This is definitely a book that any fan of the dystopian YA world that loved The Hunger Games and Divergent. We follow the hard journey of children in this post-apocalyptic world who have special abilities. I really enjoyed the settings that this story took place in and the use of the natural world. I did find that it was a bit slow at many points, but that may just be me. I'm rating it three out of five stars because the book was definitely enjoyable, but it didn't blow me away.

I requested Giften a while ago, but didn’t read it before it expired, so I borrowed it from my library so I could review it. Unfortunately, I was also a bit disappointed and gave it three stars.

While the idea was really interesting sounding, the execution wasn’t so good. It was a very simple book; if the main character thought someone was a bad person, they would be a bad person. There was a character that was constantly mentioned, only for them to get no resolution for that plot line other than them being missing and presumed dead. Which is something you could have assumed from the very beginning.

As I mentioned, the main character usually being right about what kind of person someone is before even meeting them is part of a larger problem I had with the book. It felt formulaic and predictable, with big events happening almost like clockwork, to the point I could guess when something was about to happen by how many chapters I had read. There wasn’t really anything to break out of this pattern either, so there were times where I felt like I was reading a three hundred page summary of events, rather than the events themselves.

The naming and language in this book doesn’t do it any favours, either. A lot of places are called the capitalised version of what they are. A field? The Field. A city? The City. The Woods, the Clearing, just over and over again. It got very boring very quickly, and it felt like the had thrown some placeholder names in and forgotten about them. On top of that, instead of any swearing, the characters use the word “gregious” for anything and everything. It was, for lack of better words, egregious (ba dum tss). It gets used so much, and it just gets so annoying so fast. It took me out of the story every time it happened.

Anyway, my final complaint is about something that only shows up for a small part of the book, but still overshadows most of my memories of this book, and not in a positive way. There's a weird romantic confession from the main character's stepbrother to the main character , which is such an ick for me. it takes up so many of my thoughts about the book that I had to sit and think for a bit just to remember the ending, which usually isn't even a problem when I didn't like a book.

I feel like I'm being too negative, so I would like to talk about the more positive aspects of this book.it was an interesting mix of fantasy and dystopian that was fairly easy to read. I would recommend it to someone that likes dystopian books and wants something quick to read between series or bigger books. I didn’t hate this book, hence the 3 star rating, I just think it could have been improved with more expanded worldbuilding and maybe a plot twist. And no step sibling almost romance.

This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

2.5 (rounded down) ⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded so interesting, and I don’t read a whole lot of dystopian books.

Unfortunately, for me, this was very early 00s YA. And not in the forgivable way of actual 00s YA. For me the genre has come so far since then and so this just didn’t cut it for me. For example, a bad kinda love triangle, but like with no stake in it at all a s the characters were so flat, with little to differentiate them from each other.

Not a 1 ⭐️ as the premise is really good, and it had some moments but this was a disappointment for me.

Giften
YA, Dystopian, Fantasy
Leyla Suzan
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I'm a bit on the fence with this book. While there were interesting parts, I wasn't blown away.

I did like the world building but I think it would've been better with some more development.

The pacing was ok but it did slow down and drag a bit in the middle which made it harder for me to stay connected to the characters and the plot.

I did like the characters for the most part. They were likeable, although sometimes they were stereotypical.

While this was an ok read, I feel like with a few tweaks here and there, it could be a great read.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

Giften is quite a short read, sub 300 pages, however in this case I do feel like it suffers more from this condensed size. The general concept is great, so basic but so good. It is a dystopian Earth where natural disasters of some kind have ruined the infrastructure and left the world as a parched and desolate wasteland. Communities are isolated and toil within themselves to provide enough food to both feed themselves and to provide the “offerings” demanded of them by the dark and mysterious City. MAGs arrive regularly, decked out in black and armed, and take away large portions of what food the communities are able to produce, as well as occasionally taking away people too.

Some people in the universe find themselves blessed (or cursed) with the ability to raise food from the dead soil just by touch, however the City hunts these “Giften” and takes them away by force for reasons unknown to the communities. Ruthie is Giften and with her gift comes danger, danger that leads her outside the confines of the Field that she has lived her whole life in.

I think the concept and the world is phenomenal, however I really do feel it needed to be fleshed out more, the final third in particular feels very rushed and would benefit so much from an extra 100 pages or so!

Giften is a dystopian YA for suitable for fans Divergent series. This story is about the farming community in the post apocalyptic world. They struggles to grow plant in dry land for feed them self and also sent offering to the capital city. Sometimes one special kid among them will have special ability to raising food from land only with single touch from hands. They are a Giften and MAG army from capital will hunt down and take all this special kid from their communities. We will explore this world and the special power with following a young giften name Ruthie.

This book is brimming with potential. The premise isnt new but it work with previous books with similar theme. But I think this book need additional meat at every aspect. The worldbuilding need alot explanation and depth exploration. The characters loveable but stereotype. I cant feel any connection and they are alot but not flesh out. The plot feel rush for me but still fun to follow with all those survival quest and rebellion plan. The writing is okay and still open to improvement.
The villains still look two dimensional and too black or white.
I personally love the family aspect and inner strength from our MC. I appreciate there no triangle love and romance isnt take big part in the plot. I enjoy Ruthie focus on mission without love angsty. It is predictable but enjoyable read.

