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A review by jessica42980
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
4.0
All my reviews can be found at http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on February 24, 2021. There will also be a movie comparison.
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I had heard of We Need to Talk about Kevin years ago and its shocking ending. I can say I finally read it as a part of #Diverseathon2021: February’s prompt was a character with a mental illness. Well, I listened to the audiobook, and it was quite a challenge for several reasons. It was 15 discs and the final disc was an author interview. I have been listening to books through the Libby app on my phone, but this was only available as a cd, so I listened to it whenever I was in the car and it took a while to finish.
In addition to the length I had issues with the audiobook narrator’s voice. It was almost like nails on a chalk board for me. Also, Eva, our narrator and mother of Kevin is not likeable at all. But I persevered and it ended up being worth it!
Eva speaks to the reader via letters to her husband Franklin. Eva is very detailed, candid, graphic, and everything out there in her nearly daily letters written to Franklin. Eva never wanted to be a mother, but Franklin longed to be a father, so Eva gave him the gift he wanted, and the result was Kevin. Kevin was an issue with Eva from the second he was born. His birth was not an easy one and Eva felt nothing towards Kevin. Some people should not become parents and Eva is one of them! In some ways Eva is an unreliable narrator with her one-sidedness towards Kevin.
The novel is hard to digest and you can’t really read too much at one time, and it does tend to drag at least halfway through. There are some shocking decisions that Eva makes that I could not believe as I read. And the Eva vs. Kevin relationship is just so messed up on so many levels.
We Need to Talk About Kevin leaves you thinking about so many things long after you have read it. Is it nature versus nurture? Was Eva the cause of Kevin’s behavior with her lack of love for him? Or was Kevin born to be a sadistic murderer?
We Need to Talk About Kevin is NOT for everyone. It takes place just 12 days before Columbine, and the Columbine shooters and other school shooters are referenced as well as the 2000 election.
Kevin is a very difficult read, but if you can persevere then the ending makes it worth it Kevin is a very difficult read, but if you can preserve then the ending makes it worth it. And again, that ending I just did not see coming. Knowing the ending now, I should have seen the red herrings that were shown throughout!
I don't think I will ever read this novel again, given the extreme difficulty I had with it, but I am glad I accomplished it. Many thanks to #Diverseathon2021 for ‘causing’ me to finally read this one.
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on February 24, 2021. There will also be a movie comparison.
~~~~
I had heard of We Need to Talk about Kevin years ago and its shocking ending. I can say I finally read it as a part of #Diverseathon2021: February’s prompt was a character with a mental illness. Well, I listened to the audiobook, and it was quite a challenge for several reasons. It was 15 discs and the final disc was an author interview. I have been listening to books through the Libby app on my phone, but this was only available as a cd, so I listened to it whenever I was in the car and it took a while to finish.
In addition to the length I had issues with the audiobook narrator’s voice. It was almost like nails on a chalk board for me. Also, Eva, our narrator and mother of Kevin is not likeable at all. But I persevered and it ended up being worth it!
Eva speaks to the reader via letters to her husband Franklin. Eva is very detailed, candid, graphic, and everything out there in her nearly daily letters written to Franklin. Eva never wanted to be a mother, but Franklin longed to be a father, so Eva gave him the gift he wanted, and the result was Kevin. Kevin was an issue with Eva from the second he was born. His birth was not an easy one and Eva felt nothing towards Kevin. Some people should not become parents and Eva is one of them! In some ways Eva is an unreliable narrator with her one-sidedness towards Kevin.
The novel is hard to digest and you can’t really read too much at one time, and it does tend to drag at least halfway through. There are some shocking decisions that Eva makes that I could not believe as I read. And the Eva vs. Kevin relationship is just so messed up on so many levels.
We Need to Talk About Kevin leaves you thinking about so many things long after you have read it. Is it nature versus nurture? Was Eva the cause of Kevin’s behavior with her lack of love for him? Or was Kevin born to be a sadistic murderer?
We Need to Talk About Kevin is NOT for everyone. It takes place just 12 days before Columbine, and the Columbine shooters and other school shooters are referenced as well as the 2000 election.
Kevin is a very difficult read, but if you can persevere then the ending makes it worth it Kevin is a very difficult read, but if you can preserve then the ending makes it worth it. And again, that ending I just did not see coming. Knowing the ending now, I should have seen the red herrings that were shown throughout!
I don't think I will ever read this novel again, given the extreme difficulty I had with it, but I am glad I accomplished it. Many thanks to #Diverseathon2021 for ‘causing’ me to finally read this one.