Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

7 reviews

sweetlittleredw's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book… I enjoy being mentally ground up. I enjoy reading depraved things (tender is the flesh, woom, the troop, etc) but the ending of this book… I didn’t expect Eva to say what she said. When we find out what happened, I literally had to pause and rewind to make sure I heard it right. I knew it was coming; I knew with that final “are you sure you don’t want to say another goodbye” line bad things were on the horizon. I had no idea it was going to be that cruel. 
Character-wise, I could not stand Franklin. He was constantly undermining Eva. Eva, herself, was a grating character especially with how she talked about people. Definitely hated characters. 
Overall, I enjoyed the writing style. I enjoyed that ending because it’ll stick with me for awhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, and Body horror

milliad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was a very hard, heartbreaking book. I picked it up as I’d read others be incredibly moved by it, and I understand why.
None of the characters are wholly good or moral, and I found myself hating the husband the whole way through.  I found it an interesting and real commentary on how mothers and women are constantly blamed, even when they were not in control or were reduced and abused themselves.
I’m not a maternal person at all, and I wonder how my experience with this book would be if I was.
I’m glad I read it, but I would not reread it. It made me think and it moved me, it’s unsettling and well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

owls_rainbow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Written in the form of letters from Eva to her husband Franklin, it was an odd writing style and tone of voice that took a while to get into but overall a compelling story.

It constantly annoyed me how clueless the husband was throughout Kevin's life. Intriguing twist near the end that I'll be honest I didn't see coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Racism

madelinequinne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Well this certainly cemented the fact that I don’t ever want kids. Kevin continuously made me so angry throughout this novel, and the absolute heartbreak i felt at the end when we find out he murdered his little sister too, that just absolutely broke me. This is such a difficult book at times because of how awful the topic is, but overall I would just describe this book as sad. It’s incredibly well written, and this is the most emotion i’ve ever felt after reading a book to date, so brb, gonna go cry 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Eating disorder, Blood, Death of parent, Classism, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Racism

daughterofaphrodite's review

1.25

I hated this. The narrator has virtually no redeeming qualities - she's foul, and obviously Kevin is awful. Just a miserable read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Mass/school shootings

kstericker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual content, Confinement, and Cursing

Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Body shaming, Self harm, Sexism, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, and Body horror

kkulhannie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Antisemitism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault