Reviews with content warning for Body horror - We Need to Talk about Kevin

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

10 reviews

hellokatya's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

my first introduction to this story was through the film. somehow, i had come across it in relation to ezra miller - more true to character than we’d originally thought! - and was immediately interested. unfortunate to report, i was not a fan. however, upon finding out this was a novel first, through a sale at a book store, i was rekindled in my interest: hoping it would deliver better.

the movie took on the same layout as the book where it is going between two timelines, i thought it ruined the potential that the story could’ve had, and i felt a bit similarly reading it. it is revealed in the blurb on the back of the book that kevin is a school shooter and murdered people, leaving his mother to deal with the fallout, but throughout the book it is hinted at, not fully acknowledged or confirmed until the very end where she, in great detail, describes her assumptions of how thursday went down.

when i first began reading this, i was - and still am - in the throes of a reading slump. this was one i really looked forward to and counted on to bring me out of it; it did in smaller ways than anticipated.

i absolutely loved the way the author writes. it is so eloquent and well spoken, sounds extremely educated, but it came to feel condescending in the end - and maybe that was purposeful but i just could not wait for it to be over with. this book did take me a bit to finish (just over two weeks) and i was dragging my way through it. in some other reviews i’ve read on storygraph, people were also taken aback by this. no real person talks like that. nonetheless, the writing intrigued me and i wanted so badly to finish it. it was just a bit of a drag and felt pretentious at times
the “letters” do not feel like letters to someone at all. they’re more diary entries, or reliving memories. they are not cohesive with the way the book is formatted and it was bothersome for me. though, one of my main points with perks of being a wallflower, was that the letters felt too impersonal and left far too much out for me to really be unconditionally in the story.
towards the end, i was contemplating whether i think eva is an unreliable narrator and if her accounts of kevin’s behavior and nature are to be trusted, or if they’re tinged red with fury and resentment. are children truly born evil? was he toying with her for so long from such a young age or was he really a lost boy trying to get through to his mother?
1. it almost made me begin to empathize with him and i loathed it

overall, i do not think i would recommend this book, as it is far too rich and i began skimming ~70% way through just to have it over with.

Content Warnings

annie_brewer's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Read via audiobook (Orion Publishing Group Limited)

A superb book. The writing is impeccable, non superfluous but provides astounding imagery. Each character has so much dimension and their perfect regularity lends to faceted motivations.

Delivered through letters, Eva's tone alludes to indifference and banality - a reactionary position of self defense, a methodic distancing from the atrocities of her son, or exhaustion? Her crude apology for her own loss at a funeral of a victim exposes her grief and helplessness, yet possibly hints at self-absorbtion and innate narcissism.

Is Eva an unreliable narrator? Does Eva also have psychopathic tendancies? Was Eva oppressively cynical? Was Eva suffering from post-partum depression, impacting her bonding with Kevin?

The nuances between Kevin and Eva are expertly crafted, rendering the relationship consistantly teetering between obliteration and mutual respect with each interaction. The suprising accountability they hold each other to, valuing authenticity over compassion, stunts their relationships with others who can never reciprocate the grittiness and pervasion.

A novel that will forever make me question nature vs nurture.

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fernash's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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sweetlittleredw's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book… I enjoy being mentally ground up. I enjoy reading depraved things (tender is the flesh, woom, the troop, etc) but the ending of this book… I didn’t expect Eva to say what she said. When we find out what happened, I literally had to pause and rewind to make sure I heard it right. I knew it was coming; I knew with that final “are you sure you don’t want to say another goodbye” line bad things were on the horizon. I had no idea it was going to be that cruel.
Character-wise, I could not stand Franklin. He was constantly undermining Eva. Eva, herself, was a grating character especially with how she talked about people. Definitely hated characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the writing style. I enjoyed that ending because it’ll stick with me for awhile.

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annahollamby's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

thought-provoking, disturbing, and ultimately, i fear, unforgettable. the detailed writing really adds to the realism of the story. eva, our narrator, is unlikeable but certainly enthralling.

Content Warnings