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pilateschick's review against another edition
4.0
The first hundred pages were boring, but the rest were wonderful and poetic.
gracefullygrace16's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sneeps's review against another edition
2.0
Not really impressed by anything...every story element I've already come across in a book that did it better. The pace was slow, I kept waiting for Something to Happen. The "climax" was something I would expect more around the second act. There was no sense of danger or urgency, there were no stakes. I never once actually feared the Society, or their rules.
Nothing was heavy or appropriately dramatic. Take for example the revelation that they kill the old people at age 80 by poisoning their food. This was not shocking to the reader, but also not shocking to Cassia either! I keep coming back to The Giver, because it is the pinnacle of utopian-society-but-at-what-cost stories. When Jonas learns what Release is, he is horrified - but he's also just learned what death is. We as readers are aware of death and are accustomed to the idea that people grow old and die, but Lowery adequately communicates to us all the things Jonas does not know so that we feel his shock and pain at these revelations. I never got a sense of what Cassia did or did not understand about death, or really anything. The typical YA dystopia worldbuilding thing kept happening, where character would say "XYZ Society tradition is just like the old tradition ABC...except I don't know anything about ABC at all." Well then why would this character mention it?
Condie failed to build the tension necessary to keep a story this slowly paced afloat. There were numerous mentions that the Society could be watching at any time, but I never /felt/ like they were watching. In another classic dystopian example, Big Brother from 1984 is clearly always watching, and while reading you can feel that sense of unease. When Winston finds out that he hadn't escaped the view of Big Brother, it's devastating because he was aware of what would happen to him for breaking rules, and he did it anyway after carefully planning how to avoid notice. It is never clear what would happen to Cassia if she was caught breaking the rules, punishment was never seen or spoken of, and it was really unclear whether or not they were being monitored that closely. Xander and Cassia tell huge secrets to each other on her front porch, in full view of the street! So I guess they don't have microphones everywhere? They certainly don't have cameras, as evidenced by the time Cassia falls on the treadmill and says no one will notice as long as she gets back on the machine fast enough that the pace doesn't let up.
I guess my point in all of this is: whenever anything happened, my only reaction was "so what?" and I never got an answer.
Also both boys are fine if a little boring, and honestly I like Xander better, he knows what's up but doesn't blab it all to the first pretty girl who smiles at him.
Nothing was heavy or appropriately dramatic. Take for example the revelation that they kill the old people at age 80 by poisoning their food. This was not shocking to the reader, but also not shocking to Cassia either! I keep coming back to The Giver, because it is the pinnacle of utopian-society-but-at-what-cost stories. When Jonas learns what Release is, he is horrified - but he's also just learned what death is. We as readers are aware of death and are accustomed to the idea that people grow old and die, but Lowery adequately communicates to us all the things Jonas does not know so that we feel his shock and pain at these revelations. I never got a sense of what Cassia did or did not understand about death, or really anything. The typical YA dystopia worldbuilding thing kept happening, where character would say "XYZ Society tradition is just like the old tradition ABC...except I don't know anything about ABC at all." Well then why would this character mention it?
Condie failed to build the tension necessary to keep a story this slowly paced afloat. There were numerous mentions that the Society could be watching at any time, but I never /felt/ like they were watching. In another classic dystopian example, Big Brother from 1984 is clearly always watching, and while reading you can feel that sense of unease. When Winston finds out that he hadn't escaped the view of Big Brother, it's devastating because he was aware of what would happen to him for breaking rules, and he did it anyway after carefully planning how to avoid notice. It is never clear what would happen to Cassia if she was caught breaking the rules, punishment was never seen or spoken of, and it was really unclear whether or not they were being monitored that closely. Xander and Cassia tell huge secrets to each other on her front porch, in full view of the street! So I guess they don't have microphones everywhere? They certainly don't have cameras, as evidenced by the time Cassia falls on the treadmill and says no one will notice as long as she gets back on the machine fast enough that the pace doesn't let up.
I guess my point in all of this is: whenever anything happened, my only reaction was "so what?" and I never got an answer.
