Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Friends Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spent their entire childhood at the English boarding school Hailsham. It was an intriguing place, filled with mysterious teachers, strange rules, and seemingly harmless discussion topics that were off-limits. Students were told that they were different from the other children outside of the fence, and for the most part, Hailsham was entirely normal. Yet a few of them sensed something off about the school, something the teachers were hiding from them. After leaving Hailsham and parting ways, the three, now young adults, reunite many years later. As the narrator, Kathy reflects on their past experiences, searching for their true purpose in life with the help of her loyal friends. 

 Though Never Let Me Go is classified as science fiction and lacks the common elements one usually sees in the genre, it still keeps that curious feeling lurking in the back of the reader’s mind. The novel is written almost in a stream of consciousness, with Kathy often getting distracted by other stories in the middle of narrating an anecdote, for example. Set in the past, present, and future, the book accurately captures her fluctuating feelings as she progresses from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. This eccentric tale is obscure and complex at times and may be difficult to initially comprehend, but it brings to light moral controversies that still afflict society today.

Review written by Eliana, Grade 11