The Giver by Lois Lowry is a YA sci-fi dystopian novel that seems to be set in a, somewhat, near future. The main character Jonas lives in a Community that is very ordered, structured, and everything seems to have it's own place. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING. No one has any choices in this novel. Your jobs are chosen for you, your family, your children, everything is carefully selected. No one can choose their own wife/husband or anything, it is all chosen for them. 
 There is also no colour, no pleasure, not even music. Everything different seems to have been taken away from these people in favor for 'sameness'. Everyone even has similar hairstyles and clothing. 
 One would think such a lifestyle is well...scary and awful. Well, not to these people. See, almost everybody has grown up in this society so they have no clue what they are missing in life. They are totally oblivious to it. All who live in this community are...all except one person. 
 This person is called 'The Giver'. He alone holds all the memories of the world inside him, and it's his job to train his successor to do the same. Jonas is that successor. 
 This novel really makes you stop and think on certain aspects of our own society. Do we not try to erase painful memories, wishing them to go away? Do we not try to live our lives as pain free as possible? Do we not have something quite similar to the concept of 'Release'? 
 Pondering these questions really makes you think that our own world isn't that much different from this one. And that's a frightening thought when one gets down to it. 
 Even though this is a YA novel, it does tackle some strong and, at times, disturbing themes. But it is all handled in a well crafted, genius story. I highly recommend this book if you haven't read it already. 
 I will definitely be picking up the two companion novels when I can. Lois Lowry has made it to my all time favorite authors list for sure.