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hellokatya's reviews
154 reviews
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
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.
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?
- 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
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Classism
The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
i went into this book fully into a reading lull, knowing that it would bring me out. freida mcfadden is fantastic at leaving an audience wanting more and building tension or suspense. her books are fast paced and guaranteed to capture your attention - this one however had a problem maintaining it. the book did not get good until well past halfway through. it was a bore for quite a while.
i could not bring myself to think about it once i’d put the book down. it was not one that i felt the need to continue on reading for long periods of time, and i had to take breaks between chapters the first day. granted: that could be due to my reading slump and inability to stick to a book this month.
either way, this one was not a personal favorite from freida, but i was more satisfied in the logic behind the plot twist/reveal. the entire book until that point had me pondering who it would be. i am familiar with her writing style and her penchant for twisty plots, so already i knew it couldn’t have been liam, especially with how HARD she went at trying to misdirect. every other paragraph was about how evil he is and how it’s all erika’s fault.
a part of me wishes that it would’ve been from someone else’s perspective, maybe hannah?, it might have been more bearable of a read.
i was not a fan of erika as a main character. she takes on far too much responsibility and guilt from the [men] around her. she was insufferable to read from.
lastly, it was truly disheartening to see how flat the women cast is, once again. they are nowhere near dimensional and have no more personality than a rock. they also do not have any sort of respect from each other, their loved ones, or from the author writing them.
the side story about liam tying up the girl in kindergarten should’ve come up again somewhere. maybe she could’ve been the body that was in the hole with olivia, or she had been the one that was being taken now, anything with her than just making liam look bad.
frank should also have had a more substantial part in the ending. he was creepy and slightly offkilter but it doesn’t really pay off.
overall, it was okay. it did the job it had to do. it was nice to have a book opposite to her normal formula [good plot bad end > bad plot good end] and get out of my reading slump. will continue to take her books into consideration when picking tbr.