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merekoletis's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bowjay's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? Yes
4.0
violabaldwin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
3.5 (Audiobook) After having been completely blown away by Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" I could not wait to get my hands on the next Ishiguro book.
This one was great in regards to the underlying topics, however in my opinion it was not nearly executed as well as in "Never Let Me Go".
I love Ishiguro's writing style, he always makes you curious by hinting and foreshadowing at things that will happen later in the story, and I love his naive, innocent and benevolent characters, placed in these bleak worlds. Their interactions always feel delicate and detailed. As a reader, you always have to puzzle together Ishiguro's worlds, as well as their rules....which is so exciting to discover and reveal page by page.
Overall I stayed engaged throughout the story, some concepts were thought provoking, however it didn't have the same impact as "Never Let Me Go" had.
----- Spoiler from here on, also hints of spoilers for "Never Let Me Go"-------
Compared to "Never Let Me Go" , Klara's world stayed vague, and there were so many things going on, too many wormholes opened, too many characters and topics introduced, which were not tied up satisfactorily to me personally.
Furthermore - themes, that were repeated from "Never let Me Go" were those of growing up, friendship, very naive hope (in the form of a redemption for what was denied in "Never Let Me Go"?), genuine love as the savior, what makes people (and maybe things?) human, how society overall loses their humanity and compassion in favor of turning to technological advancement, surrendering to raw fate in the end...
I wished that the book would have been more focused on fewer topics and not sprawled out into so many different directions.
I really didn't need to know about the old relationships of Ricky's Mom or the next series of AFs, I'd rather have gotten a better understanding of what the stakes were for kids like Ricky that were not lifted/leveled up, what "lifting" in particular means and at what stage this is done, what went wrong with Josie's sister (was her illness a result of trying to level her up as well?), how the world developed and what exactly happened to Melania, more hints at what the political situation was like, and a more intense best friends connection between Klara and Josie, the latter still felt a little unaccessible and sometimes at times even unlikable to me.
I like that Ishiguro's worlds are not over-explained, however in this one, I would have wished for either a little bit more input or, if deliberately keeping it abstract, I would have wished for fewer topics that made you curious and question of how things in this world fit together.
The narrator of the audiobook did a great job.
This one was great in regards to the underlying topics, however in my opinion it was not nearly executed as well as in "Never Let Me Go".
I love Ishiguro's writing style, he always makes you curious by hinting and foreshadowing at things that will happen later in the story, and I love his naive, innocent and benevolent characters, placed in these bleak worlds. Their interactions always feel delicate and detailed. As a reader, you always have to puzzle together Ishiguro's worlds, as well as their rules....which is so exciting to discover and reveal page by page.
Overall I stayed engaged throughout the story, some concepts were thought provoking, however it didn't have the same impact as "Never Let Me Go" had.
----- Spoiler from here on, also hints of spoilers for "Never Let Me Go"-------
Compared to "Never Let Me Go" , Klara's world stayed vague, and there were so many things going on, too many wormholes opened, too many characters and topics introduced, which were not tied up satisfactorily to me personally.
Furthermore - themes, that were repeated from "Never let Me Go" were those of growing up, friendship, very naive hope (in the form of a redemption for what was denied in "Never Let Me Go"?), genuine love as the savior, what makes people (and maybe things?) human, how society overall loses their humanity and compassion in favor of turning to technological advancement, surrendering to raw fate in the end...
I wished that the book would have been more focused on fewer topics and not sprawled out into so many different directions.
I really didn't need to know about the old relationships of Ricky's Mom or the next series of AFs, I'd rather have gotten a better understanding of what the stakes were for kids like Ricky that were not lifted/leveled up, what "lifting" in particular means and at what stage this is done, what went wrong with Josie's sister (was her illness a result of trying to level her up as well?), how the world developed and what exactly happened to Melania, more hints at what the political situation was like, and a more intense best friends connection between Klara and Josie, the latter still felt a little unaccessible and sometimes at times even unlikable to me.
I like that Ishiguro's worlds are not over-explained, however in this one, I would have wished for either a little bit more input or, if deliberately keeping it abstract, I would have wished for fewer topics that made you curious and question of how things in this world fit together.
The narrator of the audiobook did a great job.
monersc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
papacram's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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
4.25
sierraaahlynn's review against another edition
5.0
I was highly anticipating a robot love story but instead it was a gentle reminder of the subtle, paradoxical nature of love and how it is about choosing people while also being willing to let them go.
onlywiththeheart's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
miazanette's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting variation on Ishiguro’s common theme of putting us in the mind of an artificial life narrator whose observation based story telling inherently leaves out the darker, deeper commentary of the main events. It very quietly points to its lessons here. There is much left at the end to draw your own conclusions on. Doesn’t have as much of the heart that Never Let Me Go does but definitely worth the read.