Never Let Me Go

Book review by Barbara Schultz, Common Sense Media
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Common Sense says

age 13+

Gripping sci-fi paints teens' bleak, unforgettable world.

Kazuo Ishiguro Science Fiction 2006
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Parents say

age 13+

Based on 1 review

Kids say

age 14+

Based on 3 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Never Let Me Go is set in a highly disturbing sci-fi reality in which young people try to make sense of their relationships and an increasingly hopeless world. The author introduces a host of invented, unnatural roles: students, guardians, careers, and donors, and slowly reveals what these labels mean. However, most of the interpersonal situations that crop up are fairly believable, typical adolescent scenarios, and tween and teen readers may identify with the central characters. Though this book, by one of England's most acclaimed living novelists, was written for an adult audience, the teen and young adult characters make it appealing to younger readers, and the prose is simple and straightforward enough to make it accessible to readers aged 12 and up. However, some parents may feel the book's sexual content is too strange for pre-teen readers. A film version of Never Let Me Go received positive reviews when it was released in 2010 (out on video in 2011), but was rightfully called very dark and depressing.

Community Reviews

M382
M382 Adult
October 1, 2015
age 13+

Fascinating social sci-fi

Relationships matter more here than Asimov's works, and female characters are prominent. I suggested this to our 12-year-old son primarily because the author's work all across the board is so phenomenal and this is such food for thought. Parents should know that the sexual content here is the main character's mention of "wanting to do it with everybody" and wondering whether something's wrong with her and a second mention by a secondary character saying that she "did it" with other people while dating someone, and that's it. This can certainly be the trigger for a discussion about promiscuity - because we plan to discuss the book - or, it may go completely over my 12-year-old's head. Regardless, he is not allowed to read The Hunger Games, which I found shockingly, despicably violent. In comparison this is a tame and beautifully written book with so much food for thought that the sexual references are worth it.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
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What's the Story?

Now a young woman, Kathy reflects on her life as a child and as a teen at Hailsham, the exclusive English boarding school she attended. She recalls the intimate relationships she forged with Ruth, whose lies tested their friendship, and Tommy, a troubled and sensitive outcast. Over time, the three central characters uncover the truth about their guardians, their fate, and what they mean to each other.

Is It Any Good?

Readers are kept on very much the same footing as the central characters; we experience the same kind of suspense as the dark, disturbing reality they face unfolds, and it's gripping. As he famously proved in his Man Booker Award-winning novel Remains of the Day (1989), Ishiguro is a master of restraint; he holds back just enough to create emotional tension, so even his least eventful plots become page-turners. Though Never Let Me Go is not a masterpiece on the order of Remains, it is thought-provoking and creates a fully realized, horrific, unforgettable world.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about human cloning, which figures in the story. If such a thing were possible in the real world, should it be done?

  • Do you agree with Miss Lucy that students should have been told more about their future lives and purpose? Why or why not?

  • In many ways, Kathy and her friends seem like pretty typical teenagers. What do you think makes them seem "normal," or not?

  • Kathy and Ruth's relationship is quite troubled. Why do you think Kathy forgives Ruth so much?

Book Details

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