Read With ME (207)

This book really evoked a lot of emotion from me as I read it and, above all else, that alone usually justifies a five star rating, in my opinion. This is a coming of age novel which follows the main character, Henry, from the time he was a young child- actually it begins even before he was conceived, giving the reader some insight into his father's childhood, adolescence, and college years where he meets and marries Henry's mother- growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, up until early adulthood. Both of his parents, but particularly his father, are very in tune with, and connected to, the arts - literature, writing, classical music- and this became a major influence on Henry as well, eventually driving him to venture away from home and family to pursue his passion.

This book was about family relationships, loss and how grief can tear a family apart right from the very heart of every member, but also about ambition, disappointment and how with age one grows more aware of ones limitations and mortality and, for some, that realization is overwhelming. It's hard for me to summarize what this book was really about or why I loved it so much. It was one of those books that I really looked forward to reading and couldn't wait to pick it up and continue...if time had permitted, I'm certain I would have finished it all in one setting. I found myself continuously reminiscing my own childhood and relationships and losses and disappointments while reading this novel and although the specific circumstances in the book were completely different from those of my own life, the emotions were the same and therefore it was very relatable.

From what I'd heard of this book before I read it (which wasn't much since it won't be released until April) I honestly expected it might be a little boring or slow but I assure you it wasn't. But even now, to describe it to somebody, it might come across that way because it wasn't a fast-paced book with a huge climax or a great deal of tension but there was just enough and I grew so connected to, and invested in, the characters and it was so well written- a book that truly made me think and feel and reflect - that I didn't think twice before giving The Barrowfields a five star rating although I fear my review just won't do it the justice it deserves. I hope that other readers don't look to deeply into reviews and descriptions before reading it themselves because I think it's so hard to articulate just how personal and powerful and emotional and thought provoking this read was, it has to be experienced. This book was simply, and subtlety, profound and the language and writing style was beautiful and often poetic, albeit challenging (I humbly admit I kept my dictionary handy because there were several words throughout that I had never heard before) and I appreciated every single page. As far as I know, this is Phillip Lewis's debut novel but he's certainly an artistic talent who is on to something and I hope his next book is in the works as I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you, Penguin Random House, for the ARC of The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis. (It was much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed).

The most amazing and wonderful book EVER!
This book was so great I just don't know where to begin. Just read it! It's touching and beautiful and heartbreaking and horrible and sweet and wonderful and above all else it's absolutely real! Real life at it's rawest, real emotion and heartbreak and perseverance, real characters full of flaws that made them beautiful and so endearing because of, not in spite of their imperfections. Life is so imperfect and unconventional and this book is a perfect reflection of all the details that make life and love both ugly and wonderful. Praise be to the title (how appropriate) and praise be to the author with the most heartfelt congrats to the reader because this book was really that good and I feel lucky to have experienced it and better because of it. This is a book that I will remember. This is a book that affected me.
This book is a perfect example of why I read!!!
I cannot articulate a synopsis or review that will give this novel the justice it deserves, so I'm not going to try, but if you only read one book this month, this year, this lifetime, read "all the ugly and wonderful things." I finished this book in less than 24 hours but it will remain with me indefinitely.

Not one of Wally Lamb's best books...
...in fact, when considering the greatness that is Wally Lamb, who set the bare extremely high with works like "she's come undone" and "I know this much is true" this might have actually been his worst so far, that's not to say it was a bad book but I was expecting more.

I was really looking forward to this book when I heard it was out because Wally Lamb has been one of my favorite authors since I read "she's come undone" when I was 15 years old, and have since read, and loved, every single book he's come out with since, including the composition of short stories written by inmates at a women's prison where Lamb taught a writing class. I think he's an amazing, often under appreciated, talent and one of the best writers of our time. This new book just didn't do him justice although it was very well written it seemed more like a novella than an actual novel and I would have liked it to have been at least twice the length with a more developed plot. The characters were well thought out, relatable, and complex but I didn't feel as connected or invested in them as I usually become when reading Lamb. Overall I was glad to have read "I'll take you there" and it was certainly worth the short time it took to get from cover to cover and I would recommend to fellow fans of Lamb but to those who haven't read his other works I would highly recommend reading those first because he can do so much better, be so much more powerful of a writer, than one could ever tell from reading this particular novel.