Also both boys are fine if a little boring, and honestly I like Xander better, he knows what's up but doesn't blab it all to the first pretty girl who smiles at him.
celestial_inkblots's review against another edition
3.0
It took me YEARS to finish this book. I had really wanted to read and love this story but I found it so difficult for me to get into the book. I would check this book out on multiple occasions wanting to actually finish the story but it wasn't until the climax that I became interested in where it was going.
For a YA novel I thought it had a different take on the future and wanted to know more about the world but being stuck with Cassie to take me through the world I found myself struggling to become interested in her as a character. I understand that she is trying to decide between safety and taking a risk and this makes her question the world she lives in, but it almost felt like she had already made her choice early on and just didn't wanted to recognize it for herself. On top of that, some of what she struggles within the relationships around her gets really built up in her head but seems to be resolved by nothing. As soon as she's honest in any of the scenarios the other character glosses right over it or forgives her in an extremely short time span. There's a lot of poor build up for little to none repercussions. I would've loved to see more world-building as well as that what drew me to the book, but I can forgive some of the poor world building with the understanding that Cassie isn't supposed to know about the world she lives in and she's only supposed to accept it as it is.
There were a few moments I really did love reading but they were few and far between. I am glad to see in this first novel to a trilogy that the female protagonist has made a decision and plans to follow through with it which is more than I can say for other books like this where the female protagonist draws out the love triangle and her motives flip-flop over the course of 3 books. I don't know if this will stay true for the next 2 books, but the ending provides a really nice promise to what is to come. Overall, I did not hate the book but wish I had enjoyed it more.
--
Fly On, Jazzy
For a YA novel I thought it had a different take on the future and wanted to know more about the world but being stuck with Cassie to take me through the world I found myself struggling to become interested in her as a character. I understand that she is trying to decide between safety and taking a risk and this makes her question the world she lives in, but it almost felt like she had already made her choice early on and just didn't wanted to recognize it for herself. On top of that, some of what she struggles within the relationships around her gets really built up in her head but seems to be resolved by nothing. As soon as she's honest in any of the scenarios the other character glosses right over it or forgives her in an extremely short time span. There's a lot of poor build up for little to none repercussions. I would've loved to see more world-building as well as that what drew me to the book, but I can forgive some of the poor world building with the understanding that Cassie isn't supposed to know about the world she lives in and she's only supposed to accept it as it is.
There were a few moments I really did love reading but they were few and far between. I am glad to see in this first novel to a trilogy that the female protagonist has made a decision and plans to follow through with it which is more than I can say for other books like this where the female protagonist draws out the love triangle and her motives flip-flop over the course of 3 books. I don't know if this will stay true for the next 2 books, but the ending provides a really nice promise to what is to come. Overall, I did not hate the book but wish I had enjoyed it more.
--
Fly On, Jazzy
monicakuryla's review against another edition
2.0
This book was highly recommended if you liked "The Hunger Games" series, but the storyline was more focused on the romance aspect as opposed to the futuristic society. It was just an okay read for me.
kofolapumpkin's review against another edition
4.0
I had to start reading this book a few times before I really got into it. I find that especially the first 50-80 pages are pretty boring but once you get through that this book is an amazing read. Cassia's character development is out of this world. Just comparing her at the beginning of the book and then at the end it feels like she becomes a whole different person, in a good way.
Also even though the story is entirely different from The Hunger Games, it kind of reminds me of it. Just because of her character, her love interests and the direction the book plays out.
All in all a very entertaining dystopian read, I highly recommend it.
Also even though the story is entirely different from The Hunger Games, it kind of reminds me of it. Just because of her character, her love interests and the direction the book plays out.
All in all a very entertaining dystopian read, I highly recommend it.
katybradley888's review against another edition
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
This was surprisingly entertaining, and a quick read. The world building left a lot to be desired, and much of the social control was difficult to believe. Anyway this dystopian young adult shit is my jam, but I can't help always stacking them up next to the Hunger Games. I want to say MEH overall, but at the same time I'm off to read the next one so what do I know lol 😆