Son
Author: Lois Lowry
Publication Date: September 1st, 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Genre: Dystopian/YA/Paranormal/Middle-Grade
Synopsis:
They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive? She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice. Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver, as well as Gathering Blue and Messenger where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil.
My Thoughts: I've really enjoyed this series. It's wonderfully creative, imaginative, and really the possibilities for this world are endless. So it's kind of fun to think of all the things that could be. The only detail I wish was incorporated somewhere, was how the world became to be as it is in this series. With all the divided pocket towns with extremely varying lifestyles. But I guess, that is can be fun too left to the imagination.
I've heard a lot of people say they didn't enjoy the series because they felt it was too loosely connected, and the books didn't relate enough to each other to hold their interest to the characters/story line. And while that may hold true if you've only read the first two, you really shouldn't pass judgement or give up until you've read the whole series. The third book takes a lot from the second, and just a little from the first. The fourth book, being Son, Take a lot from the first, fills you in a ton of awesome details we were missing adds them to what we learned from all the other books and ties them together so nicely. It turns out all the books are actually very connected. That being said, they are all written in such a way that you could read them stand alone. But you will definitely get more from it if you read them all.
As I said above, this ending book was perfect. It tied all the weaving and different story line together so neatly and ended it all on a perfect note. It's probably one of the best books to end a series that I've read. I didn't feel like I was missing anything, that I had a ton of questions. I felt very satisfied and really happy. While those of you who read the other books a while ago may have been waiting a while for this last installment, I would say it was well worth the wait. But I myself just started the series I couple weeks ago and I was lucky enough to be first on the waiting list at my library for a copy of Son so I didn't have much of a wait.
The brand new person we meet in this book is named Claire. Even though we haven't heard of her before she actually plays quite a vital role to the story. From it's very beginning to it all coming together and ending. Of all the characters I met throughout this series. Claire was definitely my favorite, making this book my favorite one in the series. Claire's determination, bravery, will power and strength was impressive and definitely pulled me towards her.
If you haven't read this series yet, I strongly recommend you do. If you are one of those people who have read the first two and were turned off by it's loose connections, then I really think you should give it another chance! You won't regret it. The way Lowry weaves it all together is really quite brilliant. She is indeed a talented Author and I'm so glad I picked up this series :). If you're a dystopian fan, add this to your must-read list!
