50 Books Challenge 2011 - # 57: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Title: We Need to Talk About Kevin
Author: Lionel Shriver
Story: Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.
Start: november 21st 2011
End: november 27th 2011
Comment: On april 8th 1999 Kevin Katchadourian kills seven classmates and a teacher. Eva is his mother. She writes letters to her husband Franklin and she describes her relationship with Kevin, Franklin and her daughter Celia. She talks about the doubts she always had about being a mother and the mixed feelings she had ever since Kevin was born. Eva describes Kevin as a bad child, but Franklin sees it differently. He sees him as an All-American-Kid and himself as an All-American-Dad. You never find out if Kevin was just born bad or that he was raised that way. Eva is constantly asking herself if the lack of motherly love has made Kevin lose it. As a reader you can go two different directions: You either think it was Eva's fault because she was cold and arrogant and never really loved her son. Or Kevin was bad from the beginning and no mother can help that. This is a book you shouldn't read before having a baby, because it's chilling. **SPOILER ALERT** In the letter before last, we find out that Kevin didn't only kill his fellow students, but also his dad and his little sister Celia. That isn't even the most shocking part of the story, because in a sick way Kevin did always love his mother more than his dad. A very well written book with a great climax and I can't wait to see the movie.
Rating: 4,5/ 5