Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
From Goodreads
From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Dayand When We Were Orphans, comes an unforgettable edge-of-your-seat mystery that is at once heartbreakingly tender and morally courageous about what it means to be human.
Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.
Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.
★★★★★
I don’t think I can properly articulate how much I loved this book. There was just something about it that has stuck with me. You know those books that you get completely invested in? You can’t stop thinking about them, and you read them whenever you have spare time, and you don’t want it to end? This was one of those books for me.
I loved the writing. It’s really interesting in that Kathy will mentioned something (an incident, a person) and then say “but we’ll get back to that” and keep talking about whatever she was before. It’s very conversational, but you rarely read it in books. I really enjoyed it and thought it shows how good of a writer Ishiguro is.
I also loved the story. It’s such an interesting concept, and I was completely invested in what was happening. It was all wrapped up very neatly and there were no loose ends, but there was still enough of a mystery for you to want more (which is my favourite kind of ending). I just thought it was so great.
I honestly don’t have anything negative to say about this book. I just completely loved it, and I highly recommend it.
A fairly short review today! Have you read this book? Are you going to? Let me know!
Thanks for reading! xx
I wasn’t sure going into this book, But i loved it too! Great review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay so glad you loved it!! Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! I really enjoyed this when I read it, but it has stayed with me so strongly that I think I’d love it even more now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! 😀
I totally agree! I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it, and I think I’ll need to reread it some time soon
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! Been on my TBR for awhile. I look forward to reading it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it when you get to it 🙂
LikeLike
I actually watched the film, not realising it was a book first. I’ve been wanting to read it for a while now and your review has convinced me to take the plunge x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t realise it was a movie until partway through reading it, and then had to avoid the trailer so I didn’t spoil it for myself haha. I hope you like it when you get to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a good book! I remember a friend of mine who had never read Ishiguro saying they didn’t understand why he won the Nobel prize… and then they read this book and understood why!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s so amazing!! I totally agree, the Nobel prize was so well-deserved!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds super intriguing! Great review 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really liked this one too! And I think it was the first book I’ve read with a protagonist named “Kathy”, so that was a plus. 😀 I kind of wish he would write a sequel/prequel in the future. I want to know more about the school and the world in general. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha it’s so great when the characters have the same name as you! And same! I’d love to know what happened to Hailsham, or all the stuff outside the school that we hear about but not really.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lmao ignore the second thank you
LikeLike
I love this book SO MUCH. It’s got a special place in my heart because it was the first adult lit book I read for fun (not school) when I was 14 and it opened a whole new world of literature to me, but sentimentality aside it’s just an amazing story. I’m so happy you loved it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s amazing!!!! I think it’s such a perfect adult lit book for teenagers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really loved this book too! Everything about it was great!! I agree that the writing style worked so well. And I really liked the concept too. Amazing review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhh so glad you loved it too! Thank you! 💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely review, Ally! I love when a book sticks with you like this one has for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Kaleena! ❤
LikeLike
Sounds like a great book! I’ll have to look for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this book! It was hauntingly beautiful and the ending certainly packs a punch because you’re hoping they’ll make it out of this terrible situation… but no.
Ishuguro is such a talented writer! You can dislike the plot and still really enjoy his storytelling. He’s not just a writer, he’s a storyteller.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you loved it too! I totally agree, it’s such a great and sad ending. And exactly! His writing is so gorgeous that the plot can be slow and you still want to read
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post. After The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go is Ishiguro’s finest achievement. Btw, if you liked the concept of memory and such in this book, you may like Ishiguro’s debut novel A Pale View of Hills. I was critical of it, but some sense of mystery is there and it is all about memory and copying with past events.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! After reading this one, I pretty much want to read every thing else he’s written! I’ll definitely have to look into both of those!
LikeLiked by 1 person