Has anyone read Gathering Blue?

I read "The Giver" back in 8th grade (I'm a junior), and I decided I wanted to read the companion novels "Gathering Blue" and "The Messenger" so I re-read the giver for a refresher and I finally moved on to gathering blue. I have read about a chapter and so far I think it's sort of strange. I loved the giver but gathering blue seems to be much different. My question is...have you read gathering blue and is it worth me finishing? And if I went ahead and skipped to the messenger, would I be confused?