8.27.2014

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Published by Faber and Faber in 2005
Genre(s): Dystopian, Science Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 272
Goodreads

From the acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans, a moving new novel that subtly reimagines our world and time in a haunting story of friendship and love.

As a child, Kathy – now thirty-one years old – lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.

And so, as her friendship with Ruth is rekindled, and as the feelings that long ago fueled her adolescent crush on Tommy begin to deepen into love, Kathy recalls their years at Hailsham. She describes happy scenes of boys and girls growing up together, unperturbed–even comforted–by their isolation. But she describes other scenes as well: of discord and misunderstanding that hint at a dark secret behind Hailsham’s nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood–and about their lives now.

A tale of deceptive simplicity, Never Let Me Go slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance–and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro’s finest work.


I originally picked up this book because it had good reviews on Amazon and it was a cheap Kindle edition book at the time. I though that it was interesting, but overall, it just wasn't really my style of writing/storytelling. The topic was good and the plot was well done, but I just couldn't really get into it.

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8.09.2014

If I Stay

If I Stay

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Published by Dutton Books on Apr 2, 2009
Genre(s): Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Paranormal
Format: Kindle
Pages: 207
Goodreads

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now. I sit up as much as I can. And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.


I'm a huge sucker for books based on movies, so as soon as I saw the movie trailer for this and learned that it was based on a book, I had to have it. I read it fairly quickly, it was an easy read, but I wasn't in love with the ending. I did enjoy the plot and the writer's own sense of style in her writing. I wish that it had been a little bit fuller at the end. I didn't gain a proper attachment to the characters like I had hoped for, nor did I feel settled after it was all over. I do know there is a second book that follows up, so maybe that's just what I'm missing...

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