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kathburke's review against another edition
4.5
A brilliant commentary on contemporary life.
From social media and influencer culture to religious guilt and climate anxiety, Willis covers just about every hot-button topic that makes the world feel bleak. I’m usually not a fan of book with unlikeable protagonists, but Amber and Kevin feel so very real, and give a really insightful look into the different ways people deal (or fail to deal) with existential and intrapersonal conflict.
From social media and influencer culture to religious guilt and climate anxiety, Willis covers just about every hot-button topic that makes the world feel bleak. I’m usually not a fan of book with unlikeable protagonists, but Amber and Kevin feel so very real, and give a really insightful look into the different ways people deal (or fail to deal) with existential and intrapersonal conflict.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Mental illness, Police brutality, and Death of parent
eveningreverie's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece of thematic development. This was insanely good. Intensely readable, almost addictively so.
Not to be mean, but another reviewer said "this could have been 150 pages shorter and with no Kevin." Yeah. It definitely could have been. But then we wouldn't have the entire thematic canvas that is Kevin, and it would be a fundamentally different story. It's like saying The Secret History could've been 100 pages shorter and with neither of the twins. Or that Klara and the Sun could've been 100 pages shorter and with no Rick. Yeah, it sure could have been! Maybe the fact that they're, you know, here instead of not might make us, you know, read the book differently.
Not to be mean, but another reviewer said "this could have been 150 pages shorter and with no Kevin." Yeah. It definitely could have been. But then we wouldn't have the entire thematic canvas that is Kevin, and it would be a fundamentally different story. It's like saying The Secret History could've been 100 pages shorter and with neither of the twins. Or that Klara and the Sun could've been 100 pages shorter and with no Rick. Yeah, it sure could have been! Maybe the fact that they're, you know, here instead of not might make us, you know, read the book differently.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Police brutality
daniellekat's review against another edition
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
1.25
This book sounded great in theory—Something kind of funny and not-so-casually pointing out all the ways the planet is dying, but this was just poorly executed. The writing itself wasn’t that bad but this could have used a major edit. There were some strange writing choices that I thought would pan out in the end but never did make any sense (the weird flashback scene cuts in the Kevin chapters come to mind). The characters were all awful and one dimensional. The alternating POVs was somewhat well used but by the last third of the book it was just a lot of the same repeated writing. I’m struggling to understand the author’s intention with this one, it’s left me feeling like I missed something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Self harm and Terminal illness
Minor: Pregnancy and Police brutality
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