Reviews with content warning for Infertility - Never Let Me Go

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Never Let Me Go is a quietly eerie, thought-provoking book with a strong first-person narrator. It’s engaging and will stick with you long after you finish it.

For you if: You like books that ask ethical questions.

FULL REVIEW:

I’m late to the Ishiguro party (my first book of his was Klara and the Sun), but several people recommended Never Let Me Go as a beloved backlist title of his. I went in with few expectations and little knowledge about the plot, which I think was a good way to do it. I definitely enjoyed it, but it’s also proven to be one of those books you appreciate even more as time goes by and you think back about it later.

I won’t give too much away, but the book is written in the first person by a character named Kathy H. She’s speaking directly to us, her readers, telling us a mostly linear account of her time at school with her friends, and then what happened to them as they aged. That makes it sound boring and straightforward, but the society that Kathy lives in is not quite like our own, and she and her friends are not like you and me (except they also are, which is kind of the point).

Once again, Ishiguro has blown me away by his ability to write for an entire book in a very distinct character voice; Kath and Klara sound nothing like one another, and wholly like themselves. Going by prose alone, you might not even know it was the same author. But of course, it’s all Ishiguro, and the two books have similar thematic threads, both being a sort of subversion of the dystopian genre in which there are troubling technological advancements and humanitarian issues at play, but no attempts to "overthrow” them. Only a sort of melancholy acceptance that makes the books even more disquieting. This one, in particular, makes you think more about how you may be a cog in a machine, what you may be complacent in, and how much agency you actually have. That, and ethics in modern (and future) medicine.

The one thing that bothered me about this book was how Kathy H. constantly told us she was about to tell us something. It seemed like every few pages she was like, “or at least that’s what I thought … until what happened next” (implied DUN DUN DUUUUN). But ultimately that’s a small complaint.

While I’m not sure this became an all-time favorite like it was for some of my friends, I’m really glad I read it and definitely recommend it. It’s one that will stick with you for a long time.

CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Infertility; Terminal illness (in a way?); Death and grief; Sexual content (non-explicit)

Content Warnings

milton's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

eimearhayes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

While objectively an amazingly well written book, I often found myself bored while reading and having to push myself through to get to the next part where I hoped to find some big exciting moment. Though none of the book, even the big reveals, felt very impactful. The whole book I felt sort of detached from the story. In part I think this is intentional, to make this dystopian world seem like a slightly skewed normal, but overall just not my favourite style to read. I would definitely still recommend this book though. The world and characters created are extremely interesting and very morally thought provoking.

Content Warnings

areadingstan's review against another edition

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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

kirareads02's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

jodieworton's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

angela_iseli's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

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