's long journey trying to strengthen herself to reach her son, only to have most of her precious time with him apparently snatched away from her by her "trade" at the end of that climb by the Trademaster. She's spent all these years and this effort just to get there, and she immediately gets her desire, but at even greater cost than the time she'd already spent.
Compared to Messenger, the ending is neatly tied up in a bow and the stand-off ends a little too easily for all the build-up. It's like a couple of paragraphs of the Trademaster realizing he didn't fully get his way, then suddenly hes destroyed. Seemed a little too easy to me.
I was very into the story while reading though, and very invested in the characters. The story moved along well and ultimately I was satisfied with the conclusion. I will probably re-read all four of them again one day.