I am a little bit embarrassed to admit that this is the first Stephen King book I have ever read (aside from Rose Madder which I began reading when I was about 11 until my mother asked me before bed one night "what's this about, honey" and I described it in great detail and she immediately vetoed that selection right out of my life) and being a fellow Maine native who grew up about 30 minutes from King's hometown of Bangor, frequently driving by the King mansion just to peep the gargoyles keeping watch on the front gate, this is even more shameful of an admission. In fact, Stephen King was a former English teacher at my high school, Hampden Academy (go Broncos!), although this was many years before I was a student there, and my childhood best friends father, who was "a friend of Bill's" as they say, used to see King at local meetings of the anonymous variety. With so few degrees of separation between me and the famous author you would think I would have been inclined to read one of his books much sooner especially considering I've enjoyed many of the film adaptations and always appreciate the local references that only a native would pick up on, so why it is that i'm just now completing one of his legendary books is beyond me. But after reading 11/22/63 I wish I had done so much sooner. This book was fantastic!

11/22/63 isn't really from my typical genre of choice, although I find that I'm saying that so often in my reviews lately that maybe i really don't have a genre of choice any more or at the very least I can say I'll try anything once. Considering Stephen King wrote this book I was expecting a horror novel but this wasn't the case, at least not in the typical blood and gore and haunted house sense. It was more scary because it made you think about the repercussions that particular events, even very small and seemingly insignificant ones, can have on the future of not only our own lives but the fate of the whole world. The butterfly effect was brought up several times throughout this book- the theory that a butterfly's wings fluttering on one side of the world could result in an earthquake on the other- and it really makes one think about cause and effect and actions having reactions and honestly that can be much more frightening than any Hollywood produced horror if the results are negative.

In general this was a story about a guy named Jake who is introduced to a way to travel back in time to 1958. No matter how long he's stays in the past when he returns to 2011 only 2 minutes will have passed but, by returning, he also "resets" everything in the past as if he'd never been there and whatever changes were caused by his presence will be undone thus giving him infinite chances to change the past... but at what cost to the present (refer back to the butterfly effect)? So Jake goes back with the mission to prevent Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating President Kennedy on 11/22/63 with the assumption that will make the world, past, present and future, a better place. This turns out to be a difficult task as he quickly learns that the past has a way of protecting itself and the larger the event that he is trying to change the more the past will resist.

During the 5 years that Jake is in the past he meets and falls in love with a young lady named Sadie. She beings to question if he is who is says and quickly suspects he is keeping some major secrets from her. I found this part to be a little far fetched. See Jake as assumed the identity of George Amberson, he gets a teaching degree from a degree mill and forges his references and gets a job teaching at a high school where he eventually meets Sadie. Her suspicions arise when he frequently uses phrases from 2011 that she has never heard used before and peak when he hums a song with lyrics that would have been banned from radio in the conservative early 60's. I wasn't entiley convinced that this would have actually been a game changer in their relationship and I feel like Jake (aka George) could have easily explained it away as the way folks spoke back home in Wisconsin, where he claimed to be from. But that wasn't how it went down and I don't want to give away any spoilers in this review but just for the record that was my only real complaint about the novel and it's a very minor one.

