Whoops, I've been meaning to come back and write a review (I finished this book while out to dinner with my family, so it wasn't a good time), but I found myself putting it off until I've forgotten a lot of this book beyond my general impression. Hopefully that'll be enough.

Beyond the obligatory/built-in "Is it ethical to experimentally make a developmentally delayed individual more intelligent?" dilemma, this book explored a lot of loaded themes like compassion, prejudice, and how our past influences our present. To be quite honest, it was disappointing to find that while

Spoiler

multiple people called Charlie out on his post-operation superiority/how quick he was to dismiss everyone else as ignorant poseurs, losing the friendly sociability he used to have

it took Charlie too long to acknowledge, which definitely made it hard to empathize with him as a narrator. I also wish there had been more (admirable/strong) female characters: Alice Kinnian is nice, but she stands out as an exception rather than the rule which, imo, is a bit iffy.

The ending was definitely poignant:

Spoiler

unsurprising of course - it was all but spelled out, and you didn't need an IQ as high as Charlie's got to see it coming with all the clues

. I shed a tear or two over the last line in particular.