I saw bits and pieces of the movie some years ago and became enchanted with the idea of a "sociopathic son". Although it would appear that Kevin Khatchadourian is indeed a sociopath, the word doesn't appear even once in the four hundred pages of razor sharp prose taken from the perspective of Eva, Kevin's mother.The story is told in the form of letters Eva writes to her husband, Franklin some two years in aftermath of Kevin's school shooting rampage- refereed to only as 'Thursday' throughout the novel.

After finishing this book, I can safely say Eva is now one of my favorite, female book characters. The sharp, witty prose through-out, is wholly her voice. Her cynical and misanthropist point of view seers with insightful truth at every turn, much to my amusement.

The book is absolutely loaded with poignant themes- mass shootings being just one of them. Eva recounting her utter disappointment with the experience of motherhood and her painful, thinly veiled dislike of Kevin (even as infant) brings up so many under-explored themes of parenthood and what's "in it" for the modern, working woman.

Yet, while Eva's cold, unconcealed, contempt for her son is read as a failure of motherhood by societal standards, Shriver reveals Eva to be the only one brave enough to stare squarely into the evil, nothingness that is Kevin and see him for what he truly is. A task so exhausting, terrifying and thankless, it could only be accomplished by a mother's love.