Book Review - The Woodlands by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

The Woodlands

by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Rating ****(4 Stars)

I love the dystopian genre. I think there is something about tarring down the system and making the world a better place that resonates with our current society. Just look at the protest in Hong Kong. We are living in a world that needs to be fixed. I think that is why dystopian literature is so popular at the moment, and why it is mostly geared towards young adults.

I had no idea what to expect when I first picked up The Woodlands. It was free and looked interesting. I had no idea that it was going to be such an amazing series, well book since I have not finished the series.

The writing is good, allowing you to forget the words and get lost in the characters. The characters have their flaws, but that is what helps make them real. I found them to be realistic and agreeable given the society.

The plot is interesting. It is not majorly unique in dystopian literature. However it is not boring and overdone as well. I cannot wait until I get book two and continue on in the series.

The best part is the book is still free (check before purchasing) so you have nothing to loose and everything to gain!

Book Review - Son

 

Son

by Lois Lowry

Rating ***** (5 stars)

In the fourth and last book of the The Giver series we are taken back to events before The Giver even started. We are taken through the events of the first book through the perspective of a new main character. We then follow this character through new societies and back to the village of the third book. Many years have past and we see how life has changed in the community. It has a nice happy ending which sums everything up nicely, distinctly different from the ending of the last three books.

In truth I am still not thrilled with the plot development of the first book. It still does not make since to me. However, if different decisions were made then the next three books would not exist.

The writing of the fourth book was just as amazing as the first three. The storyline seemed a little more flushed out. The book was much longer in length, and gave a more in-depth look at the main character, which I appreciated. In any ways it was my favorite book of the series. Yet, it is dependent on the first three books for it to make any sort of sense.

 

Book Review - Messanger

 

Messanger

by. Lois Lowry

Rating **** (4 stars)

 

Messanger is the third book in The Giver series. In this book we start to see some connection between the first book in the series and the second. The main charactor is the young Mat from Gathering Blue. He is older now and has found the ability to heal.

It is a real good thing that he has, since the village that collects broken people and the very forrest sorrounding it seems to be turning in on itself.

The story, like all the others, is short and a fast read. It follows the tradition of ending the story with so much left to say, however at least the reader is left with a better sence of the outcome then the other two stories.

Like all the stories in the series the writing is beautiful. That alone is worth reading this series.  Lowry truly has the gift of putting words together. Unfortunatly her plots have ranged from downright frustrating to beautiful. The plot of Messanger is inbetween. While it is good, it really does not bring the reader any closer to the world which she has created.

I am interested in how the fourth book will conclude the series.

Book Review - Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue

by Lois Lowry

Rating ***** (5 stars)

 

Gathering Blue is the second book in The Giver's series. This book does not have to be read after The Giver. It also works very well as a stand alone novel. It, so far, has absolutely no connection to the first novel in the series. So, while The Giver's rating has not been adjusted I have no problem with how Lowry moved the plot along in this book.

I do not give five star ratings very often. I would have to go back and search to see if I ever have before on this blog. Yet this book is worthy of the rating. The writing is amazing. The characters are vibrant and alive. The plot is engaging, and captivating, and while slightly predictable it is not completely so. Gathering Blueis a young adult novel. As such the vocabulary is not extremely complicated. The characters are young. I read it over the course of two days - less then a 24 hour period. None of that takes away from the breathtaking beauty of the novel.

To my understanding Lois Lowry has already gone down as one of the great authors. After reading two of her books I completely understand why. I have every plan to finish reading all of her works.

As a side note, I slightly peaked at reviews to see if I would ever find an explanation for the way that The Giver progressed. It looks like the world begin to collide in the third novel. I cannot wait to start reading it.

Series

The Giver

Gathering Blue

                      

Book Review - Brave New World

Brave New World 

by Aldous Huxley

 

Rating ***(3 Stars)

**Warning Spoilers - I know but I can not help it this time.**

Currently dystopian literature line the shelves of the teen racks in bookstores. Novels of brave and courageous youth who overturn society are all the current rage. Yet, dystopian literature did not start with the fame of The Hunger Games. Literature which as analyzed, and criticized, the system of government and current society has been around much longer. 

One such novel is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This is not your granddaughter's dystopian fiction. For one thing, there is not one agreeable characters. Even the characters who go against the norm of society have no substance that truly allows you to feel for them. The arguably main character, Bernard, is disagreeable because he would, and does, conform to society when ever given the chance to. John, the savage who was actually BORN, may disagree with society, but after his one attempt to actually change things fails he leaves society instead. Then when society finds him again - he kills himself. Even Helmholtz has no desire to change society. He may enjoy seeing the effects of a poem. Yet, he is more then happy to be shipped off to an island then actually change the effect of society.

This is why I find the novel disagreeable. There is no hope. One could argue that our society is very much progressed along the lines of Huxley's brave new world. People would rather become sheep having their fix of reality television shows, sports cars, and video games (not that any of these are disagreeable in themselves) then fight to make a change in our society. Yet, in many ways our world is nothing like Huxley's brave new world. There is no happiness without misery. No one in Huxley's world is truly happy. Yet in our world there is happiness, and sorrow, and the ability to choose between the two. There are people who fight to make a change. There people who continue work at bettering themselves and inso helping better society as a whole. The one aspect that our world has that is missing from Huxley's world is HOPE.

And this lack of belief in human beings is why Brave New World only received three stars. The writing is excellent. The characters (although disagreeable, are real in their disagreeableness), and the world is well created. Should you read this book? Yes, but there are many others who are better and should be read first. In a way, this novel is brave in the fact that it did view humanity without hope. The uniqueness is of value in itself.