Book Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - A Haunting Dystopian Masterpiece
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
Genre: Literary Fiction, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Perfect For: Fans of speculative fiction with emotional depth and moral complexity
Wow. This book.
Never Let Me Go isn’t your typical dystopian novel. It’s quiet. It’s eerie. It’s devastating. It creeps up on you, slowly revealing a world that’s just familiar enough to be terrifying—and just different enough to feel inevitable. This one stayed with me long after I finished it, and I can’t recommend it enough if you’re in the mood for something thought-provoking and beautifully written.
📚 The Plot (with all the spoilers)
The story follows Kathy H., a 31-year-old “carer” who reflects on her childhood at Hailsham, a secluded English boarding school that turns out to be anything but ordinary. Alongside Kathy are her closest friends—Ruth, assertive and controlling, and Tommy, sensitive and often misunderstood.
As children, the students of Hailsham are encouraged to create art, maintain good health, and stay obedient—but they’re only vaguely aware of the disturbing truth: they are clones, created solely to donate their organs. When their bodies give out, they “complete,” a horrifying euphemism for dying.
🎨 The Gallery and the Dance
A mysterious woman known only as “Madame” visits Hailsham to collect the students’ artwork for a mysterious “Gallery.” Kathy becomes obsessed with a cassette tape featuring the song “Never Let Me Go,” and there’s a haunting scene where Madame sees Kathy dancing with a pillow in her arms, pretending it’s a baby. Madame begins to cry. At the time, Kathy doesn’t understand why—but we later learn the clones are sterile. The image of a child longing for motherhood is unbearable.
🏡 Life After Hailsham
After graduating from Hailsham, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy move to a place called “the Cottages,” where they live among other clones from different institutions. Ruth and Tommy are still together, although it’s a rocky relationship. Kathy secretly loves Tommy, but Ruth convinces her that he could never see her “that way.”
When the group hears rumors about deferrals—supposedly a way to postpone donations if two clones can prove they’re in love—Kathy and Tommy begin to hope. Ruth, feeling guilty, eventually confesses that she lied about Tommy’s feelings and urges them to seek out Madame for a possible deferral.
💔 The Harsh Truth
Kathy and Tommy finally track down Madame and Miss Emily (former headmistress of Hailsham). What they learn is heartbreaking: the deferral rumor was never true. Hailsham was simply an experiment to show the world that clones had souls—that they were human. But society didn’t care. After a scandal involving another cloning lab (Morningdale), public support for humane treatment of clones collapsed, and Hailsham was shut down.
As they drive away, Tommy screams in frustration in an open field, realizing there is no escape from their fate.
🧠 The Ending That Sticks
Tommy “completes” after his fourth donation. Kathy, now alone, is set to begin her own. She drives through the countryside, thinking of Tommy, of Hailsham, of the life she never really got to live.
It’s a quiet ending—but hauntingly powerful.
✨ Final Thoughts
This isn’t an action-packed dystopian novel. It’s emotional, contemplative, and quietly horrifying. The most tragic part? The characters never try to escape. They accept their fate with grace, and that’s what makes the story so deeply unsettling.
The writing is subtle but effective. Ishiguro doesn’t spell everything out; instead, he trusts the reader to pick up the pieces. The themes—identity, love, morality, free will—are handled with nuance and care.
📖 Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely.
This book gets a solid 5 out of 5 from me.
It’s not for everyone—it’s slow, introspective, and emotionally heavy—but if you’re in the mood for something that lingers, Never Let Me Go will haunt you in the best way.
👀 If You Liked This, Try:
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The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist – another emotional dystopia involving bodily autonomy
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Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood – heavier on the sci-fi, equally devastating
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro – more of Ishiguro’s elegant, futuristic melancholy
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