I've been told that The Giver is the quintessential dystopian novel but it's been out a long time ago, and I've only read the more recent ones like The Hunger Games, Wither and Divergent and unfortunately, The Giver didn't capture my attention very much. The more recent dystopian novels have fantastic things going on and all that but The Giver doesn't. 
 It did have me guessing at some points but overall, I think it's more of a "thinking" novel. It's clear that something is wrong in this "utopian" society. Perhaps I've missed out some of the finer aspects of it but I didn't feel anything for the characters and the ending! I didn't get it at all. Now I feel stupid for not liking the novel at all. 2.5 stars!