This was a beautifully written, exciting book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt like I was heading off on a journey with relatable, well-developed characters beside me. The world-building was so good and the world came alive around me, further immersing me into the story. The author is one to watch and I can’t wait to see what they write next. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

Giften by Leyla Suzan takes place in a world lead by MAGs (Men and Guns) who use intimidation and fear to keep control, after an event known as The Darkening. People in the Field are constantly scared that the dark men will steal their food. When Ruthie finds out she is Giften, someone who has the ability to create crops from dead soil, she realises she’s in danger and that she could be putting her whole community at risk. Ruthie and a group of friends set off on a quest in hope of finding a rebel community, ultimately looking for hope.

I love quest stories and this book nailed some of the classic tropes, from the typical oral narrative to the fight for survival and group bonding. But with its unique, post-apocalyptic style storyline, it brings a new twist.

As this book is YA, it is aimed at a younger audience, but the writing doesn’t take away from the well-executed world and character building. I loved the chapter beginnings, little diary extracts that gave the world more history and showed the fear of the world they are living in.

is an intelligent post-apocalyptic story, with a central core of  strong ecological ethics without risking being preachy. The author talks to her audience as people, there is a lack of patronising , or over explanation, which often , in this reader's opinion, detracts from the narrative in Y.A reads.

Whilst acknowledging that I am not the target audience, Y.A books are fascinating to me as a mother of teens, and a pure lover of good story telling-possibly because books like this just didn't exist when I was a teen. In this world, post an event known as The Darkening, communities live isolated and afraid of those who live in The City, those who turn up on a whim and demand an 'Offering'.

These are MAGs, Men And Guns, who take by force and intimidation, as well as by stealth. For the city is pre-occupied with the Giften, the randomly abled young who are of both sexes, and can raise , from dead ground, crops to sustain the living. Keeping these as closely guarded secrets results in the death of all in the community-the one which this novel focusses on is called The Filed, many years have gone into building, and sustaining it, and propagating the crops, whilst telling tales of the times before.

The Field Day celebrations, where the community comes together in The Shed, a meeting place and gathering spot, to celebrate and give thanks for making it through another year, similar to a harvest.

The family of first person narrator, Ruthie, have been devastated by the loss of Dan, Ruthie's father. He and best friend Owen went out on a supply run for Owen to return alone. Owen, literally and metaphorically, takes the place of Dan, stating that he escaped from MAGs whilst Dan was captured. He moves in with Gemma,Ruthie's mother, and Ruthie, bringing his son Seb and before long, she is pregnant and has a son with Owen, named Ant.

Unhappy as she is at the supplanting of her father, worse is to come as Ruthie falls violently ill, to the point of death. Dragging herself out in the middle of horrendous heat, onto the burnt and parched ground, a transformation occurs, Ruthie becomes a Giften. The community come together to be told that they have one in the midst, but not who it is, and so move forward with stealth to keep Ruthie safe and their community from the watchful eyes of MAGs.

But with high prices offered for passing on who is a Giften, the risk is too high to ignore. The enclosed, safe world of the Field needs to be left behind, and.like the hobbits in JRR Tolkien's works, Ruthie, Seb, Dev (another teen boy) and Stace, Ruthie's best friend set out for world beyond their own, in an attempt to meet eth rebel group , The Circle, or to take Ruthie to meet those who live in the Sanctuary.

Being brave is not easy, their entire lives have been lived in such a small place, and under such stringent conditions, but when news of experiments in The City, on Giften, in the attempt to pass this quality onto 'norms', a stand must be made.

It is an epic quest, driven by the voice of Ruthie, which is beautifully interspersed with the oral tradition of these people who pass down the tales and life stories of each other. In so doing, they are keeping an ancient tradition alive, and also laying down future warnings about caring for a world which was plundered to the point of near destruction. Nature fought back in the form of droughts, earthquakes and floods, so it is a brilliant metaphor for change to allude to the transformation from child to adult, that they are the ones who not only activate change, but also to pull growth from the earth. Their lack of greed, and lack of influence by a society which values all the wrong virtues, gives certain teens abilities to bring forth life. They symbolise the future, whereas, the industrial sounding City, seeks to exploit, for their own needs, the gift that these teens have.

Overall, the motif of Giften is that greed will always lead to failure, and that humans have the chance to learn to change, and need to recognise this before time runs out to reverse the damage done in the name of progress.

It is a also an interesting meditation on what story telling means, and how, through division, it is relatively easy for fear and exploitation to prosper.

I’ll say from the beginning that I loved this book; it was interesting, addictive and with a human touch that made you feel part of the story from the first page.
Giften is about a dystopian world, where people live in small communities and controlled by some dark men called Mags who dominate them with fear and stealing their food. The story is told by a teenage girl living at the Field, Ruthie, who will see her life changed when one of her friends is kidnapped from the Field because is Giften.
The story will show us a society that needs to survive without food and that is afraid every day that the “men in black” will return to kill them or kidnap their children. Let’s be honest, this is not a way to live and when Ruthie discovers that is a Giften too, she knows that her life and the ones surrounding her is in danger; so she decides to leave the community but not alone, surrounded with people that loves her. This trip will show her that in any fight there’s a good and a bad side, but that nothing is ever totally black or white, we live in a grey world.
I think this is really good adventure book, it will keep any reader, young or adult, invested in the story, also I would love to know more about the characters and how everything will change for them!
Are you ready to discover the “Giften”?