All together I found this book to be excellent. It held my attention and often kept me right on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had it figured out something completely unexpected happened and looking back there is no way I could have predicted the outcome and I feel like I definitely got my money's worth. Being a child of the 80's myself I also got an adequate history lesson about what life was like in the late 50's early 60's, communism, Russia, Cuba during the reign of Castro, the missile crisis and threat of WWIII, the crookedness of J Edgar Hoover and friends, and a little bit about politics but from what I can see, in that regard, only the names have changed. In the "Afterward" chapter King said that he tried to keep the historical facts as accurate as possible and that extensive reserarch went into this novel and I was very impressed with the authenticity of history and the way he incorporated it into a page turner. If only my high school history class could have been so engaging.

I highly recommend this book, look forward to binging on the mini series adaptation of it on Hulu, and will definitely have to include many more Stephen King's book in my "read" shelf in the near future.

This book was recommended by one of my favorite bloggers (the bookgeek) as one of the best thrillers of the year, and it's right up my alley in terms of genre and plot, so I was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, after finishing it last night I have to admit I'm not overly impressed, to put it mildly, and to be honest I'm very disappointed with the book as a whole.

To sum it up very generally and briefly the book is about Grace, a twenty-something who lives with her boyfriend Dan, and is trying to cope with the death of her best friend since childhood, Charlie. The two girls grew up together and were as close as most sisters, closer than some, but Grace finds out that there was quite a bit she didn't know about Charlie after her death and she goes looking for answers which leads her to Anna, Charlie's long lost sister. Here's where the book starts to veer off the path of realistic and believable, in my humble opinion. Grace then invites Anna, a virtual stranger mind you, to move in with her and her boyfriend, Dan, and is completely oblivious to the red flags waiving all around her - from Dan's reaction to, and behavior around, Anna, to the way bad things begin to happen in Grace's life as soon as she invites Anna into it- and any connection between the presence of Anna and the storm of problems that follows her around like a dark cloud and rains down on Grace's life with hurricane force is completely lost to Grace. That was a bit unbelievable for me and as the tension built so did my frustrations with how apparent it was that Anna was a problem and how ignorant Grace remained to the obvious. Furthermore, I can't understand why no one else in Grace's life, particularly Dan, threw her a heads up about hurricane Anna when anyone could see the negative impact she was making on Grace's life even if Grace was to blind (or stupid) to see it herself. I kept saying to myself ...there has got to be a twist or turn coming up at some point, otherwise this is going to be the most obvious, predictable, outcome in the history of EVER...and that's exactly what it was.

Now I usually don't like to include spoilers in my reviews for the simple reason that when I read a review it's usually because I'm trying to gain insight on whether or not a particular book is one that I would enjoy and would want to read, therefore, I prefer reviews that don't contain spoilers. Of course that's not always the case. For example, after I read a book, especially one that I have particularly strong feelings about I always like to peep the response of others to see if they shared my reaction and I've found I gain a lot of insight about a book just from hearing someone else's perspective of it and of course, in that case, spoilers aren't an issue, in fact, I appreciate the dissection of the entire book, including, and often especially, the ending. Anyway, I digress, but my point is that this review contains spoilers so consider yourself warned. I found the climax and conclusion of this story so utterly ridiculous and outrageous, not to mention an insult to the intelligence of the average reader with half a brain, that I can't not mention it in this review. Just the fact that it took so long for Grace to realize that Anna was the reason bad things kept happening to her was frustrating enough, I thought okay, it's so obvious that Anna is the culprit that there's going to be some twist and we'll find out it's actually the boyfriend, or someone else, it CANNOT be that obvious! But it was. Then when Grace finds herself chained to her bed with one remaining handcuff that eventually gets filled when Lexi just happens on up and Anna kidnaps her at knifepoint as well, chaining her next to Grace... at that point I just continued to read on autopilot because the book was almost over (thank God for small mercies). When they were able to pick the locks on the cuffs with a bobby pin, or something of the like, I can't honestly say I was surprised. Of course they did. It was almost comical at that point and if there had been any hope at all of me taking the book even a little bit seriously (which there wasn't) it was gone out the window right then. Now I get that this genre is for entertainment and not known for having profound, thought provoking, intellectually stimulating effects on a reader, and that's fine, but this book had the depth of a kiddie pool and I fear that I might actually be dumber for having read it. Not a good feeling. That might be a bit harsh but I feel that I completely compensate for the harshness by giving The Sister a three star rating which is possibly more than it deserves but I think I'm being fair. And in all fairness, I did enjoy the way the chapters alternated from presant day to before Charlie died allowing the reader to really visualize the relationship Grace and Charlie shared but overall this book left a lot to be desired, in my opinion. The writing itself wasn't horrible and I'd probably give Louise Jensen one more try, but the plot was something I'd expect to come from a high school English student not a published author.

