Plus there's the fact that the novel was nominated for all kinds of awesomesauce awards, including the Man Booker Prize. In fact, it's so popular that it's now one of the hottest books showing up on syllabi from high school to college. When Ishiguro published Never Let Me Go in 2005, it flew off the shelves. If that all sounds scintillating, we can assure you: most folks agree. See, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy aren't exactly human like the rest of us… or are they? And what does it even mean to be human in the first place? While they wrestle with that question themselves they'll also figure out just how important friendship and their memories of growing up together will be in the face of some seriously high stakes. Over time, they'll learn about their true (and dark) purpose in this funky world and why they have had such a special childhood. We don't want to spill all the beans here, so we'll just say this: Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are in for a wild ride. And it's definitely not perfect for Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, three friends who grow up together only to discover their terrible fate. But the sad truth is that this world isn't perfect for everyone.

In the book, we find a dystopia where everything seems perfect. There's no doubt about it: Never Let Me Go gives us a picture of the '90s that isn't nearly as pretty as the folks on 90210. Maybe it's just us, but this definitely isn't the '90s we were thinking of. Instead we get weird words like 'carers' and 'donors' and a bleak visit of a not so jolly olde England. It takes place in England in the late 1990s, so we should see at least one of our '90s associations in there, right? Nope. Now open up the first page of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. When we say '1990s,' you jot down the first things that come to mind. Okay, Shmoopers, let's conduct an experiment. Want more deets? We've also got a complete Online Course about Never Let Me Go, with three weeks worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff.

Never let me go