Today is my stop on the blogtour for 𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐍 by Leyla Suzan. Thank you to Poppy at Pushkin for having me along and for sending me a copy of the ebook.
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𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬 , 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.
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Giften is a dystopian fantasy novel, set sometime in the future, when global warming and adverse weather have ravaged the world, leaving it barren and desolate.
Several small communities are trying to make a life for themselves, growing what they can in the parched ground, and giving regular offerings to their aggressive and violent overseers (the 'MAGs') who reside in the city.
But occasionally, one member of the community with develop a gift (the Giften) which allows them to nurture the soil and plants, and which puts the whole community at risk.
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𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞.
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The structure of the story is well laid out, with each chapter opening being the captured verbal accounts of survivors from the communities, members of The Syndicate (a group of nomadic giften who have escaped the MAGs), and The Circle (a resistance group dedicated to fighting the overseers who would seek to take food and Giften from the communities).
The main protagonist in the present tense of the story is Ruthie, who develops the gift following a bout of illness as a teenager, and has to navigate this new ability while deciding for herself what actions to take, and where her morality lies.
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.
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Suzan's depiction and descriptions of characters throughout Giften are excellent. Their appearance tells you about their personality, and who they are, rather than just being focussed on physical attributes.
She executes her world-building well, and doesn't overcomplicate it with too many made up words to account for differences from the real world.
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𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 ... 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝.
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Ruthie makes the difficult decision to leave her community, rather than risk putting them all in danger, and it isn't long before she realises that she will need to fight for what she believes is right.
I'm not going to give any spoilers here, but Suzan does an excellent job of portraying morally grey characters throughout her novel - it's not as simple as things being 'good' or 'evil', but Ruthie must decide what sort of future she wants to live in, and how far she is willing to go to ensure that future.
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𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡 , 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧.
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It's important for readers to remember that Giften is aimed at a younger audience, but I think fans of books like The Hunger Games will enjoy this story.
I would definitely consider reading more from Leyla Suzan in the future.

🌿🌾 BOOK TOUR REVIEW 🌾🌿

Giften by @giften_book

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5🌟s

Thanks to @poppyandherbooks at @pushkin_press for sending me a #gifted copy of this fab book in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I wish I could read it for the first time again!

This is a dystopian book which is so very realistic but with a magical undertone throughout. It gave me “Nora Roberts - Chronicles of The One” vibes and like that series, this book is going on my list of favourite books that I recommend to anyone and everyone. Solicited or not!!

Ever since The Darkening, survival has been a struggle. The people of the Field toil on parched earth, trying to forge a life amid dwindling resources.

As one of the Giften, Ruthie is a saviour to her isolated community: her hands hold the rare ability to raise food from dead soil. But she is also its greatest danger.

I am a huge lover of YA books particularly those that have a magical touch. So this book is the dream for me.

I loved Ruthie and her friends and the people in their community.

I also loved the diary entries at the start of the chapters. When you read the chapter you can then reflect on the diary entry. I think this is the part I love the most.

Whether you are a lover of YA or not, you should give this book a whirl!

#LeylaSuzan #PushkinPress #BookReview #DystopianFiction #Review #AmReading

Giften, a realistic dystopian.
In you, it gifts...

A tear in the flesh.
A crack in the bone.
A thorn in the eye.
A bad tooth.

It hurts.
It seriously hurts.

Flashing.
Futuristic.
Frightening.
Visionary.
Wisdom.

Thank you Poppy, Pushkin Press and Net Galley for the eARC.

Today I found myself lost in the apocalyptic world of 'Giften' by Leyla Suzan, a dystopian YA novel set for release in September 2021.


Here is what I thought...


'Giften' is set years in the future when humans have all but destroyed the earth, and resources are sparse. But there is a solution, a saviour, those with the power to grow bountiful supplies in otherwise dead earth - They are the Giften, and they are a threat. We follow Ruthie - a giften from the Farm who, with the help of friends new and old, sparks a revolution and faces dangers unknown.


Although short and sweet at only 304 pages, I really enjoyed Leyla Suzan's debut novel. I did feel like I was left wanting more, that there were questions unanswered, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing - it leaves room for a second book, and in the meantime, I can use my imagination to answer my questions.


Though set in a world of fiction, I found 'Giften' to be incredibly thought - provoking. In recent years, the conversation surrounding Climate Change has become incredibly important, with many of us wondering... What will happen to the earth if we continue to treat it this way?

This is a young adult post apocalyptic/dystopia story where, following a cataclysmic event in the past, most people essentially live as subsistence farmers or in 'the city'.

Some people have the ability to make food grow in barren soil, just by putting their hands in the ground. If discovered, the city removes these people at gunpoint - allegedly to help feed the city but more likely to experiment on them.

There is the bones of a potentially good story but everything happens too fast. With barely 300 pages to get from discovering abilities to inspiring revolution and a big showdown, no moment is given any time to breathe and the scenes tend towards being very short and telling not showing. As such, it's hard to have emotional engagement with the characters.