This was overall a decent book. It kept a good pace and the tension continued to build until it reached a decent climax and a not so satisfying conclusion. The ending was pretty disappointing but there were several turns and twists leading up to it that I didn't see coming. This book is told from alternating points of view of past tense, 15 year old Amelia, and present day Kate, Amelia's mother, as she try's to uncover the truth behind her daughters alleged suicide. I would probably have given this a five star rating except I just stayed so annoyed with the brainwashed, spineless , Pollyanna persona that Amelia embraces throughout this book. Maybe she is an accurate example of a typical, weak minded teenager who just desperately wants to fit in somewhere but I couldn't find an awful lot of sympathy for her because she was just such a doormat and she had so many supporters around her that only needed to reach out to for relief. I found it unrealistic that she would have not confided in at least one of them while she was being bullied and manipulated. That was very frustrating for me but I still enjoyed the overall story all the same even though I think 3.5 stars would be more appropriate but since that isn't an option I guess I'm forced to round up to 4. I think if I'd gone into this book expecting a YA it would have been less disappointing but I didn't realize that was the case and thought it was a typical thriller/suspense that came with great reviews and a lot of positive hype which always seems to set decent books up for disappointment when the bar is so high...all that being said I really did like this book although I know this review might sound pretty negative... it wasn't a bad read it just wasn't as good as I was hoping or expecting...but they can't all be 5 stars can they?

I don't venture into the horror genre that often but in honor of Christmas fast approaching, I decided to give this one a try and I'm glad that I did, although, this certainly isn't a Dickens type of Christmas story! It's a supernatural suspense about a girl who can travel on her bicycle to other dimensions to retrieve lost items via an old covered bridge, who crosses paths with an ancient vampire serial killer who abducts children in his Rolls Royce Wraith and drives them off to Christmas Land. It turns out NOS4A2 is the adaptation of a German word meaning vampire.
It was definitely a unique, one of a kind, creation unlike anything I've read before but it wasn't as ridiculous as it sounds...okay it was, but not in a cheesy, bad way though. This book was well written, entertaining and it certainly held my attention. I listened to the audio version on Audible and the narrator was fantastic and totally brought the nightmare to life! I wasn't familiar with Joe Hill prior to reading this book but I'd happily read more by him and after seeing his photo on Goodreads there's certainly no question who is father is (Stephen King)....the talent must be hereditary!

I loved everything about this book! It's about an older woman, Britt Marie, who recently left her cheating husband to venture into the world on her own for the first time in her life to gain independence and really learn who she is, and what she's made, of in the process. At first Britt Marie comes across as a very cynical, closed minded character who is so set in her ways and opinions that she cannot see anyone else's point of view, however, as the story progresses the layers of Britt Marie begin to lift away and a sweet, caring, grandmother-type is revealed, as are the reasons for her hard exterior, as her past is explained. Britt Marie ends up taking on a job at a recreational center in a forgotten little town that has gone bankrupt where very few residents still remain. While there she unexpectedly finds herself elected as the new coach for the children's youth football (aka ⚽️ soccer in the US) and shortly discovers that she needs the underprivileged but well meaning children in her life just as much, and possibly more, then they need her, and an unlikely friendship is formed. The dry humor and ironic wit that Fredrick Backman is notorious for makes this book hilariously entertaining but it also has a softer side that really touched my heart and drew out a few tears. I haven't read one of his books that I didn't absolutely love and this is certainly no exception! His characters are unique, unforgettable, and impossible not to adore and his writing style makes his books impossible to put down even though I never want them to end!

