Gathering Blue
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Gathering Blue 〰️
Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.
I was not expecting this to be a companion to The Giver. Barely anything was similar to the first book. I know it's a companion, and it's another village, but a little callback to book one would have been nice. (Although it's implied right at the end Jonas is alive and with the MCs dad). But this could be a brand new world and I wouldn't have known it. I'm not sure how this is part of the series.
That being said, there was some great world building once again in this book. You can for sure tell it's a distopian future with a distinct culture. I don't think this world was as interesting as the one in The Giver but it was still cool to read about it.
While this story was interesting, I don't think it was as interesting as the previous novel. I think I was expecting more since the first one was so great. I was also a little shocked to see no mention or tie ins (that I know of) to The Giver, be it it's characters, or greywashed world. I don't mind a companion book to have compleatly new characters. In fact, I expect it. It's just this is part of a series and so I thought there would be more of a tie in raher than feeling like a completly fresh book. Perhaps they will all blend together more in the next two books.
I still enjoyed it, however. As mentioned, it wasn't as interesting but it was still a compelling enough read. I will admit that I didn't care for how most of the characters talked, however. It was a bit hard to read. I mean, it helped built the world and such, but like I said, a bit hard to read. But that is a mino nitpick.
All in all it was still a decent book to read.