*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***
This story is divided into three sections. Book I, in which we go back to the events of The Giver and see the timeline from Claire's perspective, made for a slow start for me. Since I knew what would happen, I was anxious to move forward and get to the events after Jonas took Gabe from the community.
I found Book II much more engaging. I appreciated the author's creativity in inventing yet another isolated community, unique in its own way. I also enjoyed the way Clair discovered mundane things and found them enchanting because she had never known them before. Still no answers were given, however, regarding how this world came to be, and I was left wondering why Claire's original home was so technologically advanced while all other communities were so primitive.
Book II as a whole made me think of how it is that our lives are made out of distinct phases that come and go. We are who we are because of the experiences we've had and the people we meet - this is where Claire witnessed how loving parents treat their children, and where she learned about romantic love - and sometimes, though there may be nothing wrong with where we are, we still need to move forward.
The entire series came to a satisfying conclusion in Book III, and I was pleased to see some of my questions from Messenger answered. It was gratifying to finally understand Trademaster, who in this book was more clearly the Devil, at times even being described like a snake. (p. 264) I was especially happy to at last read the scene, in which Claire confides in Jonas, that I had been waiting the whole book to read. (p. 311)
In the end, there seemed to be a message of how, if you put good intentions out into the world, that good is reflected and given back to you. Just as evil feeds off of hate, goodness is made stronger by love.
This being the last book of the series, I knew the world had a supernatural component. But as with The Giver, a large chunk of the book passed without any reference to any magical powers or beings, and I was lulled into thinking of Claire's world as merely characterized by the communities in which she lived. The sudden appearance, more than halfway through the book, of something supernatural felt jarring.
As much as I enjoyed Claire's story, there were two things that irked me.
First, I wish the author had included a scene showing Claire and Alys saying goodbye. I had eagerly anticipated this scene, feeling sure it would be emotional and meaningful, and was surprised and disappointed when I realized it was omitted. Here Claire was the daughter Alys had never had, and Alys was the loving mother Claire had never had, surely their parting was significant.
Second, why wouldn't Claire - upon finding Gabe in the village and realizing that Jonas was there, too - go to Jonas, tell him her whole story, and figure out a plan for meeting Gabe earlier?! I can't understand how she waited SEVEN YEARS, until she was practically on her death bed, to make a move. It pained me to think of all those years lost and wasted.
One final note from a parental perspective. Though I categorized the first 3 books of this series as children's books, this one I think borders on young adult, mainly because of one line in which Einar described the abuses he suffered from his father and implied sexual assault. (p. 207) Still, younger readers might just gloss over the oblique reference and not even realize they've missed anything.
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