This book was absolutely magical! I can't even articulate how much I enjoyed it and my absolute love for the characters especially the lead character, seven year old Elsa. The grandmother was fantastic as well she made me wish so badly that she had been my Grammy when I was a little girl so I could listen to her wonderful fairytales, escape with her on cloud animals to the land of Niamas, and share all the other adventures Elsa and Grammy experienced together. I don't want to give away any spoilers but this book was all together enchanting! It was hilarious, insightful, heartbreaking, heartfelt, and so touching. It evoked so many emotions the way I wish all books would but very seldom do. This is a gem of a read and I had high expectations after reading "A man called Ove", another five star book, so I was so impressed that this not only measured up to, but slightly surpassed, my hopes and expectations! I just bought the audio version of "Britt-Marie was here" and I can't wait to listen to it. Britt-Marie's character was already introduced in this novel, she wasn't the main character but she was definitely significant and I'm looking forward to hearing more of her story but for anyone who hasn't read either yet I'd recommend reading this first. I don't think A man Called Ove is related to these characters so that can be read before or after but definitely check it out because it's a great book. Fredrik Backman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

I've heard so many new thrillers/suspense novels being compared to The Girl on the Train (or Gone Girl), lately, that I don't even take the comparison seriously anymore BUT I think it's safe to assume that if you liked the one than you will like the other as well. This reminded me so much of "TGOTT" although I admit I liked that book slightly better than this one, but only slightly, still there were many similarities. Both had British main characters who were 30 something's and severe alcoholics, each still holding onto a failed marriage while trying to solve a crime and quit drinking simultaneously. Both were somewhat obsessed, or at the very least they had not yet gotten over, their ex husbands, although said ex had moved on to remarry and have a baby, and both had issues around wanting a baby but being unable to have one. ...To name only a few of the very obvious parallels.

I enjoyed this book very much. It's basically about a young woman, named Amy, who was badly beaten at the age of fifteen and since then has been in a semi conscious state, similar to a coma, except she is aware of her thoughts and what is said to her, and doctors believe to have found a medical breakthrough in which she can communicate through a MRI. A journalist, Alex (earlier referenced in this review), is writing an article about Amy connects with Jake, who was Amy's bf at the time of her attack, and both are emotionally invested in finding out who hurt Amy, as the case remains unsolved and long forgotten by police. I guess it sounds like every other suspense move out there when put in those terms but I thought it was entertaining, not blatantly obvious or predictable, and there were sufficient twists throughout to keep me guessing and enough sub plots going on to keep things interesting.

I thought this was overall a good book, I'm tempted to go so far as to call it a very good book. It was your typical psychological thriller with adequate twists and turns and suspense. Just when I thought I had it figured out there was a new development, another layer peeled back and my theory was proven wrong . This was a quick read, I finished it within 24 hours, and it definitely held my attention to the last page with a surprise twist of an ending that left me hanging a little bit when a new dilemma was revealed, although the basic mystery of the plot had been satisfyingly uncovered and addressed. I know that sounds pretty vague but I'm reluctant to include any spoilers in my reviews if I can help it because personally I look to reviews prior to reading a book to get a better idea of weather or not it's something I want to read, therefore I prefer reviews that don't give away any spoilers and try to stay consistent to that with my own reviews. I will say that I do find the title a bit misleading and probably not the best choice for this story but that's a very minor consideration overall. For a debut author I was certainly impressed and will look forward to reading more of her books as they are released. I gave this book a solid four stars and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys quick, entertaining, fast paced, suspense novels, full of twists and turns till the very end.

