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Author: Lois Lowry
Title: Gathering Blue
Release: May 2000
Reviewer: Chrissy
Series: The Giver #2
Source: Personal library
Purchase: | Book Depository

In her strongest work to date, Lois Lowry once again creates a mysterious but plausible future world. It is a society ruled by savagery and deceit that shuns and discards the weak. Left orphaned and physically flawed, young Kira faces a frightening, uncertain future. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, she struggles with ever broadening responsibilities in her quest for truth, discovering things that will change her life forever.

As she did in The Giver, Lowry challenges readers to imagine what our world could become, and what will be considered valuable. Every reader will be taken by Kira’s plight and will long ponder her haunting world and the hope for the future.

Having finally read The Giver recently, I found myself enthralled by the Utopian world created by author Lois Lowry. I was overjoyed to discover that three more books had been added to the series in more recent years, including the sequel Gathering Blue, which was published in the year 2000.

While Gathering Blue has no mention of Jonas and Gabriel, the main characters from The Giver, it is much the same type of society and shows the hardships faced by a young orphan named Kira. Readers will no doubt be disappointed that Gathering Blue does not pick up where The Giver left off. However, book three in this series (Messenger, which I intend to review) unites characters from both The Giver and Gathering Blue.

I enjoyed this novel a great deal. I felt it was a nice follow up to the first book in the series even if it does involve another place and completely different characters. The plots are quite similar, young adults forced to endure hardships and unrealistic rules as they are learning the trades that have been assigned to them.

While both Kira the Threader and Thomas the Carver were the main focus of this novel, I found that little mischievous tyke Matt was my favorite character in this book. He may not be educated and is considered dirty compared to the other children in this book (since he lives in an area known as The Fen which is the equivalent of the slums) but he has the most heart and the most courage of them all.

This book is a fantastic read for young adults and adults alike. I found it to be a bit less sullen than The Giver and it contained a great deal more humor as well. While this is a young adult novel I must warn that there is some coarse language and a few scenes containing violence. This book would be best suited for readers twelve and up.

Chrissy fell in love with books at an early age. It all started with Judi Barrett’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. At the tender age of five she decided that she wanted to be a writer. Later, she graduated to books like A Wrinkle in Time, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and the Goosebumps series, participating avidly in her school’s Book It program. High school brought on new challenges and loves. She began writing for the school’s newspaper and literary magazine. The works of Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Shirley Jackson quickly overran her bookshelves. But when Chrissy was introduced to the world of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, a grand love affair was set in motion. She is an avid reader of romance, urban fantasy, horror, erotica, and cozy mysteries. After working for the city library for six years and being surrounded by the works of greatly admired authors, she decided to devote her life to writing full time and hasn’t looked back since. When she is not devouring book after book, Chrissy loves to cook, bake, volunteer at the local animal shelter, and feed her addiction for horror movies. She lives in Maryland with her family and beloved pets.

Doll Chrissy

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