We Need to Talk About Kevin
A Novel
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We Need to Talk About Kevin
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Narrated by:
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Coleen Marlo
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Written by:
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Lionel Shriver
About this listen
Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of a boy who ends up murdering 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 16th 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.
©2003 Lionel Shriver (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishersYou may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
What listeners say about We Need to Talk About Kevin
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Katherine
- 2024-07-24
wow
always wanted to read this after watching the movie and this brought so much more depth and insight. at first I didn't like the epistolary format, but it grew on me over time and I can't think of a better way to have told the story. Holy shit the ending. wow. I'm speechless
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 2018-02-06
Worth your time
Struggled to get into it at first. Mostly due to the person narrating. She sounds very robotic. Also the main character isn't very likeable. But the story is great and the ending is satisfying.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Samantha
- 2024-02-07
Messed me up
Narrator did an amazing job. Story was written amazingly. However the story is so disturbing, I’ve seen the movie 10 years ago and I was disturbed then, but I thought I’d give the book a go since I knew how well crafted it was but wow that was ever hard to experience. 
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tracey
- 2020-09-02
Interesting storyline
It was a little hard to get into due to the narrators delivery. As I got further into the book, I felt it was a good match as it really reflected who the character was. There were some solid twists and turns and one I did not see coming at all! Overall it was a really good read although the content may be upsetting to some.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kaitlyn Staden
- 2024-04-18
Beautifully written, tragic
Though the end was predictable off the bat the book was so incredibly written, balancing eloquent storytelling with the buildup of the eventual school massacre. Descriptions and scenes were never overdone and the story always had me coming back for more. The narrator was also amazing and did a great job of portraying emotion and nailed the voices of Kevin as a child and as an adult.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-02-22
Kept me up
I listened to this book within a day, I stayed up all night just so I could finish it. Within the first few minutes, it dragged me into the narrative immediately. The story made my stomach turn, and it couldn't help but pull me in so many directions. Sometimes you felt like Eva was immensely dense, and selfish, then other times it would switch to caring about her. Throughout the entire listen I found myself growing saddened, realizing what might've happened, and piecing the events together in my own mind. It was beautifully written, but I definitely will need to slowly recover before listening to anything else.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Celeste
- 2021-02-06
I couldn't turn it off
The novel itself is an incredible story. It is believable, relatable and harrowing. Of course, it sparks lively ponderance of the nature vs. nurture debate while illustrating how a mother's nagging inescapable feeling of inadequacy, responsibility and failure can be subjectively exaggerated. The protagonist is simultaneously repulsive and repentant, while the antagonist simultaneously complex and predictable. Until, of course, he isn't. I truly could not stop listening. I write this at 6am after a sleepless night spent hanging on every word.
The narration is spectacular. Her voice is so clear and crisp at first it seems almost unreal. Her ability to attach clearly recognizable and believable changes in her tone to different characters made the reading streamlined and uninterrupted with confusion as to whom is speaking. Her Kevin is wonderfully haunting. She embodies his depth and leaves you with a feeling of unease, almost as though she's wrapping you tightly in an itchy blanket.
I highly recommend this title if you're at all interested in the recent history and amateur psychology of school shootings as the author's observations are thorough and intriguing. I also recommend it as a mother, as it provides a unique perspective on a mother's love in a context that, hopefully, you will never be able to experience.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-06-25
Disturbing
Enormously disturbing and so well done... the reading performance suits the story once you get going. Chilling - I was happy to finish this one - very well written.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- clara
- 2020-09-17
We Need to Talk About Kevin
This book far exceeded my expectations and delved deep into subjects I have never considered. I was captivated by the dexterity and grace Shriver used to cover the dark and often controversial subject matter while keeping an element of harsh honesty and blunt fact as well. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something they have never read before.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- shelly
- 2022-06-05
Don't love the narrator.
The narration is hard to get past. But amazing story. I would definitely recommend it for the storyline.
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