I was extremely disappointed in this book. I was really looking forward to this read as there has been so much hype surrounding it. I've heard it referred to as the next "Gone Girl " comparing Fiona Barton to Gillian Flynn to which I was skeptical , those are big shoes to fill and GG was one of my favorites and a very tough act to follow. Unfortunately "the widow" paled in comparison. The book was completely predictable, the were no plot twists or unexpected surprises, no edge-of-my-seat page turning suspense, I wasn't unable to put this down because the anticipation was killing me and I had to read what happened next...no, the widow was nothing like Gone Girl and worse, it wasn't even a good book in its own right, in my humble opinion. The plot was extremely week and transparent, as were the characters, not to mention they were extremely unlikable and not relatable in the least. I honestly can't understand what any of the hype is about, why this book is getting so much attention, and what it is that readers are drawn to and enjoying about this book because I couldn't find anything that left a positive impression. I gave this book 3 stars and that may be more than it deserves but to be fair I did set my expectations incredibly high prior to reading this book because of the positive reviews I had read about it. Had I read it with a more open mind and no preconceived notions I might have enjoyed it a little bit more, or at least been less disappointed, so I think 3 stars is a fair review although if 2.5 was an option I'd probably go with that instead. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but obviously there are others out there who enjoyed it so to each their own but don't pick this book up expecting anything like a Gillian Flynn novel or you will only be sadly disappointed

This was not my typical read...I'm not usually into sifi novels but this was kind of hard to catalogue into one specific genre. I guess it was more of a futuristic/dystopian/sifi, packed full of 80's trivia, and it had some realistic possibilities with the way technology continues to advance.
The whole book took place in a future United States where our society, and our planet as a whole, is falling apart after years of abuse and neglect from humans. Gasoline and energy are precious resources, few and far between and extremely expensive and most humans find there escape and refuge in a virtually reality world called the OASIS where many people spend the majority of their time working, playing games or going on quests, attending virtual school, shopping, exploring the 29 sectors of countless planets, all from the anonymity of the personal avatar of their design. The main character, Wade aka Perzeval, is trying to find the ultimate Easter egg, hidden in the Oasis by its founder, J. Holiday who informed every Oasis user of its existence and that he had hidden it somewhere within his vast creation. Whoever finds this hidden gem will inherit Holidays entire fortune worth multi billions! However, the nemesis of Perzeval, and all other Gunters (a term defining gamers who search for the egg professionally) are called the "Sixers", an organization also trying to find the egg so they can take over the Oasis, commercialize it and begin charging everyone who uses it a fee. The sixers are a powerful rival with many members, nearly endless resources, and they are willing to do anything to find Holiday's egg, including killing not only Avatars in the Oasis, but also the actual players controlling the avatars IRL.

One thing I loved about this book, being a child of the 80's myself, was all the 80's references and there were tons! From video games to movies, music, computer models, cartoons, toys, even cereal prizes, it was very nostalgic.

However , one thing that bothered me, and this really isn't a spoiler because it's mentioned in one of the first chapters, maybe even the first chapter, is that we are told right from the beginning that Perzeval won the inheritance by finding the hidden egg. The rest of the book is just an account of how he did it. I don't know why the author set it up like that, maybe because it would have been so obvious that that was what was going to happen he didn't want to insult the readers intelligence so he just put it out there, but whatever the reason it took away all the suspense and anticipation when you know from the beginning how a book is going to end. Regardless of that one little complaint I still really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone even if you're not into video games or sifi because this book really does have something for everyone. I have read there is going to be a movie adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg I believe, and I can't wait to see that not only because I loved the book so much but also because I can't even imagine how they will translate it from book to movie format. There will definitely be some crazy over the top special effects and if I had to guess I'd be inclined to assume it's going to be fantastic especially if the book is any indication! I gave this book a 5 star rating because it was such a fun, unique, creative read and completely unlike anything else I've ever read before (in a good way) and even though nothing like the OASIS exists today, Cline did such a great job describing it that I feel like I've been there myself, seen and experienced it, and can still recollect it in my minds eye when recalling this book.

