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julieyael's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I had sile difficulties with this book. I found it hard to understand everything that was going on in the world building, probably because we only have the point of view of the android/AA.
Lots of things are subject to interpretation and I found the style a bit complicated.
Also it’s a bit of a dystopian world, which I am not a fan of, and the global tone was pretty sad in my opinion.
The themes are interesting and there is some reflection to have, but I was not convinced by the point of the whole story.
I found the plot pretty weak too.
Not a bad book, but I would’t read it again nor recommend it.
Lots of things are subject to interpretation and I found the style a bit complicated.
Also it’s a bit of a dystopian world, which I am not a fan of, and the global tone was pretty sad in my opinion.
The themes are interesting and there is some reflection to have, but I was not convinced by the point of the whole story.
I found the plot pretty weak too.
Not a bad book, but I would’t read it again nor recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, and Classism
Minor: Mental illness
amsswim's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This one was very sweet. You read from the perspective of an "Artifical Friend", a robot that accompanies children. I really loved how Klara interacted and saw the world. As well as how her perspective lacked context entirely sometimes, but had too much in other points. I would love to know more about the larger world the story takes place in, but it didn't matter to Klara so it was not in the story. It felt like a sweet, nice episode of Black Mirror (those are rare though). I'd recommend for science fiction people and those who like light science fiction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Cursing and Terminal illness
martasshelf's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was my first Kazuo Ishiguro book and I knew nothing about him or his writing. I picked this one because the resume on the back sounded interesting.
I think I liked it overall but found it boring and weird for the first two thirds of the book.
Almost at the end of the book I looked up some reviews and realized this was just the author's style. Some descriptions given by our narrator - Klara - had felt weird for me and I even wondered if my english, not being my first language, was failing me... No, I was just reading a robot's kind of mind.
If one enjoys slow paced books this will be a great choice. And the themes are pretty universal.
I think I liked it overall but found it boring and weird for the first two thirds of the book.
Almost at the end of the book I looked up some reviews and realized this was just the author's style. Some descriptions given by our narrator - Klara - had felt weird for me and I even wondered if my english, not being my first language, was failing me... No, I was just reading a robot's kind of mind.
If one enjoys slow paced books this will be a great choice. And the themes are pretty universal.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Grief and Child death
ank3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Ableism
_mininbooks_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Grief
kaitoro_walker13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Clever, sad and beautifully simple, Klara and the Sun was a book I enjoyed thoroughly. Although the plot starts to drag a little at the end, it still manages to feel interesting and calm throughout. This book is wonderfully written, and I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Grief
prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Abandonment, Classism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Pedophilia
heather_harrison's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Pros
* Nailed the linguistics of a robot
* Complex relationships with family
* Exploration of idea of being replaced by machines (this happens to Klara herself)
* Ambiguous ending - was Josie healed by the sun from Klara’s sacrifice or did she die only to be seamlessly replaced by the portrait?
Frustrations
* Slow plot
* POV gives extremely limited view of the world, leaves plenty of unanswered questions about the world and Josie
* introduced Sal but no explanation of her death
* Klara is painfully optimistic, unable to empathise with her
Like a duller, lonelier, non-homicidal version of M3GAN.
* Nailed the linguistics of a robot
* Complex relationships with family
* Exploration of idea of being replaced by machines (this happens to Klara herself)
* Ambiguous ending - was Josie healed by the sun from Klara’s sacrifice or did she die only to be seamlessly replaced by the portrait?
Frustrations
* Slow plot
* POV gives extremely limited view of the world, leaves plenty of unanswered questions about the world and Josie
* introduced Sal but no explanation of her death
* Klara is painfully optimistic, unable to empathise with her
Like a duller, lonelier, non-homicidal version of M3GAN.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Abandonment
andrewhatesham's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Well written and cohesive plot, and a loveable main character (Klara), but I personally prefer a denser plot. The writing style is very subtle. There's a lot subtextually (no spoilers here), but not many events actually happen. It's much more of a reflective, slow paced story.
I put off reading this for a long time because I thought it was gonna be heavier on the sci-fi (I hadn't read much sci-fi at all until recently), but it ended up being the opposite of that. If you're a sci-fi newbie, you don't need to feel daunted by this, because things are put into simple terms and there aren't that many sci-fi elements anyway, most of it feels like a real life setting. Conversely, if you're a literary newbie, this may not be for you.
It's also a bit less emotional than I expected. But I'm sure some people would view it as much more emotional than I did, it's subjective. It just didn't hit a nerve that way for me.
In terms of this as the audiobook version, I think listening to it was a good choice since it's slow paced. I could just increase the speed when it felt a little too slow (I typically read faster paced books, just my preference). I liked the narrator for the most part. The only thing that was slightly grating, were the parts with the British accented characters because the accents did not sound realistic.
I put off reading this for a long time because I thought it was gonna be heavier on the sci-fi (I hadn't read much sci-fi at all until recently), but it ended up being the opposite of that. If you're a sci-fi newbie, you don't need to feel daunted by this, because things are put into simple terms and there aren't that many sci-fi elements anyway, most of it feels like a real life setting. Conversely, if you're a literary newbie, this may not be for you.
It's also a bit less emotional than I expected. But I'm sure some people would view it as much more emotional than I did, it's subjective. It just didn't hit a nerve that way for me.
In terms of this as the audiobook version, I think listening to it was a good choice since it's slow paced. I could just increase the speed when it felt a little too slow (I typically read faster paced books, just my preference). I liked the narrator for the most part. The only thing that was slightly grating, were the parts with the British accented characters because the accents did not sound realistic.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Bullying, Child death, Grief, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
veerau's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It starts as a quite chill and perhaps cozy? read, up until half the 3rd part or so when things began taking a turn... That personally I wasn't expecting with that beginning.
Klara is lovely, always attentive and with a never ending amount of hope in her. I can't say much about other characters honestly, Josie is 14 and acts like it, Rick is too but he doesn't, both mothers need a therapist and that's pretty much all about them.
Overall, loved the atmosphere and the robotic POV more than expected, but was not a fan of how some things get casually mentioned once and that's it(like the whole genetic enhancement or whatever, mentioned only once? Or what really happened to the shop...)
That ending got me teary eyed, probably because it wasn't fully how I thought it was gonna end but still, first book in a while to do that so 4 stars are warranted 👍
Klara is lovely, always attentive and with a never ending amount of hope in her. I can't say much about other characters honestly, Josie is 14 and acts like it, Rick is too but he doesn't, both mothers need a therapist and that's pretty much all about them.
Overall, loved the atmosphere and the robotic POV more than expected, but was not a fan of how some things get casually mentioned once and that's it
That ending got me teary eyed, probably because it wasn't fully how I thought it was gonna end but still, first book in a while to do that so 4 stars are warranted 👍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Grief
Minor: Child death