The story is told from the first-person point of view, Kathy, a carer and former Hailsham student. There are many mysteries in this story. What kind of place is Hailsham? Who are Hailsham's students actually? What were they sent to Hailsham for? What kind of future awaits them after leaving Hailsham? Who is Madame? What kind of work does a carer do? You have to be patient until Kathy uncovers the mysteries bit by bit. Readers are invited to reveal things that even seemed confusing to Kathy. Sometimes Kathy makes readers curious about something, but Kathy does not immediately reveal it and she turns to other mysteries. Even so, there are also times when the characters simply reveal... See More

For a literary fiction, this book is very accessible and easy to chew. At the beginning, it feels like a contemporary fiction with a sprinkle of mystery. And then it swerved into science fiction. And in the end, we realize why this book is quite worthy to be called literary fiction. It's there since the beginning. It's just slow burn type of storytelling in which the author reveals the situation in small portion peppered here and there. It's definitely not an action book and it has a very minimal world-building.... And I think that is what the author wants, to focus our attention on the theme: "What is a soul? What is the purpose of life? Can we cheat destiny if there is one?"