"...Kevin" - The ending (spoilers)

[MrsSnape]

I realise there are already a few threads about this book but I'd really like to talk about the ending. I finished it a few days ago and I just can't stop thinking about it, its the only book I've ever read that has had me thinking for days after finishing.

Did anyone really see that ending coming? I remember early on in the book I had a suspicion that Franklin was actually dead as he never wrote back to her and she never suggested that she'd heard from him since it all happened. But, then she'd write something that made me think "oh, he can't be dead afterall" ... for instance when she said "I hope you and Celia are getting to know each other better now".

And Celia - As soon as she was mentioned I knew Kevin would probably kill her or come very close as she definately talked about her in a past tense as if she was no longer around. BUT I thought he'd do something to her as a baby...smother her maybe...I never expected her to have such a dramatic exit.

And Kevin himself...I hoped he would show a little human emotion in the end at least, he seemed almost robotic throughout the book, pure evil from birth which I thought was a little unrealistic, I thought Eva just saw/remebered him that way because of her own mindset at the time. Sometimes it seemed as though there could have been underlying issues with Kevin, his inability to make friends etc...like he actually had mental issues rather than just a "crap personality".

I never saw the Bow and arrow thing comining either, all the way through the book I kept wondering where he would get the guns from as his parents didnt seem the type to keep them in the house.

One more thing...am I the only one that actually sympathised with Eva? Kevin sounded like a complete nightmare and her life HAD been ruined since he was born...and her husband seemed to completely disregard her feelings from the minute his son came into the world.

And how annoying was Franklin with the "well, it turns out it was all a big misunderstanding! Kevin really is an angel after all!" lol it made me want to slap him!

Mrs Snape,
I really know what you mean about borderline obsessing on this book! I finished it two days ago, and found myself reading bits again last night which is completely unheard of me especially as I have a backlog of about 10 Christmas books.
I had friends over at the weekend, one of whom who had read it, and I "predicted" the (wrong)ending with her while I was still about 3/4 way through. At that time I thought that Franklin had committed suicide after Kevin had either killed Celia or after the school shooting. I had guessed he was dead but not that Kevin had...

I know what you mean about Kevin having proper psychotic mental health issues which made him pure evil rather than just being a "very bad boy". There were too many things going on from babyhood onwards and that eye thing with his sister, never mind what happened later, was just too much ifkwim. I you think that there can be very serious physical handicaps then I guess there can be fundamental neurological diseases that can manifest themselves as evil behaviour.

As for Eva, I had huge sympathy for her. She had such a nice life before Kevin came along. The only thing that made me a bit unsympathetic was that she seemed to leave Celia alone with Kevin far too much when you really wouldn't leave him alone with a rabbit. Also, it does raise intesting questions about the importance of bonding with very young babies (I was also reading the Continuum Concept last night which stresses the importance of this) but I do think Kevin's evil went beyond any maternal indifference as an infant. One thing I did find a bit off was when she was calling Kevin a "little shit" when he was very young, though one could definitely go along with this later.

I found the whole relationship between her and Franklin really sad. He was just so well meaning and in denial, heartbreaking really, especially given the end. But how frustrating at times for both Eva and the reader!

One last thing (!!) was that I loved the black humour in the book. Very good writer.

I too thought he'd commited suicide after the "shootings", it never occured to me that Kevin would have killed him as they always seemed so close.

I think Kevin and Eva ended up realising that they had very similar personalities, they were both stubborn and overly critical of other people whilst never succumbing to the pressure of "having to be nice" to people...unlike his dad who was overly nice, sickly so and I think to Kevin it must have seemed so false. Eva saw Kevin for what he was, Franklin saw Kevin as the son he WANTED...therefore it was never truely "Kevin" he idolised.

Kevin was obviously very clever too, I though maybe his high intelligence pushed him to think of himself as superiour to everyone else but he was sick of being ignored?

Its hard to remember that none of these people ever really existed

And yes, it annoyed me how often Kevin was trusted with Celia which I thought was unrealistic considering how protective of her Eva was (and she never trusted Kevin anyway).

Yes, there were similarities between Eva and Kevin, an affinity perhaps. It was uncanny when she was speaking to Mary Woolford in "Kevin's voice".

Kevin was obviously super bright- to have done the deed just before he turned 16 thus avoiding the horrors of a long sentence in the American adult prison system and organising his own "Prozac" defence.

It seemed like he was showing some sort of remorse at the end, but possibly more a fear of what was in store in the adult prison which made him vulnerable for the first time in his rather spoiled life.

Couldn't understand Eva thinking of taking him in when he finished. Surely what he did was unforgivable and how could she possibly sleep safe at night?

I've known about this book for ages and can't believe it took me so long to read it! Anyway, better take my own boys out into the sunshine for a bit I suppose (although yesterday they ended up doing "historic crossbow" shooting practice at our local castle-it did feel a bit wierd I must admit)

I read this a couple of years so can't remember the details but it did leave a really big impression on me

I remember wanted to shout at Franklin all the way through - "FGS ! Listen to your wife and her mother's instinct. This is MORE than him Kevin being a bit "demanding""

The ending was a big shock for me - almost like he punished his dad for trying to understand him. Can't quite remember what happened to Celia .. Was she part of the target practice as well ??

