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Home > Books > Fiction > Historical Fiction Books > W Historical Fiction Books > We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

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for We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

Rating Summary based on 23 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		18
  • 4 Stars
    		4
  • 3 Stars
    		1
  • 2 Stars
    		0
  • 1 Star
    		0

Detailed rating

  • Characters
  • How does it compare to other works by the same author?
  • How does it compare to similar books?
  • Readability
  • Story
  		• 4.7
  		• 4.0
  		• 3.2
  		• 4.5
  		• 4.6

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Previous page Next page Page 1 of 3 | 1 to 10 out of 23 Review(s)
  • 24 of 24 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of lights84

    Level 5 lights84

    Member since 02/05/2011

    Reviews written: 103

    3 Stars Why I'd rather not have to talk about Kevin 25/07/2011
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Compelling, gripping, haunting, etc

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Lots of talk but not much insight, pointlessly obsessive

    We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver has been described as a psychological thriller, a philosophical investigation, a psycho-horror, a compelling drama, a moral tale, an American family nightmare, and a study of the age-old themes of nature versus nurture, mother-child relationships and parenting in general- amongst other things. The book is written in first person, and the story is told through a series of self-confessional letters written by Eva Khatchadourian to her 'absent' husband Franklin Plaskett. I initially found it frustrating that Eva's letters to Franklin are so detailed ... more
  • 93 of 93 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Collingwood21

    Collingwood21

    5 Stars I Need To Talk About Kevin 21/10/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Elegantly written, Well researched, Gets you thinking, Compelling narrative

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Not a light read - can be heartbreaking and bleak in places

    "We Need To Talk About Kevin" Lionel Shriver £9.99 Serpent's Tail paperback, 400 pages "We need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver, winner of the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction, has to be one of the best - and most provocative - books I have read in years. It is both a literary feat and an excoriating account of American society, modern parenting, and the phenomenon of Columbine-style school shootings. "Kevin" is shocking in two ways; firstly in its controversial perspective on parenting, and motherhood in particular, and secondly in that this book has as its subject Eva Khatchadourian, a ... more
  • 24 of 24 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of bigmike33

    bigmike33

    5 Stars A horrific novel that packs a punch. 13/05/2009
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Great structure and characterisation, particularly on Kevin.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages May be too dark for some.

    We Need to Talk About Kevin is a dark, disturbing yet thoroughly engrossing novel from American novelist Lionel Shriver, playing on her favourite themes of maternal ambivalence, family violence and internal strife in a psychological indictment of modern day society. Many of Shriver’s novels revolve around everyday family settings that become warped with time; in The Post Birthday World, Shriver looks at the depths a person will go to find happiness and overcome loneliness, while in Double Fault she looks at the themes of relationships that become broken with time. We Need to Talk About Kevin ... more
  • 38 of 38 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of cath_del

    Level 6 cath_del

    Member since 03/04/2012

    Reviews written: 108

    5 Stars We Need To Talk About Kevin 10/04/2012
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Well written, fast paced, good plot

    Disadvantages Disadvantages None!

    I read We Need To Talk About Kevin on the recommendation of a friend, and thought that it might not be that great a book as I had read previous works by Lionel Shriver like the Post Birthday World and couldn't stand them. But seeing as We Need To Talk About Kevin had got so many reviews about what an amazing read it was, I decided to give it a try. It's around £8 from Waterstones, but you can get it cheap from Amazon for around £1.50. I am unsure as to what to class We Need To Talk About Kevin as, as there are so many possibilities. It could be a thriller, a look into a murderer's profile ... more
  • 76 of 76 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Essexgirl2006

    Level 8 Essexgirl2006

    Member since 07/02/2006

    Reviews written: 345

    4 Stars What Kevin Wants 06/01/2007
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Original topic for a novel

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Hard going in some earlier parts, tendancy to ramble

