Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry is the second volume in The Giver quartet, and it continues to build a unique and captivating world. In this society, poverty reigns, and savagery, greed, and deceit are rampant. The weak are callously shunned and discarded. Kira, born with a physical flaw, narrowly escapes being abandoned in the Field of Leaving thanks to her mother's fierce love and protection. However, when her mother falls ill and passes away, Kira is left orphaned and in danger from an envious woman named Veranda. Kira's confrontation with Veranda leads her to the powerful Guardians, who take her to live at the Council Edifice under their protection. There, she befriends other artists in residence, such as Thomas and Jo. Kira, who has a special gift for embroidery, is tasked with restoring the sceneries on the Singer's robe but lacks the knowledge to create the color blue. With the help of Matt and his dog Branch, she discovers the plant needed for the blue dye and uncovers a greater secret about her family and the Ruin Song.

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  Gathering Blue
at FLYLeF (www.flylef.com) with 3.5/5


LOIS LOWRY CONTINUES to create a unique world in her second volume of The Giver quartet. In
  Gathering Blue
, she intricately weaves a society wrought with poverty, where savagery, greed, and deceit prevail, and the weak are mercilessly shunned and discarded.


Kira, born physically flawed, is destined for abandonment in the Field of Leaving. By the fierce protection and love of her mother, she marginally escapes this heartless custom. When her mother unexpectedly falls ill, she finds herself orphaned and in danger of an envious woman named Veranda who seeks to steal her home and leave her to the “beasts.” Kira’s dangerous confrontation with Veranda brings her before the all-powerful Guardians – enforcers of their justice system. Seemingly kind, the Guardians remove her from her rundown home to live under their protection at the Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her skills to do their bidding.


Separated from her home with only the mysterious Guardian Jamison for supervision, Kira's loneliness is abated when friendships blossom with the other artists in residence. Thomas, a young carver who works on the intricate symbols engraved on the Singer's staff, and Jo, a three-year girl with the voice of an angel being trained as the next Singer.


Blessed with an inexplicable and almost magical gift with embroidery, Kira is given the task of restoring the beautiful sceneries of their world’s past on the Singer’s robe. But, she lacks the knowledge to create the missing color blue. With the help of a mischievous boy named Matt and his little companion dog Branch, Kira at last finds the plant that will allow her to create the blue dye. And with this knowledge, she also discovers a far greater secret about her family, the forbidden truth at the heart of the Ruin Song, and the courage to transform the future in her art and creativity.

Seriously?!? You cannot end a book like this! You just can't! Ugh, ok where to begin.

I was really disappointed when I first started this book upon realizing that it wasn't a direct continuation of The Giver. However, to my great surprise, I ended up falling in love with these characters even more deeply!

I still have a burning desire to discover what became of the boys from The Giver. Nevertheless, I have a glimmer of an idea about how their stories might potentially come together later on.

As for this particular book, I was truly shocked by Kira's decision at the end. Yet, I choose to remain hopeful that she has a valid and perhaps even noble reason for doing what she did.

Eagerly, I am now moving on to the next installment, filled with anticipation and curiosity to see where the story will lead.

While Gathering Blue is the second book in The Giver Quartet, it is not a direct sequel to The Giver. However, there are notable similarities. Both stories delve into themes such as physical and emotional pain, individual worth, communal memory, and the role of the governing body within a community. Astonishingly, all of these are explored through the eyes and experiences of children.

I have a deep affection for the main characters, namely Kira, Thomas, Matt, and Jo. (I even have a soft spot for Matt's resilient dog, Branch.) In the midst of the violence and anxiety that pervades their dystopian village, these children remain incredibly calm and reliable. They are intelligent and thoughtful, gentle, sensitive, and loving. They almost seem too "perfect" to be real children, yet each day I eagerly anticipated escaping into their world and hearing about their adventures.

I was profoundly moved by the vivid descriptions of the surroundings and events, both beautiful and horrible, which appear to be a trademark of author Lois Lowry. Similar to The Giver, Gathering Blue has strong spiritual undertones. I was astounded by the symbolism intricately woven into the story, much like Kira weaves her colorful threads into the fabric of the community's sacred robe. Kira is a girl with both a challenge and a gift, and throughout the story, there is a palpable sense of a divine presence and purpose in her life.

Although this book has been on my virtual "to-read" shelf ever since I read The Giver a couple of years ago, I am glad that I did not rush to read it sooner. It has come to me after a long period of inactivity, a difficult journey through a spiritual wilderness, like a clear blue sky after a storm or cool water on a hot day. Its loving tones, rich symbolism, and the hope for the future in Kira's world have begun to rejuvenate me. And once again, as often occurs during the time of Epiphany when the days start to lengthen, I feel confident that the Inner Light will also return.

