Book Review - We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

This was a selection from my book club and some of the comments from my fellow members were that they had been holding onto the book because of the heavy content and that is was a very scary topic.  I was fascinated and excited to start reading this book, but when I started I had a distaste my mouth for the main character.  Being a mother I felt offended and disgusted by her feelings of pregnancy and lack of love for when her child was born.  I didn't understand how someone could loath there child and not feel any love or affection for a defenseless human being. 

I wonder can a child be born evil?  Can someone really always have a miserable disposition, do they mean to cause harm to themselves and others.  Can a child really be that calculating.  In this book Kevin is a great manipulator and has everyone under his thumb.  His mother is always skeptical of his behavior and believes that he up to no good, he has a way of doing things but not getting caught.  No one seems to feel comfortable in his presence and he is awkward and uncomfortable around others.  He pretends to be different around his father to have him on his side but really I think he always plays him like a fiddle and makes fun of him.

The book consists of the mother writing letters to the father explaining all of the experiences that she had raising Kevin and what happened in their household.  I wondered all the way along the book exactly where the father was not cluing into the tragedy that befalls the father and sister.  Once I read what happened I wasn't surprised but deeply saddened.  I wonder why he kept his mother alive, to torment her?  He was a cool calculated killer who planned out his assassination and never once thought to kill himself.  He resented that the Columbine shootings happened days after his massacre and took away his spotlight and that he thought they were wimps for killing themselves.  His mind was a complete closed book, he never really told his mother why he killed all those innocent people, and it wasn't until the very end when he actually appeared to have any remorse for his actions.

I would recommend reading this book it gives you other side of the fence when it comes to school killings what the families of the perpetrators go through and how painful there lives are in the aftermath.  There are so many more things I could talk about in this book but I don't want to spoil it for you.

I would love to hear what you think of this book if you have read it already or decide to pick it up.

Take care,
Penny