Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

23 reviews

storyoflife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So I went through all the emotions reading this and Ill stick to them to get to the rating of this classic book- I honestly cant fathom how im supposed to rate this? (Especially in comparison to all the other books im rating? They’re not in the same league.)

Boredom. I felt lots! of boredom reading this, at least 60% of the time I was considering to just dnf it and stop forcing myself to get through it. But my mom told me it’s her favorite book (or one of her favorites) and I guess I wanted to be able to talk to her about it and feel closer? to her. I especially felt bored during the drama scenes between Kathy and Ruth, since i disliked her from the start I just wasn’t interested in her character? Idk i just didn’t care what she thought of Kathy.

Frustration. Soo much. The whole time I was rooting for Timmy and Kathy and for Ruth to goo and I sometimes felt like maybe, this could happen and other times just lost hope and its sooo frustrating. Also all these over complicated communication issues- as a straightforward german I had the urge to punch smth multiple times.

Sadness. Pretty obvious and self explanatory. For fucks sake theyre basically clones waiting to be slaughtered in a slow manner. The whole system is so inhumane and I felt so sad about the missed time between Tommy and Kathy as well. My poor babies. Honestly.

Hope. Few times in between I actually held a flicker of hope that things could change and end on a somewhat happy ending or at least a lighthearted note,I had to force myself to stop that shit and stay realistic. U know keep the expectations low. 

I guess it’s not really an emotion, but I also got to critically think my worldview over (probs was Kazuo Ishiguro intended -it does fall into the theme with Klara and the sun also going in that direction). The questions u come in contact with while reading this book are philosophical really, what defines a human being and what do humans deserve and how should you raise smn knowing how they’re going to die and what kind of responsibility u have over other people’s fate and all of these kind of trains of thoughts. 

This is probably the longest book review I have ever written btw. 

And because of that im giving it 5 stars. This book is unforgettable. It’s not my usual type of literature and it still moved me to tears. Id recommend it to anyone and everyone simply out of principle (very german wording ik).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

The content warnings are up for discussion honestly, it really depends on how you interpret the book and the depicted society. These are warnings I chose, thinking the more the merrier (I always prefer too much rather over not enough of them).

lauramcc7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, and Medical content

gladosisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Despite finding the back-and-forth storytelling a little disruptive for the pacing at times, this was a really unique book that dealt with some horrific topics in a really beautiful way. The narrative voice was especially strong, and even if certain sections were a little repetitive (which took me out of the story a bit), the urge to get to the bottom of things -

even though deep down you likely already suspect the ending

- really swept me away!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse

maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.75

I wouldn’t say this book is plot or character driven as much as it is thematically driven. The book is so mysterious throughout but I still feel at the end that there were no real insights made and nothing was resolved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse and Terminal illness

Minor: Infertility

moongelli's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

left with an indescribable empty feeling; saddened but less of a "moved-to-tears" sad & more of a "inevitability of the end" melancholia. first to leave, last to complete — bearing the weight of one who remembers all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Sexual content, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and War

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

knunderb's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I don't exactly know how I feel about this book. It's really sad and casually horrifying. 

I kept hoping that Tommy and Kathy would run off and hide somewhere, get out of being donors. But they didn't. I kept hoping there would be some kind of takedown of the donation program, but there wasn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

eva_vva's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

abmochapman's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Much like Klara and the Sun, this novel is a slowly unraveling dystopia where horrifying truths lay just underneath a sweet narrative about love and friendship. Yet, where Never Let Me Go is differs is that it is unrelenting. It squashes any possible hope, leaving the reader heartbroken and with as little choice in the matter as its characters. 
 
Kazuo Ishiguro’s talent is making the most disturbing reality feel almost normal — but what is even more terrifying than that is the thought that if it was our reality, it would probably feel normal to us, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

ginbat's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Beautifully sad, unique. I grew to appreciate this writing style and think it would very well. This book made be feel sad and angry, and I feel like it's a better for a few things. I guess that's what makes it a "good" book. It doesn't make me feel good things, but it does make me feel things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Torture, and Medical content