What if you didn’t have to live with crippling memories of war and death? What if you could control your emotions with a simple injection? Then you had to give up this life by becoming a Receiver and live with the knowledge of all the evil the world has forgotten?
This book is shorter than most post-apocalyptic novels but packs a powerful punch. Society as a whole has become numb to death, destruction, and murder. Healthy babies are killed if they can’t keep their weight up. Children are replaced if they die unexpectedly and are never mourned. The aging are put away in homes and deemed useless after they finish raising a generation. Families are formed by the government and no more than two children are allowed per home.
Jonas is happy with his predetermined life, that is until he is selected as the Receiver. His new job is to sort through the good and wicked memories he receives from the Giver. Memories of Christmas’ come and gone. Memories of famine and death. His eyes are slowly opened and he begins to wonder. Can he live in this world? Or will he do something to change it?
A thought prover like this deserves high praise.
Scoresheet:
Violence: Low/almost none
Romance: No spice!Worldview: Secular with good morals
Morals: Clean
