Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Klara y el Sol

KLARA AND THE SUN follows an artificial friend with an incredible skill for observation. We follow Klara as she moves through different phases while she cares for her human companion and tries to make sense of what is happening around her.

This is the third book by Isiguro that I have read. And I continue to be disturbed, amazed, and intrigued by the scenarios he gives life to in his books. As my friend once put it, there is always that moment in an Isiguro book when you’re like “Aha, here we go”. And this one was no different. When that point game, I genuinely said “WHAT.THE.HELL?!” out loud in front of my toddler.

There’s always a story being told under the story and eventually it comes out, though never so fully that you feel like someone is hitting you over the head with a moral or an ideology. It’s always just subtle enough that you feel uncomfortable and can’t stop thinking about it.

I thought Klara was charming and I loved seeing the world through her eyes. So many little things we take for granted that Klara calls attention to in a unique way. And the way relationships and emotions are talked about in this book, was just chef’s kiss!

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juliettea's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I will read more Ishiguro in the future maybe never let me go next but I’m not super excited as this being my first novel from him. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop but till the end I was just barely holding on.
I was not very emotionally vested into the characters. His exploration into the views of artificial intelligence, while compelling, falls pretty flat even with an analysis on love.

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nicolinebl's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I dont think I've ever read a book quite like this. Books/movies about robots aren't unique per se but something about this book, something about Klara, was very special and touching to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very intrigued by the story. It was also a surprisingly emotional read at the end, I definitely shed some tears. Some great writing!

Content Warnings

wee_ramekin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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