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lindseyhall44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Never Let Me Go follows Kath as past relationships are rekindled, leading her to remember the significant events of Halisham, her old school. Through these memories Kath begins to learn more about the dark truths hidden throughout adolescence, but also truths about herself.
For me, the writing style and formatting are what made the book so unique. Told in 2nd person and non-linearly, readers are only given surface level information until the resolution. Ultimately, this helps cultivate a mysterious mood and makes the payoff more worthwhile.
Still, some elements of the confusion made it difficult for me to follow, which is why I rated it 4.75. The ending was phenomenal and quite a tearjerker, but in a few cases I wasn’t as invested as I would have liked to be.
No shame on the author however, as writing a book is incredible on its own, especially one creative as Never Let Me Go
If you like gradual sad books with character driven elements, this is for you:)
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism and Sexual content
ghostly_monstera's review against another edition
3.25
I have a lot of thoughts about this book that it almost makes it impossible to put them into any kind of order.
I suppose this whole thing will be spoilers because it is hard to talk about this book without it.
The fact that every student at Hailsham is a clone feels like a weird thing to leave out until a random page in part two. I really thought there would be a big lead up to the breaking of that news, but it came rather casually in the middle. I found it rather annoying because it made all the confusion up to that point kind of unnecessary.
And honestly, the writing was slow and a little dull. I can't deny that Ishiguro brings an ethical conversation to the table in a way that is true to how things are discussed (or avoided) in our own world. I still was rather annoyed that there was no true resolution or answers, but again, that is probably the point he was trying to make. Big ethical issues, despite the overwhelming circumstances, don't ever have true resolutions especially when things are already in motion (like the donation program in this case).
An aside: I had to read this for a class. We spent four weeks discussing this book, picking it to the bone concerning ethics but not really caring about the story aspect of it.
It is not a bad book. It brings to attention some questions we should be asking ourselves while also allowing us a look into complacency in culture when our own individual needs are met. It is an interesting study for those reasons, but as a novel, I don't know that I would have picked it up if my grade wasn't dependent on it.
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Drug use
Minor: Body horror
greatu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
lizzyrai's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Bullying and Infertility
Minor: Toxic friendship
skelliecrow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
The type of forced institutionalization is not what one would consider typical but it's difficult to explain what that content warning means without spoiling the whole thing so just tread cautiously.tarynlannister's review against another edition
I also just found it rather bleak, so when I started getting bored I decided I would rather read something that was either more entertaining or at least less depressing.
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Body horror and Bullying
ashleycmms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Homophobia and Infertility
nbrockbank's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
drachendingsi's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Minor: Cancer, Death, Infertility, Medical content, and Toxic friendship