It is rare that I dislike a book so much, I knew nothing of the author when one of dh's colleagues gave him the book for me to read. I have never read a book that was so biased, I began to wonder why the author was so anti-children, Kevin was evil from the start. There was no real character development, the shocks and ending were so predictable that I struggled to finish it then wished I hadn't bothered.
For a well-written dubious lead character Lionel should have read Notes On A Scandal on how to do it. The mother is truly awful, I have sons and found the way motherhood was described abhorrent. That is not to say that I am against other books where children are regarded with horror, it depends if they are well written which this was definitely not.
I then, after reading the book, read an interview where it was obvious that the author was expressing her feelings in a truly arrogant way. She doesn't like children and obviously could only write about what she believes rather than show some imagination or interesting narrative that would have had me (and plenty of others I have talked to about the book) see her point of view or sympathise/see the point of the main character.
Writing by numbers.