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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Nie wiem czemu książki tego autora tak głęboko mnie dotykają, ale chyba w prostocie tkwi geniusz.

I can see  Never Let Me Go being great for book clubs because it will generate a lot of discussion.

That being said, I didn't care for the book, for a couple of different reasons. The writing style is very conversational -- very much like you're having a discussion with the protagonist. The thing that annoyed me the most about this was the fact that the things that happened (so bob and I went walking to the store and we had a fight about the tree at school) and then the writer would tell you about the tree and why it was significant, then tell you about the fight. This sort of device is interesting the first few times you see it, but it started to annoy me over time. Maybe because I talk like that, and get off into tangents and anecdotes.

Also, at the heart of the store is the purpose/fate of the main characters. I get the impression that the author wanted to drop clues about it, and then reveal it so that it is a shocking twist (who's Kaiser Soeze? ;) The thing is, the references really aren't that subtle, so by the time the twist is reavealed, it's not all that exciting. Not only that, but I had so many questions at the end. Like -- these people know their fate, but they never think to question it, and, in fact, seem to be glad for it.

This was supposed to be a coming of age story. Generally "coming of age" involves people growing up and moving forward with their lives; often they need to overcome some obstacle to reveal their potential. However, the characters seem to be stagnate the whole way through; their fate doesn't change. The blurb on the back of the book mentions that the characters, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, all have a shared background that's special, and implies that they're lucky. When two of the charaters confront someone to see if they can defer their fate (they don't even bother trying to change it), we find out a little bit of what makes their shared background special, but we aren't given anything to compare it to (we're just told that similar people have horrible existences, but not how). And they find out that they can't defer their fate, but they don't really seem to care; they don't even seem to be particularly glad that they tried.

I've seen a couple of reviews compare this to book to Aldous Huxley's classic "Brave New World" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale". Not even close. In both of these books we're exposed to an alternate reality, and we see how the main characters deal with their situations. Kazuo Ishiguro tries to sneak the alternate reality into the story, to take us by surprise.

I could go on, but I won't. Let's just say that I didn't care for this book and leave it at that.

This is my third book by Ishiguro and I am starting to see a pattern. The man writes beautifully and he has these fantastically clever ideas for his books, BUT he never quite achieves total fulfilment. Not for this reader any way!
The premise for this book was outstanding and I kept waiting to be blown away, but it never happened. I was not able to feel much for the characters and felt almost as blasé about what was going to happen to them as they did. The narrator was dull and the constant tripping backwards and forwards for no good reason in the story line was irritating.
That all sounds as though I hated it. I did not. It was a good story and one which I had to pursue to the end. The reveal was good if not totally unexpected. My disappointment is only that it should have been SO good but missed the mark.

Check out my list of Seven Science Fiction Novels to Expand (and Blow) Your Mind.

…and this is why Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Never Let Me Go is hauntingly beautiful and eerily disturbing.

The novel begins at a boarding school somewhere in the English countryside. On the surface, it seems like it will be a standard coming of age novel in a school setting.

But gradually we understand that something is not right at this school. Some of the teachers seem to pity the students. Some are even afraid of them. And why don’t they seem to have any families?

I won’t give away any further details about the plot, as it’s best to go into this one cold. This will let you enjoy Ishiguro’s storytelling power, which is in peak form in Never Let Me Go.

Everything in this book is so well done: the beautiful writing, the character development, the emotional impact on the reader, and the big questions it raises. Never Let Me Go is matched only by Ishiguro’s latest novel, Klara and the Sun, in terms of expertly written science fiction that will expand your mind. I highly recommend both.

La mia copia ha un taglio netto verticale al centro della copertina. Non me ne sono accorta quando l'ho presa dallo scaffale, e nemmeno mi importa, ma quando ho cominciato a leggere questo libro non facevo altro che fissare quel taglio sul cartoncino, probabilmente fatto da un taglierino mentre aprivano un pacco. Non è uno strappo, è un taglio, sottile, preciso, netto, appunto.

Ecco, questa è esattamente la mia sensazione alla fine di questo libro. Mi ha lasciato un taglio da qualche parte, credo non lontano dal cuore, ma forse è più vicino alla bocca dello stomaco, e poi io non voglio sapere niente del corpo umano, tantomeno del mio, mi fa impressione.

Non sono capace di scrivere una recensione, tizio ha fatto quello, poi è successo quell'altro e alla fine mamma mia. Io so solo raccontare quello che rimane dentro di un libro o quello che mi succede mentre lo chiudo e alzo la testa e mi vengono in mente diecimila cose da dire, che poi non dico a nessuno, e qualche volta le scrivo qui e, sempre, ogni maledetta volta, sono sconclusionata.

Il libro non dice tutto (evviva) e tu rimani un po' lì nel limbo, a chiederti se hai capito bene, a chiederti come sia possibile e un po' all'inizio mi irritava non capire, io che faccio un milione di domande e voglio sempre sapere tutto. Poi l'ho lasciato condurmi dove voleva lui e, finalmente rilassata, mi ha portata in un posto meraviglioso, poco chiaro ma magnifico.

Tanto tempo fa, dormivo accanto a un uomo che mi raccontava le storie dei miti per farmi addormentare. Io poi, a tratti, mi lasciavo andare e dormivo e lui continuava e io mi svegliavo e avevo perso un pezzo ma ero estasiata dalla sua voce e dall'amore che aveva per me in quel momento. Ecco, quella cosa lì, in quel momento lì era amore. E quegli stessi momenti lì ho trovati in questo libro, verso la fine del libro, quando ormai la piega che prenderà è chiara.

Leggetelo. Non solo perché a me Ishiguro ricorda i miei vent'anni e il viso di Emma Thompson. Ma perché, qualche volta, è bello che non sia tutto chiaro, che non l'abbiate programmato e che vi lasciate trasportare dagli eventi. Niente alcol a sto giro, un buon tè inglese, bevuto in una bella tazza di porcellana e se sapete preparare degli ottimi scones, beh, sarà perfetto.

Ps se non sapete farlo, vi mando la ricetta. Ma imparate alla svelta, suvvia.