areadingstan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Death
Minor: Cancer and Infertility
kirareads02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was such a tense listen. You never knew what was going to happen or what secrets would be told. I really enjoyed how we found everything out slowly, and the narrator told us her story as though we lived in that world, like we knew what her school was.
Really lovely, romantic and hopeful book. At the start I was hooked but couldn't understand reviews as to why it was classed as a dystopian novel so that was interesting for me.
Really lovely, romantic and hopeful book. At the start I was hooked but couldn't understand reviews as to why it was classed as a dystopian novel so that was interesting for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Medical content, Infertility, and Sexual content
Minor: War, Classism, Cursing, Cancer, and Confinement
jodieworton's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First book of July and it was a good one.
This book was recommended by a good friend and have had it on my TBR for a few months. This is an adult dystopian sci-fi novel.
How this book starts is an interesting one, the narrator speaks as if the reader knows who they are and about the world they live in. You are expected to catch up. Through the first half of the book I was guessing for the plot and what was happening in their lives and how was it different to our world.
When its revealed, there is no big ta-da moment, it’s just this is the world we live in and this is normal. I don’t want to ruin the plot for those of you who will read this book, which is why I am skirting round the point.
The book was an easy read and written beautifully, I enjoyed how the story unfolded and at times really felt for one of the main characters. This book is complex and emotional and does raise a few questions, there was some elements that I would have liked answered in the ending, but I don’t think we are meant to know and I’m ok with that.
This book was recommended by a good friend and have had it on my TBR for a few months. This is an adult dystopian sci-fi novel.
How this book starts is an interesting one, the narrator speaks as if the reader knows who they are and about the world they live in. You are expected to catch up. Through the first half of the book I was guessing for the plot and what was happening in their lives and how was it different to our world.
When its revealed, there is no big ta-da moment, it’s just this is the world we live in and this is normal. I don’t want to ruin the plot for those of you who will read this book, which is why I am skirting round the point.
The book was an easy read and written beautifully, I enjoyed how the story unfolded and at times really felt for one of the main characters. This book is complex and emotional and does raise a few questions, there was some elements that I would have liked answered in the ending, but I don’t think we are meant to know and I’m ok with that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Death
angela_iseli's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infertility
rensreading's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
that hurted
i’m honestly not sure at all what i should say. i hated the narration style with a passion but the story really had me. i almost cried at the end. it’s the worst to be the last one in the end and i hate feeling lonely more than anything so that almost got me.
still, i’m glad kath and tommy got a chance, no matter how small it was.
i hate ruth though. she’s awful. tommy may have been in love with someone else the entire time he was with ruth but he never cheated — unlike her. ugh, that made me officially hate her. she was awful before but that was downright disgusting of her.
i also think kath is an unreliable narrator to be honest. im not sure but the way she kept explaining her memories made me think she was misremembering them for some reason. she was a little likable but i didn’t really like any of the characters if im going to be honest.
despite all of that, i’d rate this 3.75 stars (:
i’m honestly not sure at all what i should say. i hated the narration style with a passion but the story really had me. i almost cried at the end. it’s the worst to be the last one in the end and i hate feeling lonely more than anything so that almost got me.
still, i’m glad kath and tommy got a chance, no matter how small it was.
i hate ruth though. she’s awful. tommy may have been in love with someone else the entire time he was with ruth but he never cheated — unlike her. ugh, that made me officially hate her. she was awful before but that was downright disgusting of her.
i also think kath is an unreliable narrator to be honest. im not sure but the way she kept explaining her memories made me think she was misremembering them for some reason. she was a little likable but i didn’t really like any of the characters if im going to be honest.
despite all of that, i’d rate this 3.75 stars (:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Toxic friendship, Infertility, and Medical content
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Child abuse
be wary of ruth and kath’s telling of her memoriesnotartgarfunkel's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Infertility, Bullying, and Sexual content
jasminn_perez's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
i loved the writing and how deeply kathy looked into everything. from their futures to even the smallest mannerisms she was always looking so deeply at everything and i loved it. i recently watched the movie and while i was reading i was noticing the details that weren’t included in the film but not in a bad way. like they were both so perfect in their own ways ugh i lOveREe. it was so heartbreaking but so amazing. truly i dont ever think it will leave my brain. the only reason i didnt give it five stars was cuz i thought their childhood was a little boring to read cuz it was so long but it was all important so. tommy deserved better :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Infertility
eliel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A partly interesting story written in an extremely slow way. The characters didn't captivate my attention. The ending disappointed me.
+ beautiful writing
+ nice world-building
+ interesting story (in theory)
- slow
- boring character plots
I just prefer Klara ans the Sun over this book.
+ beautiful writing
+ nice world-building
+ interesting story (in theory)
- slow
- boring character plots
I just prefer Klara ans the Sun over this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Infertility, and Death
kotahlotah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Cancer, Confinement, Infertility, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Trafficking
dancefever's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
oh.....my goodness this was a lot. intense, brooding, sad, mysterious... took me a while to get into the sort of conversational style its written in, but once i was in i was IN. the book somehow reminded me a bit of jane eyre? maybe the POV, the "stages" it is in, the reflection on a past life in a boarding school and the constant sense of foreboding and mystery all the way through. maybe its a personal thing but i found the whole mystery of the novel quite frustrating at times. i know that was really the point of the book, but it just felt like cathy was going to reveal a bit more every so often, and then she'd just change the subject, which left me feeling a bit short changed by all the parts that went unanswered. like...... all in all a really gorgeous book: not the kind of thing i'd usually read, but would be up for reading another by ishiguro some point soon. 4.25 stars
Spoiler
if the other teenagers at the cottages weren't from hailsham, where did they come from? if they were from similar schools, why were they so mystified by the hailsham students? were the carers allowed to be part of society before being called up to being donors, or not? what is the whole system around leaving the cottages, who is the "they" who enforces the rules around carers and donors, why are we never introduced to them? i know we get reintroduced to miss emily and madame at the end, but surely there were other forces at play?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship