This book opens, as many dystopian books do, with a seemingly utopian society. We follow a little boy names Jonas who is about to become a 'Twelve' which means he will be given the title of his new job and become an adult so to speak.
The society in which Jonas lives appears to be idyllic, there are no wars, no pain or suffering and no body has to think for themselves as every important detail is decided for them by The Elders. It is referred to as 'Sameness'.
When Jonas is selected to take on the roll of 'The Reciever (of memory)' he is both startled and afraid, it is a great honour and responsibilty. During his training he meets daily with 'The Giver' a kind but troubled old man who intends to pass down all of his memories from the past and some of them are quite terrible. Through recieving the memories Jonas begins to change, he experiences things not experienced while living in the 'Sameness' such as seeing colours and feeling sadness.
This book was an interesting look at not only the dystopian society from the novel but a look at society today. It makes you question how far you would go to create the 'perfect' life. Is giving up all feelings in order to not experience pain or hunger really worth it?
Watching Jonas' realisation was both beautiful and sad, I wanted only good things to happen to him and 'The Giver' who both seemed so burdened by the memories of the past. It made me realise how beautiful the world is and how in order to experience the good we must also experience the bad.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I took a lot away from it, it wasn't fast paced but I enjoyed that. This book was a leisurely read and being that it is only 179 pages it wasn't overly long. I did feel a little frustrated at the end but that is only because I wanted to find out more about Jonas and Gabe and their new adventure.
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars and I look forward to checking out the next book in the series.
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