Lionel Shriver, We Need To Talk About Kevin

The only thing that kept me reading 'We Need to Talk about Kevin' was the fact that other people had recommended it so highly and the blurb suggested the end would be worth it, otherwise I would have given up in the first few pages. To describe Shriver's style as turgid is being kind. Some of her sentences were so convoluted that I had to reread them three or four times. The pace creeps - 150 pages of will she or won't she get pregnant, when we know from the back cover that she does. The letter device is corny and transparent - it was clear to me almost immediately what was going on and perhaps Shriver should be reminded that Raymond Carver had a sign on his desk saying 'NO TRICKS.'Having said this the set piece when it finally, finally, finally, comes is brilliantly described and almost makes up for the impatience and frustration I felt getting there. So I would say if you have a long life ahead of you go ahead and read it - if time is short don't bother.

I could not put this book down. I loved the narrative style of the story being told through the eyes of the mother. Her brutal honesty about her feelings towards motherhood will be shocking to some (but a relief to others).

As the book progresses and her emotional position deteriorates, I became aware that her narrative may not be reliable and this add another dimension to the book.

Although you know from quite early in the book the crime that the son commits, there is a real and shocking twist at the end that blew me away.

This is one of those books that stays with you long after you read the last page.

Fascinating read - even though you know what is the subject of the book as it's stated clearly on the back cover and referred to all the way through, the author keeps twists until the end and reveals further fascinating snippets all the way along. A very different approach - and a rather brave one. Thought provoking. If you want an enjoyable (and witty) book with an uncomfortable context, this makes for un-put-downable reading.

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is a page-turner of an account of a mother bringing up a difficult child who ends up committing a horrendous crime. The book is non-judgemental, and you are left to make up your own mind about who might be at fault - is the mother's lack of love for her child at fault, or was the child 'born evil' somehow, and therefore impossible to love? Or is it the fault of society? Good one for (open minded) book groups.