Never Let Me Go by kazuo ishiguro

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

It's very important, if you're intending to read this book, that you don't read any reviews or listen to any talk about it first. I had no idea what this book was about before I read it - and the blurb gives you a very different impression, actually - and so I slipped easily into a story that was as engrossing as it was revealing.

If you know something about what to expect, though, I don't think you'll enjoy it nearly as much. It's a bit like an art installation that requires audience participation: you have to do your bit, too, to make it work, so it makes sense, so it tells the story it was meant to tell. Keep yourself in the dark, that's my advice. Because of this, there's no point in writing an actual review.

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FlowersOverBoys

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

This is definitely one of those stories you should go in blind and watch as things unravel slowly.

The writing had a nostalgic feeling to it which I'm sure is due to the fact that this story is a reexamination of Kathy's memories. Her memories are sometimes filled with the most mundane scenes but once you look at it as a whole, everything together paints an extraordinary picture.

Since this is my first Ishiguro book I'm not sure if this is his go-to style — but I love it! There was something also about the way Kathy narrated. Even though she is young (around 31 years old) she speaks like someone who has lived a full life, fondly recounting her past.

It made me feel nostalgic. Sometimes I'd find myself just sitting with this book looking back at my own childhood memories and remembering things I haven't thought of in a long time.

Tommy thought it possible the guardians had, throughout all our years at Hailsham, timed very carefully and deliberately everything they told us, so that we were always just too young to understand properly the latest piece of information. But of course we'd take it in at some level, so that before long all this stuff was there in our heads without us ever having examined it properly.

Even though this book is kind of a dystopian (not the usual, crumbling-buildings/end-of-human-race kind) , it felt so real. And the characters had complicated relationships that were reflected so well.

Once we find out more about Hailsham and the situation the characters are found in, it astounded me how accepting they were with of their lot in life.

I struggled to understand how calm they could be knowing the truth, because I felt angry on behalf of them. I felt how unfair they were being treated and even thinking about it now makes tears swim in my eyes.

This book is truly like nothing I've read before and I can be sure it will be one I think about for years to come.

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JonGall

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

If you read this book while also listening to Morrissey and watching American politics, you might become so depressed that you would require clinical intervention.

Without giving too much away, this is a dystopian novel where children are raised with a nefarious purpose . There is a whole system built up around this and there are questions about how best to live in such a world.

Best read as an allegory, we explore themes of love and kindness and the meaning of existence. Ishiguro develops complicated dynamics around the strange setting and fills in the gaps with friendships and sexual relationships.

This started very slow, up to around the middle of the book, so much so that I considered a DNF. But this was written by a Nobel prize winning writer and hundreds of thousands of people have liked it and so I soldiered on. As more of the sad dystopian elements are revealed at the end, it does pick up, but DAMN! this is a downer.

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FMB

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

this book was not AT ALL what i expected.

from a writing standpoint, this is easily 5 stars. but overall, the story left something to be desired. i also didn’t find this to be as devastating as most people say it is. it’s objectively a sad story, but to me it was more disturbing than anything else.

no one who recommends this book ever says what it’s actually about (also i rarely read synopses), so i had no idea that this is speculative fiction and not literary fiction. so to say that i was shocked when i got to some of the more sci-fi elements would be an understatement loll

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Vasto-Kurogo

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

I'll admit, reading a book that you love for the second time is a scary thing. I read Never Let Me Go for the first time 2 and a half years ago, and I loved it. I read it within 24 hours on a vacation, and it whisked me away from that trip I was on, taking me to 1990's England, and into the lives of these children growing up and learning the harsh reality of their world. But it also reminded me of the beauty of friendship, the complicated nature of relationships, the importance of art, and most importantly, the power of words on a written page to instill emotion.

Now, the second time reading this book, I will admit there were some writing techniques that threw me, that I didn't recognize or at least didn't bother me the first time. I also saw some of the characters in totally different lights. Ruth seems like a terrible person, and yet this reading, 2 and a half years later, had me sympathizing with her so much more. Tommy & Kath's relationship didn't move me as much as I remember. But one thing that didn't change about this book for me is how much I love it.

I love the creativity behind it. I love Ishiguro's ability to give away so much by sharing so little. I love the tone this book has, one I will continue to describe as flipping through an old, faded photo album. It's musty and opaque, yet there's a candidness to it that I adore. Ishiguro doesn't shy away from the darker parts of the world. But he is able to approach these subjects from a perspective that offers relatability and insight that is hard to recreate. It's a simple story from the perspective of a simple woman, and still it touches on so much of the complexity of human existence. A book I will return to again and again, and one that keeps me thinking event after finishing it. 5/5 stars

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StupidRat

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

i love rereads. not only do i get to revisit favourite stories, but i also get to see how i have grown as a reader. and comparing my previous review to my current thoughts, man. i have done a lot of growing.

the first time around, i solely focused on the sci-fi/dystopian aspects (i love how its set in an parallel universe) and the narration. this time, i found myself so much more invested in the characters themselves. i spent so much time thinking about their existence, their reasons to live, and how they navigated each day with that knowledge. it was a much more emotional and thought-provoking reread.

not that i didnt enjoy this story the first time i read it, but i feel like i got a whole lot more out of it this time. which only shows me that my reading experiences have become more meaningful than they were years ago. and that is a rewarding feeling.

↠ 4 stars

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HotDadEren

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 25,2025

I just...don't know how you take a book with a plotline as interesting and creepy and unique as this one and turn it into an unrelenting snoozefest, party of one.

When I hear "the best novel of the decade," I expect brilliance.

When I hear "now a major motion picture starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley," I expect excitement.

When I hear "millions of copies sold, presumably, based on the number of Goodreads ratings there are," I expect memorable characters or writing or storytelling or SOMETHING.

But I got nothing.

I've put off writing this review for a month, which is kind of but not super unusual for me admittedly, because I do not remember a thing about it.

And not really because I have forgotten the whole thing, but more because...well, what's to remember?

Bottom line: If anyone is looking for a nice little one way getaway to snoozeville, I have the book for you!

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pre-review

yes, the ending of this made me sad, but at the same time and in a much more pressing way this is maybe one of the most boring books i've ever read.

review to come / 2ish stars

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tbr review

i will read:
1) every book that is called the best of the decade
2) every book that was then adapted into a movie starring carey mulligan OR keira knightley OR andrew garfield that i can watch.

so basically i'm reading this 4 times over.

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