The Giver

My book club chose to read The Giver in preparation for the movie (which will be out in August). I think it's probably been a decade since I last read this. I loved it then, but I have read so much dystopian literature at this point that The Giver comes off as very simplistic. Very little of Jonas's world makes sense to me. Why don't they see colors? Where are the animals? How does the Giver and the Receiver have magical powers when no one else does? I remember being shocked at what happened with the father, but blurred it in my mind with another book that “released” old people after a celebration of their lives (was is Matched by Condie)? I'm glad I reread it, because it was an important book for its time. I'm just not sure how it holds up. It didn't for me.