I was expecting something more. The Giver series felt more like four separate books that interconnected rather than one complete series. None of the questions I had after The Giver were answered. None of the questions I had from any of the prior books were answered either. She never explained anything further from any of the books. Too many times in this book and previous ones she'd say something like "and then things changed" without going further in depth. I felt like The Giver got away with that as a standalone, but as I series I needed something more.

I thought this was going to be the conclusion that tied everything together, but it really just felt like an entirely different book, as they all did. I was left feeling very disappointed. I didn't hate this book or any book in the series, but it was just okay on its own and kind of bleh on the series as a whole.

This was also the first book that I would classify as completely young adult, where I'd consider the previous three middle grade (Messenger borderline).

I'd one hundred percent recommend everyone read The Giver, and Gathering Blue wasn't as good, but still a worthwhile read. Messenger and Son just didn't do anything for me and I'll probably forget they were even a part of this world.