A young girl named Claire has a child who is taken away from her, but she persists in trying to find ways to connect with him, no matter the cost.

This final title in the series of books starting with The Giver is another interesting addition. It begins by going back in time to the period that we see at the start of The Giver and in the same community. Through various circumstances, Claire ends up in a different community and then finally at the same village when Jonas and Gabriel now are. But that journey is not without its hardships and there's still one battle with evil that must be fought.

I did appreciate how this book tied together so many of the threads of this series, from Gabriel's origins, to Kira finding joy in a family of her own, to the return of Trademaster. I still have lots of unanswered questions, like what happened in the community after Jonas left with the memories or how these wildly different communities are all co-existing not far from each other, but I suppose that does often happen with fictional worlds.

I feel like this book leans a little too heavily into the 'cult of motherhood' idea but obviously that's also part of the point -- that Claire cares for Gabriel and is determined to be around him. It calls back to a crucial message in The Giver that their so-called perfect society was meaningless without love and family connections, even if it was a well-oiled machine where no one suffered. There is a lot to think about having reached the conclusion of this series, and I do enjoy a book that makes the reader ponder long after they are done reading. ( )

i guess a nice ending, but 'thrilling conclusion' is definitely not how i would describe it. ( )

Loved this one... a fantastic finale to the stories. ( )

Now that I am finally done with the giver series, I am both satisfied and dissatisfied with the ending. It broke my heart everytime they mentioned Matty and his death though it was nice that Kira named her son after him, it was also sad that Seer also died and was buried right next to Matty’s grave years later as well. Though that gave reason to have Jonas who was leader at the time to banish Trade Master for good. It’s also nice to see Jonas being a loving father to his kids as well. And that Gabe had a close bond with Jonas and even describing him as “the man who is the closest thing as a father to him” despite the fact that he gets embarrassed whenever the red sled which is in the museum is often showcased.

Also I find it weird that we finally got a “true” villain in the story after “Messenger” came out this late in the game but to each it’s own I guess.
I’m also confused about the gifts thing that is going on because I was under the assumption that the gifts stay with them ? Regardless I am sad that Jonas lost his in the story.

I also find it kinda funny that Jonas’s parents are STILL not named in the storyline and that Claire did not ask him (Jonas’s fathers) his name. He was either called the Nurturer or the man in the storyline when Claire’s story was being named. Also I’m not gonna lie, seeing an outsiders point of view during the giver storyline was trippy and intriguing thing to read and I found myself amused that Jonas’s father played a small role of connecting these two people (Claire and Jonas) together unintentionally. ( )

I thought it wrapped up the series well. Great read once again. ( )