Reviews

It's a slow burner, but once it hits you, it's simultaneously heartbreaking, disturbing, and beautiful. Ishiguro tells the story of three boarding school students whose lives seem idyllic, but it becomes gradually more and more clear that they're anything but. The story is narrated by the main female character, whose naiveté and matter-of-factness are absolutely devastating. Read it before the movie comes out September 15th!

sarahellenx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

bryanjoyce30's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

cdev123's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

bloodwitch's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

mercurialhigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

nat008's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

A chill mystery novel, I decided not to read what it's about to increase suspence. At the beginning, you get the sense of a really reclusive college with sheltered children. Then you start unreveling the "secrets" along with the narrator as she recounts all her realizations all through childhood to her present adult self. You suspect the twists, which makes sense though; like the students, you pick up some clues along the way, so once it gets "revealed", it isn't anything surprising and you just carry on. The students accept their fate without much fuss, and go along with their intended purpose in a devastating way.
The narration was not quite linear, as Kath is recounting her memories, though the book is divided into three parts: her childhood in Hailsham, her time in the Cottages, and her working as a carer.
The book deals with an interesting, although sad theory on how society would go about certain medical advancements, its realistic nature leaving me quite melancholic. The author questions what being human really means, in a quiet and delicate way, without many dramatic scenes or big confrontations. Though it is a bit slow in the beginning, it picks up in the middle and I couldn't put it down.

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