Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - We Need to Talk About Kevin

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

5 reviews

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

⚠️ CW: school shooting, murder, fatphobia, racism, homophobia, ableism, mental illness, child abuse and mentions of paedophilia ⚠️ This book is so hard hitting and had me hooked from the very beginning! Eva never really wanted to be a mother, certainly not the mother of a boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who had tried to befriend him. Now, two years after her son's horrific rampage, Eva comes to terms with her role as Kevin's mother in a series of startlingly direct letters with her absent husband about their son's upbringing. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about motherhood. This book is so incredibly chilling, heartbreaking and truly makes you consider the nature vs nurture debate. I regularly had to put it down and really think about the psychological side of this story, it was definitely a lot to consider but the characters and plot lived rent free in my head even when I wasn't reading and I think it will stay with me for a long time. I'd previously watched the movie of this but the book is on a whole different level that I can't even explain properly, it's one of those that you just have to read to understand the emotional rollercoaster. Overall, I absolutely adored this book from the way it was written to the hugely thought provoking plot, and I highly recommend reading it but please take the CW's into account because this is a very difficult read.

Content Warnings