This book tells the story of a teenage girl named Kira. She was born with a leg deformity, which made her seem "useless" to the village. Tragically, her mother passed away, and her father was dragged away by a fierce beast in the nearby woods.

The villagers planned to kick Kira out of the village and take away her house. However, Kira didn't want to lose her home as she would have nowhere to live. So, they let the Council of Guardians decide. The Council Guardians decided to let the people take her house but allowed Kira to stay in the council to help out.

In the Council, Kira met a few friends and was tasked with maintaining a robe at a normal status. She had to gather different colored dyes to thread the robes from time to time. Among them, the blue dye stood out the most when she was gathering, which is why this book is called Gathering Blue.

I can't really relate to this book as none of these things have actually happened to me. One thing I can relate to is when a group of people come piling on me and want to tease me or take my stuff away. It makes me feel helpless and alone, just like Kira must have felt at times.

Spoilers

I found myself enjoying this book slightly more than The Giver, which is the first book in the series. Kira, the protagonist, was more relatable than Jonas. However, she had her drawbacks. She wasn't very endearing as she lacked depth and was rather uninteresting. All there was to her was her niceness and her tendency to let others push her around, control her, and use her. I would have preferred a heroine who was more in charge of herself and more aware of her surroundings.
The world in Gathering Blue wasn't as fascinating as that of The Giver. It was still fairly decent but lacked imagination. The world building mainly consisted of Kira living in a village where everyone was mean, and those seen as flawed, weak, or reliant were rejected. Kira's world just didn't stand out enough for me. It was okay, but I was expecting more after reading The Giver.
There were a few aspects that I thought were quite good. For example, the villagers who were considered defective were left to die in the 'field'. Also, after her mother died, Kira had to defend her right to stay in her village. Additionally, a syllable was added to each person's name as they grew older. The ceremony, song, and robe revealing the history of the world were interesting, as was Kira's powers/weaving being used to shape the future.
Matt was a really great character. He was charming, adventurous, and loyal. I loved how much he helped Kira. Their friendship was definitely the highlight of the book for me. The other characters, on the other hand, were boring and forgettable.
I was less than impressed with the evil, controlling council. It was just so predictable and cliched. I would have preferred if the council had a different motivation for their controlling ways, a genuine reason for wanting a certain future to be weaved rather than just being selfish and greedy for power.
Overall, it was a pretty good read, but it would have been better if the protagonist and world building were more complex and unique.

A quick read,

yet it was a little confusing as it didn't seem to have a direct connection to the first book in the series.

Kira has just endured the loss of her mother, and now she stands alone, facing the cruel women of the village.

She is crippled, and in their eyes, she is nothing but an extra mouth to feed, someone who contributes nothing.

But Kira does possess one skill, one that might just save her life.

This world is vastly different from the one introduced in the first book of the series.

The people are dirty, constantly fighting for food.

They keep their toddlers in pens with the fowl and live in简陋的huts.

It was completely unexpected.

The treatment of kids in this book was truly saddening.

The people in the town were selfish, willing to get what they wanted even at the expense of their children.

The slapping and kicking were also quite shocking.

However, I did enjoy the main character, Kira.

Despite her naivety, it was really interesting to see the world through her eyes.

I'm intrigued to find out what will happen to her and how these two different worlds will combine.

When looking at it separately, it is a 4-star book.

It is well-written, with a solid establishment that brings you into a world that is distinct, thinks differently, and arrives at different conclusions than what you are accustomed to.

The author has done a great job of creating a unique and engaging fictional realm.

However, as a book two in a quartet, I am extremely confused.

What is happening? Where are we in the story? When did certain events occur? Why are things the way they are?

I find myself constantly asking these questions, and it is a bit frustrating.

I hope that these mysteries will be explained in the books to come.

Right now, I am just left in a state of confusion, trying to piece together the puzzle that the author has presented.

Despite my confusion, I am still intrigued by the story and eager to see how it all unfolds.

I have faith that the author will eventually clarify everything and make it all worthwhile.

Until then, I will continue to read on, hoping to find the answers I seek.

Audiobook (5 hours) narrated by Katherine Borowitz

The narration and audio are of high quality, free from distortion, erroneous noise, or obvious edits.

Gathering Blue is the second book in The Giver series. At first, I was confused as to what was happening. I expected, as the second book in a series, that it would pick up where The Giver left off. However, it turned out to be a completely different story, with new characters in a different place.

Once I stopped trying to connect this book to the previous one, I did enjoy the story and the characters. The reason for giving three stars instead of four is that The Giver ended on a cliffhanger. While it's a style choice for some authors to not tie up ends and leave the reader to consider future possibilities, as the first book in the series, I had no idea the story wouldn't continue. I'm still unsure if these are worlds on the same timeline that will tie together or if each book is a stand-alone dystopian story with different societies.

