Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

13 reviews

capsandclauses's review against another edition

2.5

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a dark, disturbing novel about a mother trying to reconcile her lack of maternity with her sons' actions after a school shooting. It is written in epistolary form via letters from Eva the heroine to her husband. 
 
This is one of those books that was probably good, but my enjoyment of it was massively affected by the fact that I was forced to read it, read academic articles about it and write an essay on it for university. There is no going back after that.

Objectively, it had brilliant writing:

"But since we've been separated, I may most miss coming home to deliver the narrative curiosities of my day, the way a cat might lay mice at your feet: the small, humble offerings that couples proffer after foraging in separate backyards."

“In a country that doesn't discriminate between fame and infamy, the latter presents itself as plainly more achievable.”

It also had really detailed social commentary.

But MAN do I hate reading books for school.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

quinn24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

Lionel Shriver can write so well I just wish her bigoted beliefs weren’t consistently clawing their way onto the page completely unnecessarily.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Genocide, Vomit, and Classism

fernash's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Medical trauma

lindsayvale's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

aliengirlreads's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Pregnancy

nialystic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

5.0

I really loved this book

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

hysrae's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

ajlct's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

2.0

It's an excellent technical display of unlikeable characters and an unreliable narrator, but ultimately there was nothing redeeming about this book that made me glad to have read it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

soph1768's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual harassment

katiej's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

A really thought provoking read, hard to swallow but beautifully written. It had me gripped. An interesting format, the narrator uses letters to communicate with her estranged husband and talks about their life together and the horrendous tragedy that occurs. A sensation for all the wrong reason but really worth devouring.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse and Child death