    With this book, the American author won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Shriver changed her name from Margaret Ann to Lionel as a teenager, as she believed men had it easier. This was also selected to be part of Richard & Judy's Summer Reads for 2005, and was featured on the BBC's Page Turners programme. The book grabbed me from page one, I knew the synopsis from the back cover, and the book starts with a letter from mother, Eva, to estranged husband, Franklin, a year and eight months after the tragic events at their son Kevin's High School where he murdered seven fellow students, a ... more
  • 36 of 36 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Mountainlilly

    Mountainlilly

    5 Stars Is it too late to talk about Kevin? 17/07/2009
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Gripping writing of a subject that hits close to home

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Haunting

    Originally published in the US in 2003, Lionel Shriver's novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin" received huge critical acclaim and was awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. My copy of the book was published in 2006 here in the UK. Somehow I missed most of the fuss over the novel and picked it up largely at random from the 3 for 2 section at Waterstones a couple of years ago. As a member of the Columbine generation, having been in high school in Canada when the shootings there occurred, the subject matter of the novel touches a nerve, still raw a decade later. I have since read several ... more
  • 33 of 33 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of MI9to5

    MI9to5

    5 Stars Everyone Needs to Talk 18/09/2009
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages You'll never predic the end

    Disadvantages Disadvantages The subject matter is harrowing

    We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver was a book that for some reason always caught my eye. Maybe it’s the striking front cover of a small boy staring endlessly out at you or maybe it was just the fact that so many people ad said so many positive things about it. Either way I knew that I just had to read it but despite this have only just got round to doing so, although it has been sat in my to read pile for quite some time. I must say however that I am now extremely pleased that I stuck by my instinct to want to read this book because it is outstanding in every sense of the word. The ... more
  • 33 of 33 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of tecnomars

    Level 6 tecnomars

    Member since 01/11/2006

    Reviews written: 314

    4 Stars A chilling and disturbing read 02/12/2011
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages thought provoking, interesting read, engrossing

    Disadvantages Disadvantages story quite grim and chilling

    I remember trying to read ‘We need to talk about Kevin’ several years ago but I found it very difficult to get into and gave up after a few chapters. With the recent movie release my sisters, who have both read the book, wanted to go to the cinema to watch this. I don’t like watching films based on books if I haven’t read the book myself as I like to form my own ideas and images in my head and not be influenced by someone else’s interpretation of the story. I therefore decided to give the book another go and downloaded a copy for my Kindle for £3.79. ‘We need to talk about Kevin’ is a haunting ... more
  • 11 of 11 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of onlyliana

    onlyliana

    5 Stars We Need to Talk About This Book 02/01/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Original format. Fascinating story.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Sombre topic that may not be to everybodies taste.

    I love reading and find myself becoming deeply engrossed in the books I read. None more so than Lionel Shriver's 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'. It is one of my favourite novels, which might be difficult to understand given the topic, and I have reread it several times. ***Synopsis*** Kevin Khatchadourian embarks on a high school massacre killing 9 people when he is 15. His mother, Eva, Narrates through a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, and depicts her attempts to come to terms with the murders her son committed. Eva discusses her experiences of motherhood and contemplates ... more
  • 14 of 14 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of sbw80

    Level 3 sbw80

    Member since 08/06/2012

    Reviews written: 34

    5 Stars Yes, we need to talk but first you need to read 08/06/2012
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Will make you think and talk and talk some more

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Isn't the easiest read in the world

    I debated writing this review as there is already 22 already and i wasn't sure what i could add but as 'We need to talk about Kevin' i thought i might as well join in. Firstly, a disclaimer, it isn't possible for me to discuss the novel without mentioning what 'the incident' is. It's mentioned in most reviews and on retail websites anyway but if you don't want to know or don't know what i'm talking about i would stop reading now. If you've been living on Mars for the last year, i will inform you that the book is now a film. I highly recommend reading the book first (See my separate review of ... more
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