WIJFR: We Need to Talk About Kevin (spoilers)

[Nonny]

It took me a few months to slog through it, but I finally finished it today.

The ending was so good, so I'm glad I stuck it out and got the pay off of the "twist." But the first about 2/3 of the book was such a beast to get through. The writing style drove me batty and I hated Franklin the most, even more than I disliked Kevin. Even at the end it I kind of couldn't help but feel like Franklin had it coming for being so dense and blind to what was really going on.

Did anyone else feel that way?

[sporklemotion]

I didn't really mind the writing style, but I didn't find either Eva or Franklin to be sympathetic, which made it harder for me to get through the novel. I was definitely more frustrated with him throughout, and while I didn't think he had it coming, I definitely felt like he contributed to the problems and could have helped to prevent them (not sure how).

[apelila]

** just marking this thread so I can find it later, I'm currently on pg 81!

[ElizabethBennet]

This book messed me up, seriously. I must've been stupid because I was not expecting the twist AT ALL.

I wasn't able to rate it on goodreads because I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The characters weren't sympathetic, the subject matter was awful (and the twist made it worse), but I thought it was fairly well written.

[Nonny]

Jul 24, 2012 5:53:22 GMT -5 sporklemotion said:

... but I didn't find either Eva or Franklin to be sympathetic, which made it harder for me to get through the novel.

This is a huge reason why I struggled. I didn't really start to get into the book until Celia was born and she was the only character that I liked. Franklin was such a jerk, and I kept getting so pissed when he'd turn a blind eye to everything Eva would tell him.

But the writing style bugged me too and just made it harder. I hated the pretentiousness of how Eva wrote, and in that regard I kind of agreed with Kevin's little tirade against her when they had their "date." I kept thinking, "Who the fuck writes letters like this?" It made more sense when it came out that it was a journal and not letters, but it was still annoying.

[Nonny]

Jul 24, 2012 7:03:34 GMT -5 ElizabethBennet said:

This book messed me up, seriously. I must've been stupid because I was not expecting the twist AT ALL.

I didn't see that coming either, until the part about her getting home and seeing Franklin's car in the garage. At that point my heart kind of sank and I was like... Oh... he killed them too.

[duckduck]

Franklin drove me INSANE. Aside from his willful blindness, he was the poster boy for how to doom your marriage and be a lousy parent. He undermined Eva in front of the kids all of the time, played favorites with the children, encouraged Kevin to act up and disrespect his mother, covered for him when he got in trouble with neighbors...

The funny thing was at the beginning of the book I was expecting to like Franklin from the way Eva described him and his attitudes and his background. I wasn't crazy about Eva, either, but Franklin bothered me more. I felt like Eva was at least trying to have a *family* while all Franklin wanted was Kevin-- his idealized pretend version of Kevin.

[sporklemotion]

Jul 24, 2012 9:30:34 GMT -5 Nonny said:

Jul 24, 2012 7:03:34 GMT -5 ElizabethBennet said:

This book messed me up, seriously. I must've been stupid because I was not expecting the twist AT ALL.

I didn't see that coming either, until the part about her getting home and seeing Franklin's car in the garage. At that point my heart kind of sank and I was like... Oh... he killed them too.

I had a suspicion that there was more to the Franklin situation than met the eye-- I figured he probably wasn't living happily somewhere else. I didn't see the actual connection to the day of the killings until shortly before (as she was walking around the house).

Has anyone read Defending Jacob? It has a similar theme of being from a parent's perspective.

[msmerymac]

I honestly couldn't "blame" Franklin for anything, because Eva was such an unreliable narrator that who really knows if his attitude was exactly like she said? I think she was Monday morning quarterbacking throughout the whole thing. When Kevin was born she didn't feel a connection to him, which indicated his propensity for evil? Uh, no, how about you were just suffering from PPD. I think she painted Kevin as MORE horrible than he might have been (really? There was no joy in having a son, ever? Then why do you want him to come live with you when he's released from prison?) and Franklin as more cheery and clueless than he was.

I think Franklin was a "normal" parent who tried to relate to Kevin in a normal way. Kevin was a sullen child and teen. Clearly Kevin wasn't "normal" as he had a major screw lose, but for one parent to not notice that your child is a freaking demon incarnate? I have to question that.

The writing style didn't bother me. It was overly dramatic and in character for Eva.

[PinkSquirrel]

I had a hard time with not liking Franklin or Eva throughout the book. I do agree that Eva wasn't a reliable narrator, but that didn't help me like Franklin any better. It wasn't until the end that I really enjoyed and appreciated the book. I also did not see the twist coming.

[Deleted]

I read this book awhile ago and I thought two of the most memorable scenes in the book were when Kevin makes the makeshift coffin and when Eva finds out Kevin had the picture of her all along....up until those scenes I was struggling with if there was a little boy crying for attention/love inside Kevin or if he was just pure evil/sociopath - which all boils down to the nature/nurture theme in the book.