I felt terribly sorry for Eva - I can't believe she still went to see him despite everything. Maybe she was just lonely and he was the only thing left

I read this book 3 years ago and thought it was brilliantly written and incredibly insightful.

i've met a few boys like kevin when I worked on a secure adolescent unit for young offenders with severe mental health problems. Most of the boys had schizophrenia/bi-polar disorder ( the mentally ill not the celebrity "it's because of my bi-polar" kind)cam from backgrounds of severe neglect and cruelty and had suffered abuse in the extreme version of the word.

despite this modt of them had knidness and empathy buried within and wer able to build tentative relationships and attachments with preseverance. 3 0r 4 however were, and I know this is contentious, evil. they had something wrong with their brains be it due to genetics, in utero or abuse but their lack of emotion and empathy made them psychopaths ( ans usually very clever).

I think the reason eva stuck with him was, because as she said she was his mother and she loves him.

I read this a few years ago so I don't remember all the details but the ending was such a shock for me, I didn't see it coming at all.
I do remember thinking at the time that Eve had some sort of post natal depression and din't bond with Kevin at all, and thought that had something to do with his behaviour, or rather how she saw his behaviour (I'm talking like they're real people!)

But it was absolutely brilliant, and I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I have read that some people didn't like it and thought that it showed that she (author) didn't have children, but I didn't think that at all, I thought it was brilliantly written.

Finished this about 3 weeks ago. I too couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought they had separated before the shootings and that Celia was living with her dad. I hadn't foreseen anything. Bow & arrows thing was a good twist. I was shocked when I realised K & C were both dead. I only got suspicious when he wouldn't answer his phone.

It felt like a betrayal to her daughter to be thinking about taking him in afterwards.

I thought he was dead - also thought suicide. I thought Celia may have died from illness. Wasn't shocked he killed them at all.When she couldn't get hold of anyone at home it was obvious they were dead. Wish she'd given away less clues tbh.

Oh gosh, when I read this book the ending was a COMPLETE shocker for me - didn't expect it at all.
I got so into this story and got quite evangelical about it - it really gets you, so well constructed.
I remember being struck, at the end, how actually Kevin idolised his mother and hated her because maybe she didn't love him enough for his liking? Given his intelligence and superiority complex I think he craved adoration back from her and when it wasn't forthcoming he wanted her to suffer.
In the end he made sure it was just the two of them.

It's been a few years now, I think I might read it again!

Yes he craved attention from his mother. Quite scary.

I did see the end coming, which is quite unusual for me, as I am usually the last to suspect anything.

I was much more sympathetic towards Eva on my first reading of the book. When I read it again I felt she was much more to blame than I did at first. All the stuff about him rejecting her as a baby was very dodgy - he was a baby ffs! I do agree that Franklin was very irritating.

It is a brilliant book - it works on so many different levels.

I must admit I guessed the ending about 1/3 of the way through the book and my SIL confirmed my guess (after I made her). Like others, I guessed he was dead because he never wrote back and then it just occurred to me that the obvious reason for this is that Kevin killed him at some point. I came very close to giving it up as I found it really quite slow for the first half although it did improve so I persevered.

I didn't know Kevin had killed his sister until the end (she hadn't been born when I asked my SIL about it) but I wasn't surprised after she lost an eye because of him.

I did sympathise with Eva. I don't think she was a bad mother or the cause of Kevin's behaviour. I suspect he was some sort of sociopath and was born without the right wiring in his brain. She got nothing from him so how was she supposed to behave - he didn't make it easy for her to love him. Her husband struck me as a bit of a fool really - couldn't see what was happening in front of his eyes. Kevin clearly had no respect for him yet he couldn't see that he was being paid like a fiddle. I would have been more suspicious of him, especially after the eye incident, although there was no doubt that Kevin was very clever.

Lionel Shriver has just published a new one, I think. Not sure I will read it though.

Not paid like a fiddle, played.

great read. even more interesting the second time and there's not many books like that..

I didn't see it coming. But I couldn't really believe in Kevin either, he just seemed too evil. Did anyone else think it was significant that Lionel Shriver is not a mother herself?

My overwhelming feeling at the end was sorrow for Kevin at so desperately craving his mother's attention and love, (I know! Even though his actions were beyond evil) and I read not that he was evil as such but warped from Eva not wanting him. If your mother doesn't love you, who will? Not that I am saying that excuses him.

I discovered half way through that LS doesn't have kids and faltered for a while in reading it. But in the end, no, I don't think it matters she's not a mother. After all, Stephen King hasn't actually met vampires/killer clowns, and his books are still gripping.

Though her toddler descriptions didn't ring true to me.

I don't think it matters that she wasn't a mother at all. I was totally convinced by the character of the mother and her relationship with Kevin.

Yes I was convinced by the character of the mother - but not that of the child and, as Bimblin says, definitely not by the very young child.