Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

54 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

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

jessiedoodah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

emathomas17's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, and Classism

jessieraeyo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, and Pregnancy

hstcrow's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Reading this felt like holding my breath for five days. Wtf. Very intense, overwhelming, and jolting in terms of the realistic story & crime, and the alarming clarity of how broken the judicial system is, how tight a chokehold the patriarchy, class, and race have on our society. The ending was so perfect and clever. It’s supposed to reflect reality. This is such an incredible feat of a book. Hell yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Police brutality, Car accident, and Death of parent

elliv's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Murder

edamamebean's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I feel like it’s important to say from the outset that this is not a murder mystery. It’s a meditation on racism, the justice system, and the constant, almost casual violence that is inflicted upon women. It asked a lot of really important questions and definitely got me thinking. Bodie’s own internal struggle reminded me of a time in my own life when I had to reexamine my high school memories after my favorite teacher was outed as a predator. Something I especially liked about this book was its ability to make clear that what happened to Thalia is not exceptional. In fact, it happens all the time. Worth the read. Although it is very heavy, the subject is handled with care and nuance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

deadhouseplant's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

The Secret History meets Serial. In this whodunnit, Makkai takes on our obsession with true crime in a cold case that examines the #metoo movement, racial profiling, and classism in academia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Murder

nuuamuikkunen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Loved Rebekka Makkai’s The Hundred-Year House, and decided then I would devour everything this author has written. But I have to say, maybe this book wasn’t as good. Or maybe, it was too different.

But, if I only examine what I thought about this book, I would say it was a great read. It made me feel so many things. Not a light read at all. And there wasn’t really any big plot twists in the story, but I feel like it didn’t need any.

I listened to the audiobook and let me tell you there are waaaaayyy too many names to remeber. At times it was so hard to keep up who had done what!

Edit: If you can, listen to the audiobook! Shoutout to the producer or whoever thought to have

a man read the part with Omar’s phone call with the podcast

was a genious! It gave me chills! Plus, who doesn’t love Julia Whelan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer