A review by elisatognon
Auprès de moi toujours by Kazuo Ishiguro

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

TLDR I wanted this book to be much more about a

reflection on the society

, but instead, it was mostly about

a love triangle

.

The beginning of the book (part 1) was captivating.

We are experiencing a secluded community and how that affects relationships. Ishiguro was able to find a good balance between the mistery at the foundation of the plot and the day-to-day reality.

Part 2 then concentrates on the

students' experience of the outside world. But no attention is given to the effect of the cloning system on the hors-Hailsham world. Is life in a world with clones no different than the universe we live in? 
By chapters 14-17, the book was mostly about unconsequential teenager quarrels. I don't care about love triangles, and neither did I care about this one. 
Such a shame.

Throughout the book we witness several moments were the characters,

fallen prey to the system that cages them, are unshaken by its characteristics, as pointed out by other reviewers. For exemple, when Miss Lucy explicitly states how they are made to harvest organs no one reacts. Instead, I wish we had had more reflective passages on whyy the characters are so numb! About how Miss Lucy, who understands the gravity, is angry! The present-day narrator should have been the one to reflect on it. But instead, she mostly acts as a neutral event-reteller while leaving more space to her teenager experience.
Again, a shame.

As alexanderlane pointed out, no one is questioning their fate. And there is no mention of counter-culture movements, of anti-cloning people?