Thank you Pushkin Press Children Book and Netgalley for provided me with this copy. My thoughts and opinions always my own

Not really my style or for me, but I know plenty of others will enjoy this, nothing bad to say other than that

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was interesting. I know some people would love this. For me was a pass, not my style but gratamente sorprendido!!

The worldbuilding is astounding, the atmosphere is perfectly eerie and the sheer terror of the characters was portrayed so well. This book was a very unique journey unlike any other. One of my best reads this year and I highly recommend it to everyone.

What an interesting read! This felt very Hunger Gamesy at the beginning, and I was really drawn in, but the middle got really repetitive and cliched. By the end I was forcing myself to be intrigued.

I would definitely read more books from Leyla Suzan, but this wasn't quite it.

I really wanted to love this book, truly. I was really drawn to it by the description and I was sure this would be a 5-star read for me but it missed the mark.

As a whole, I enjoyed it: the character development, the world building, and the pacing are all solid up until the middle where it began to drag. The book description seems to have oversold the magic as it wasn't as interwoven in the story as I expected. Overall this feels like a (good) first draft, but there was so much room to write more, to create a world that readers would come back to.

I do think that some teens may truly enjoy this novel, however it is not an item I would re-read.

Giften takes place in a dystopian future, where small communities work hard to farm the land after climactic catastrophes have decimated the planet. Ruthie and her friends live in The Field, one such community. Unfortunately these communities are forced to hand over large portions of what they grow to the MAGs (men and guns), enforcers from the City who are also always on the lookout for certain individuals who have a special gift (Giften). Giften have the power to grow plants in barren soil, a great help in this ravaged land. Whenever they find one, the MAGs take the Giften back to the City for experimentation. Ruthie is secretly a Giften, and is forced to leave her home when her secret comes out. She begins her journey by traveling with her friends to seek asylum with the Sanctuary, a group of Giften who live separately and fight the MAGs for their freedom. Along the way, they learn about their world, and have to decide if they're willing to fight for their future.

I haven't read a dystopian novel in a while, and this one filled that hole. The idea of the Giften separates this from a lot of other stories; it's an interesting power that really fits well in a story about a planet surviving after near extinction due to climactic events. I got a sense of realism from the characters, with their emotions and relationships. You can feel everyone's motivations, even the villains. This isn't the most action packed novel, but when the action comes up, it is well done. Maybe not the most innovative YA dystopian novel, but interesting to read nonetheless.

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC read!

I enjoyed the writing and concept of this story and early on I thought it had the potential to be a 5-star read for me. The characters and the dystopian world were both interesting. It did however start to drag a little in the middle. I think I would’ve liked this a lot more if there was more history of the world and the various clans of people.

Giften is an enjoyable and gripping young adult novel. I would gladly add this book to my classroom library, and appreciate the ideas it explores through dystopian fiction.

Very interesting dystopian novel. Unique writing style and point of view. Book really picks up about 20% in. Interesting concept and read. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I love the dystopian genre but didn’t love the writing style of this book but still enjoyed the overall story.

I love dystopian fiction and some YA dystopian novels are among my favorite books. This book had an engaging beginning with characters I was interested in and the promise of adventure and struggle to come. However, the middle left me wanting. I found myself losing interest in the writing and caring less about what happened to the characters. Some elements felt forced or too convenient. I did appreciate that there were no easy answers and what seemed black or white might just be gray. As the end approached I again was immersed in the plot. Overall, this is a decent book that explores a dystopian future in which some are giften, able to create life and a few also able to destroy it. For teens who enjoy this type of book I recommend giving it a try.

This book had an excellent premise which really drew me in from the start; the fact that the 'Giften' can raise food from dead soil and save their community from starvation. However I feel that so much more could have been made of this instead of which the book turned into what seemed to me to be one long battle. The descriptions and characterisation were very good but I was left with a feeling that something was missing, so much more could have been developed and explored.

Something about entertaining what life will be like in a post-apocalyptic world is equally terrifying and intriguing. This book is no exception. A world drained of natural resources is still fiction, but grows closer to being a reality. This book does a fantastic job of using fiction to have readers face the reality of our rapidly draining resources in Earth.

Giften by Leyla Suzan was a YA dystopian tale with fantasy elements. The premise of the story was interesting, which is what drew me to request it for review, but when I came to read it, it never really captured my heart. That's not to say there was anything at all wrong with it: the story idea worked well, the characters were mostly well presented and the world building and pacing were both fine. I just personally never got fully drawn into the tale; it was okay, but I wasn't blown away. As a note, I would say that I received the book as a ARC and while it downloaded fine onto my computer, when I tried to add it to my e-reader it would always look like it had synced but then not open properly on the device. As such, I had to read it on the computer screen, in between other tasks, rather than relaxed in the evening before bed, so it's fair to say that may have affected my ability to sink properly into the story. However, based on the reading experience I had with it, I am giving it three stars. If you like YA dystopia it's worth checking out.