Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

41 reviews

luxxltyd's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, and Death

baybod's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh. my. god. Heartbreaking and thought provoking. Asks big science fiction questions that, unlike in Mary Shelly’s time with the classic Frankenstein, seem scarily close to being pertinent to our world.  I  appreciated the gradual revelation of the secrets of the novel, which mirrored the gradual way in which Kath learned them herself. It’s interesting that Kath tells the story as if we already know what much of it means, but also holds back other important details. It was interesting to hear this story from the perspective of Kath as an adult—makes me think I should reread it again to pick up on more of the emotions she’s feeling, especially in the earlier chapters. This was an emotionally harrowing read and I would certainly recommend not only to someone interested in dystopia and science fiction, but also anyone looking for a thought provoking experience that brings in to question what it means to be human.

Want to add something for all the people who were let down by the ending and reaction to the big reveal:

A lot of people are saying the ending is unsatisfying, but I feel like it’s supposed to be. It almost has to be. A society which creates beings that are, for all intents and purposes, human, neglects to recognize this humanity and continues to use them as products cannot produce the ending we want. However, if we’re honest with ourselves, I feel like that is the society we live in. Yes, it’s upsetting for the reveal to lead to nothing substantial—it should be—but that’s kind of the point. Madame and Miss Emily have seemingly proved the humanity of the clones/students, but society refuses to see it for two reasons: 1. they could no longer justifiably use these beings as means to an end / exploit them and 2. they fear granting humanity to beings who could reasonably surpass them in society. With the clear refusal to recognize their humanity, it’s hard to say whether Miss Lucy or Miss Emily is right. Is it better to keep them in the dark, but give them the gift of a somewhat normal childhood to hold onto? Or should they be fully aware all along of their purpose? Neither seems right because neither is right. We can understand where each woman is coming from because both are simply trying to offer some dignity to people who have been robbed of it. All of our questions and all of our dissatisfaction is the point; it’s supposed to scare us and leave us feeling empty. Hopefully, it will make us wary of creating this problem in our own world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Medical trauma

jabberwalky's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, and Infertility

eve_o's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Medical content, Child abuse, Death, and Forced institutionalization

jennino's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Torture

liannaengland's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Forced institutionalization, and Death

bootsmom3's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Sexual content

rzh'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......

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?

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Medical content

Moderate: Confinement, Child abuse, and Classism

Minor: Suicide

quinn24's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Infertility

Minor: Sexual content