Reviews tagging 'Death'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

114 reviews

stellahadz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Based on other reviews I've read, I feel like I'm in the minority of people who really, really liked this book. It seems like a lot of people went in expecting a scathing takedown of the true-crime industry, which would have been interesting in its own right, but I think it was a mistake to market this book that way. I read it more as a mystery/thriller with subtle yet thought-provoking social commentary, and I personally found that refreshing. So often, thrillers rely very heavily on tropes and sensationalist stereotypes. I definitely love a good beach-read mystery where you can just turn your brain off and let the story do its thing, but I Have Some Questions for You actually addresses the topics of racism and sexual violence in the legal system, and the extremely important and timely concept of law vs. justice.

The setting, characterization, story, and pacing were all great. The mystery was very well-crafted and I loved how detailed it was - nothing felt out of place, and I could picture every moment of the story so well. It was Dead Poets Society meets How to Get Away with Murder meets the Serial podcast. I liked that Bodie wasn't a perfect person; she made a lot of incredibly foolish decisions, but they all made sense in the context of her character, and I think those decisions were supposed to be a cautionary tale about the danger and confusion of latching onto a certain narrative in true-crime cases. 

I found the ending deeply unsatisfying, but I also don't think that's a bad thing. It tied up some loose ends while also leaving the reader with the sense that justice wasn't entirely served, which aligns with the social commentary woven into the story. (Also, petty grievance, but the character that I REALLY wanted to see get his just desserts went completely scot-free, which is realistic but INFURIATING.) 

Overall, I would recommend this book, but I would also advise people to a) check the content warnings and b) go in with as few expectations as possible - not because it's not good, but because it doesn't fit perfectly into either the box of "beach read thriller" or "scathing, in-your-face social commentary." It was one of those books that made me think and feel, and that I was sad to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Eating disorder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sareeta's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This was somewhat entertaining but I was always waiting for it to get better or for something to happen. I also disliked the way it seems to propose that forcing people to talk about their

assaults or experiences with abusers

in court even when they don’t want to is the “right” thing to do. It also felt predictable and obvious, and I got bored. There were many times I wanted to stop reading but kept going because I wanted to see what would happen.

It wasn’t worth it.  I’ll probably try The Great Believers someday but not for a while…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Blood, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dkamada's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

lpdx's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

maggier31's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I came for an edge of your seat literary thriller set in a wintry New England boarding school, I stayed for the razor sharp takes on how personal biases fuel (and taint) the justice system, how so many of us so often fail the most vulnerable—out of cowardice, out of allegiance to a culture of silence. Will be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This murder mystery is filled with unlikable characters, each driven by their own motivations. I enjoyed the ending which I didn't see coming. 

Julia Whelan, as always, delivers an excellent performance as the audiobook narrator. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I feel like in different hands this book could've been doing too much and felt all over the place, but it was not. It was perfectly balanced and was such a great story. While I found some parts a little over the top, it was far and few between for this genre. I also felt like this book resonated with me and had more takeaways than books in the same genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

fuguballoon's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I can sum up my opinion of this book in two words: "bloated" and "snoozy." For many more words, see below.

I'm happy for Rebecca Makkai that she's reached the level of success where she doesn't get edited anymore, but it massively sucks for her readers. This book was way too long, with nothing to show for it. There was so much navel-gazing that did not enhance the plot or characters. There were so many named characters who did not need to be named, it was hard to keep track of everyone (easily 25 with big speaking parts, where 10-15 is average).

With all of that extra material floating around, you'd think there'd be an interesting twist nestled in there somewhere, but there wasn't. The whole thing was predictable from the first time the murder was described in detail. I hoped that the choice to have Bodie talking to someone would ultimately lead to something compelling, but it didn't.

Bodie being a crummy person didn't bother me as much as other readers, but I was put off by Makkai's MeToo subplot. I am old enough to remember being extremely online in 2018, and the whole thing was unrealistic to me. I agree with the other reviewers who said her Makkai's engagement with the serious issues in this book (criminal justice, racism, etc) are superficial.

Lastly, and because I haven't seen it written about on here, I am getting tired of able-bodied authors writing about people cheating on their disabled spouses using language that makes it seem like it's okay because the spouse is sick, with no interrogation or examination of the characters' ableism. I don't care if it's supposed to make us dislike a character--it's lazy character building and gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

gemblacol's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Eating disorder