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It's difficult to put this novel into words, as this novel is difficult. A strange science fiction coming of age story that draws on themes of morality, innate purpose vs self-derived purpose, the bonds of friendship, and the self. Ishiguro leads you through a devastating story with a gentle lens and buckets of compassion- though I'm not sure that makes this an easier read. I was profoundly affected by this story. Through the experiences of one group of young people, clones, he asks universal questions and provides only open-ended answers. I cried through this novel. I cried after this novel. It's very good.

This is easily one of my all time favorite books. Full of world-building, hidden information, and connections that will make you feel a little like a mad detective with your red string as you read. The unsettling nature of this story creeps up on you slowly, leaving you pensive and breathless when you least expect it. It walks you hand-in-hand through the suspension of your own disbelief, culminating in an experience that's creepy, disturbing, and strange. It is part sci-fi, part mystery, part classic horror, and part mythos. A long commitment that's well-worth the time spent. A closet that's larger on the inside than physically possible. A strange warp of physics and reality, and it's play on human relationships as they dramatically tangle and untangle.

This novel is not for everyone. Anyone who has suffered depression, however, could likely relate to the melancholic, passive tone and lost days described by our narrator. Author Otessa Moshfegh gives us the bleakest answer to a mental health crisis, which somehow, I found comforting? In her self imposed isolation, this narrator draws some similarities with Nausea by Sarte, without 99% of the anxiety. In it's place, medication and apathy carve deep lines through the pages. It asks the question, what makes the living of this life any better than other lives one might choose? Dark, bleak, unique, and generally unsettling. I loved this book, I think of it often. I plan to read Lapvona soon.