There is no way my review will do this fantastic book justice. It really is a special, fantastic book and you should read it right now! It's the sort of story that you'll think about for a long time and keep getting more from, I think.
This review will not contain significant spoilers.
On it's surface, Never Let Me Go is scattered memories and anecdotes from the narrator's youth at an unusual school. She recounts her relationships with friends, encounters with teachers, other seemingly random bits. These anecdotes are entertaining and insightful, but the real story is what is being told between the lines. Without giving much away, the narrator and her friends go to a special school and all share a sinister destiny that they gradually become aware of. It is alluded to from the beginning of the book, but only fully fleshed out towards the end. This creates an incredibly emotional climax of the book!
The characters in this book that the narrator described seem incredibly real. Many aspects of the narrator's best friend, Ruth, seemed exactly like someone I went to school with. The characters seemed incredibly real and nuanced. The descriptions of events, relationships and people are incredibly compelling. I kept seeing parallels with my own life in little scenes and anecdotes.
For a story in which almost nothing happens, Never Let Me Go is both entertaining and exciting. It is literally just a collection of random anecdotes from the narrator's childhood that gradually flesh out the story under her life. It's a really fascinating style of writing and it worked really well for me.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. I can't believe I had it sitting on my shelf for so long before I read it. It really is nothing like anything I've ever read before, and one of my favorite books I've ever read. I could not put it down and really just powered through the second half in about a day.
5/5 stars
There is a 2010 movie of this book with Kiera Knightley that is not nearly as good as the book! Don't even bother.
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