Powerful Message. Horrible Ending.....
review to follow shortly.

I can quite honestly say that this was one of the worst books I've ever read. Maybe I just didn't get it. Maybe there was some deep, profound, metaphorical meaning that just flew right over my head but from what I gathered it was literally about a bird who fell in love with, and married, a volcano. It was boring, stupid, and practically painful to finish. The only good thing I can think of to say about this book is that it was short. Thank the Lord for small mercies! Starting out it was hard to follow and it skipped around a lot, then it dragged on to a weak climax and even weaker conclusion. This is not a book that I enjoyed at all and I would definitely NOT recommend it. To anyone. Ever!

I really loved this book although I do question how realistic it actually was...can children really be born evil to the core, as I believe Kevin was in this novel? I'm not completely sure of the answer to that but this book certainly addresses the age old question of nature vs. nurture and leaves me wondering how much responsibility, and blame, if any, should be placed upon parents when their child does something horribly wrong like massacring his classmates. I suppose the answer to that differs from case to case but in the example of Kevin, I don't believe that his mother, Eva, was in any way at fault or responsible for the actions of her son and like I said- the boy was basically the devils spawn and evil through and through. Shriever did a great job with the character development in this book, particularly with Kevin, because I can honestly say I absolutely hated him from the time he was only a toddler and I found myself extremely satisfied when Eva threw 6 year old Kevin across the room after he intentionally shit his pants for the third time in an hour. That must make me sound horrible to those who haven't read this book, wishing harm upon a 6 year old, but he was such a calculated, manipulating, vindictive, mean spirited little twit that I couldn't help myself. And was he ever smart! The way he took the divide and conquer approach on his parents, outsmarting his father and playing him like a fiddle while his mother, who saw him for the monster he really was, was made to look like a heartless, unstable, crazy person because of it! As Kevin grew older and the little girl, Celia, was born and victimized by him I grew to hate him even more. Why Eva didn't take that sweet, kind, innocent little girl and run as fast and as far as she could from her evil son, who continued you grow progressively worse with age, is a mystery to me. I was appalled that she still continued to visit her son after he was incarcerated. If he had killed only his classmates (not to minimize the severity of that tragedy one bit) that would be one thing, but the fact that he killed his father and sister, Eva's husband and daughter, seems absolutely unforgivable for any parent, ever! Not to mention he didn't have one single iota of remorse for anything he'd done and continued to bask in the glory of his fame, comparing himself to other teenage killers and gloating about it when Eva visited him. The fact that she was ultimately willing to forgive him and had a room in her home ready and waiting for him to move into after he was released from his slap-on-the-wrist seven year sentence made me sick to my stomach. It was far from the ending I would have concocted for Kevin had I been the author. I found the need to remind myself quite often while reading this book that it's just a story, this didn't really happen, Kevin doesn't exist, and there's no point getting upset and angry over a fictional character, lol! That's one reason why I love this book so much, because it is very convincing and able to evoke such strong emotions, what more could anyone ask of a book? Directly after I finished the book I watched the movie adaptation on Netflix and that was extremely disappointing. There was so much left out of the movie that I feel sorry for those who didn't read the book and only watched the movie because so much would have been missed, overlooked and unexplained, like reading cliff notes instead of an entire novel. I guess the general message was still there but it was so much more powerful, with much better delivery, in print format, imo. Again, I struggle to think of this book as realistic because it's truly scary to think some children are just born rotten to the core but it's certainly a great form of birth control because I would rather remain abstinent then risk bringing a child like Kevin into this world.
I gave this book an easy five star rating because although I didn't agree with the way Eva continued to support her son and even forgive him, ultimately, this was undeniably a thought provoking and emotion evoking novel that was well written and extremely compelling. I highly recommend it!