My issue now is that I'm not sure if this story, which also had a similar ending, will continue or if we'll move on to another new story. I'm confused about the timelines. If the series is called The Giver because the giver in the first book holds the memories of these stories and it's a retelling over time of different societies, then I'm not sure if it's been unclear or if I missed something.

I did enjoy the story. The author created a very different yet similar value system where society values memories and the past being kept by certain individuals. Until I finish the series, I can't say if reading all the books is necessary to complete the overall story or if it's more of a pick-and-choose situation. From what I've seen, it seems the first three may be stand-alone stories and the fourth book pulls them together. I was hesitant to read too much about the final book to avoid spoiling anything for myself.

If I had understood Gathering Blue to be a new story, I would have given it closer to four stars. It's a good story with well-developed characters and an interesting world. As I peeked at other reviews, I wasn't the only one surprised, and it seems to have thrown off other readers too. In conclusion, I believe Lowry did a disservice to her readers by not making it clear how her series is tied together and that there wouldn't be a continuation of the story from book to book, as most series do.

I hope this doesn't sound as unclear and disjointed as I feel. I'll try to remember to come back and note if there are any continuations in the next two books.

Edit: As promised, I finished the final book of the series on 06/22/2024 my review is here.

It turns out that Gathering Blue and Messenger are side quests in the series, while the final book, Son, wraps up the original story of The Giver, book#1.

I would recommend The Giver, followed by the movie. You can stop there and be satisfied and move on to other things. If you really want to wrap up the original story by Lois Lowry, but that's all, then jump to Son. If you enjoyed the world built by Lois Lowry and want to see all the details, then read all four books. Each story is enjoyable and the characters are interesting.

Happy Reading!

This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd

\\n  MY THOUGHTS\\n
If you're anticipating a sequel to The Giver, you'll be extremely disappointed. The two books have no connection whatsoever. Just consider this book as another dystopian tale, and you'll enjoy it more.

This book centers around Kira, a young girl born with a bad leg and ostracized because of it. When her mother passes away, she is evicted from her home and left to die. She is only saved by her talent for thread and weaving. She discovers a new home but begins to uncover the truths of her village.

I couldn't overly like this book, simply because I've read similar dystopians, and the same goes for The Giver. I'm aware that these were published first, but it still holds me back. Nevertheless, I found this book to be interesting. I was able to sense that something was amiss in the village early on, yet I was still very eager to see how Kira would respond. I also relished the aspect of the arts. I'm an artist, and although my particular form of art wasn't really present here, I happen to appreciate all forms of art.

Kira is an outstanding main character. She was born with a defect that makes her village view her as worthless. However, she is far from worthless and actually takes a stand. I also like how close she is to the friends she made in this book!

\\n  IN CONCLUSION\\n
Overall, I thought this was a great dystopian! Many will be let down by it not being a sequel to The Giver, but it's still worth reading! Lois Lowry is a remarkable writer, and I will continue to read the remainder of the books in this quartet.

This started out okay, but as it progressed, I gradually lost interest.

I truly felt sorry for Kira and the way she was treated in this book. The people of this village were extremely harsh. They really didn't give anyone a chance if they had any sort of disability or impairment.

The storyline centered around Kira being at risk of being expelled from the village where she lived after her mother passed away, and her life subsequent to that. There were numerous plot-points that were entirely too evident, and the sluggish pace in the second half really killed this book for me.

The ending was acceptable, although it was clear that the story would be continued.

Overall, I would rate this book a 6 out of 10.

I decided to read this book mainly because I had such a great enjoyment from reading "The Giver". However, to my great disappointment, this book failed to meet my expectations.

It was highly predictable, lacking in imagination, and failed to evoke any emotions within me. I simply couldn't feel any connection or empathy for any of the characters. It seemed as if they were written in a rather forced way, just to try and pull at the reader's heartstrings.

Unlike "The Giver", the plot points in this novel felt extremely contrived. Up until the very end, I found myself completely uninterested in what would happen to Kira or anyone else associated with her.

Perhaps a young reader might find some enjoyment in this book, but I would not recommend it to anyone else.

PS - Nobody really likes to read about people who are brutish, base, and who basically disregard familial love as a way of life. It's truly a depressing and unappealing aspect of the story.

Gathering Blue is the second installment in Lowry's "The Giver" quartet. It is important to note that it is not a direct sequel to "The Giver". So, if you approach it with the expectation of a continuation in that sense, you might be let down. Instead, it serves as a "companion" piece to "The Giver". Nevertheless, it is far from being a disappointment. In fact, it is a truly beautiful story that explores the profound themes of the power of love, freedom, and compassion. At the same time, it offers a dire warning about the perils and evil of totalitarian control within a society. The narrative takes readers on a journey through a world that is both captivating and thought-provoking, making them reflect on the value of these essential human qualities and the consequences of losing them.