Son by Lois Lowry (Giver Quartet #4) (audio)

After something went wrong with the birth of her product, Claire is sent to work in the fish hatchery. But a slip-up of an official allows her to know that the baby was a boy assigned the number 36. Claire finds herself becoming attached to the baby. So when Jonas, a young boy in the village, takes the baby, Claire sets out to find her son.

This follow-up to The Giver and companion to Messenger and Gathering Blue follows Claire through her life in the Community and beyond on her quest to find Gabriel. It's interesting because you get to see more of life in the Community from an adult's point of view (relative term because Claire is only 15) and more about Gabriel and Jonas' father. It's been a while since I read The Giver so I don't remember all of the story, just the major plot points. But still I got along fine.

I liked Claire and how strong and determined she is. I enjoyed seeing her grow from a young girl to a woman. It was nice to see Jonas again and see how he has grown and matured and made a nice life for himself. And it was also nice to see the village that they live in growing and thriving after the events in Messenger. There is also a lot more of Gabriel and his perspective. I was frustrated a bit though that the first two thirds of the book were from Claire's POV and then it switches to Gabriel's for the last third. It's like we spend all this time with Claire and then she is left out. I know the reason and it probably couldn't have been written any of the way but it bothered me a little. Also the ending bothered me too. It felt so abrupt after a four book journey to get to this point. I wanted to see a little more.

Still it was a solid ending to this series. It is very well written and flows so well with the others in this series. I am sad to see it over but glad that there was a happy ending.

Bernadette Dunn is the narrator and she does a beautiful job with this book. I enjoyed listening to her and she carried the book very well.

8 hours, 11 minutes