Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

191 reviews

imaginefishes's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The style of writing is simple and straightforward as the narrator tells you about her life growing up, then as a medical care worker. It's a dystopia, yes, but the overall story feels not so much disturbing as it does mildly nostalgic and tinged with bittersweetness. It's well-written, and tells the story of an exploited clone girl growing up, managing her (complex and honestly, somewhat toxic) relationships, finding her place in the world, and how she faces the indeliable truth that her life was created solely for the purpose of serving others, be it as a donor or a care worker for the donors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I wouldn’t say this book is plot or character driven as much as it is thematically driven. The book is so mysterious throughout but I still feel at the end that there were no real insights made and nothing was resolved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse and Terminal illness

Minor: Infertility

maelikesbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Might stare at a wall and cry for the rest of the day

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Infertility, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Toxic friendship

moongelli's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

left with an indescribable empty feeling; saddened but less of a "moved-to-tears" sad & more of a "inevitability of the end" melancholia. first to leave, last to complete — bearing the weight of one who remembers all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Sexual content, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and War

cicadalove's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

4.25

a “science fiction” premise that goes largely unexplored in favor of detailing the myriad of ways you come to understand people through experiencing them through different moments- one of the more real novels when it comes to depecting humans and interpersonal relationships. the world is only as fleshed out as it needs to be to understand the characters, and to know them is a privilege even as they have very little to say. this act of knowing and remembering is posited as the way to dignify those deemed expendable or othered by society. reminded me how much i love living and the privilege of loving people for years & getting to Know and See them

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

kirstym25's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying

biobeetle's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, and Sexual content

serenspace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Having heard of this book back in secondary school, I expected this to be typical of the kind of thing I would have read at 16. However, with a simple, relatable and easy voice leading me through the story, I was floored by the complexity and emotion present. From the early signs of dystopia that are barely skirted around, right until the open-ended conclusion to Ruth and Tommy's stories from Kath's perspective, I was moved close to tears. Ishiguro combines a simple narration with a disturbing alternate reality with a superb effect on my understanding of humanity and what a soul really means.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

m_colls's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism