Reviews tagging 'Classism'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

43 reviews

addie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Self harm, and Stalking

magsbord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Classism

rlinnyc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kimveach's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

This book grabbed my attention from the start and held it through to the end.  I loved the story of a podcaster looking into her own school history of a murder of a classmate.  With her students attempting a podcast similar to Serial, she examines not only the original murder but also society as a whole in this Me Too age.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mads_jpg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

As someone who isn't a big fiction reader, I probably would never have read this book if it weren't for my work book club, but I'm so glad I did. 

I'm also really skeptical about the true crime entertainment industry, so this book's take on the genre was incredibly refreshing. The author's frequent references to real life cases, and her deliberate choice to not name perpetrators and instead center the experiences of both victims and survivors was fantastic. This book left me angry at the injustice of the justice system and the microagressions that eventually lead to violence against women and people of colour. 

Overall, it was an insightful take on true crime as a form of entertainment, and my only real critique was that the ending left me somewhat wanting.

While I'd loved the use of "you" as this ongoing mystery, I was disappointed we never had any kind of climax/closure with Mr Bloch. And while I know in reality Omar would probably never get justice, I really hoped the book would opt for a happy ending for him. Lastly, the final chapter felt like an odd way to finish the story. Aside from Bodie reflecting on Carlotta's death, it just felt like a moment of pause before the actual ending, so I was genuinely surprised when I realised it was over.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

deetabz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Stalking, and Death of parent

wynnebirchmaple's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I couldn’t wait for it to be over which is markedly different than dying to know how it would end. Sad commentary on sad commentary and meta sadness all around. Structure is hard to manage in this work that was laborious. Too many characters, too many distractions and disruptions, a shallow swim in a phenomena no one has been able to explain—national obsession with true crime. Glad I didn’t buy it, own a previous work by the author that I haven’t read and am not sure I want to even though there’s big buzz, award kudos the whole thing. Author tried to over-serve and that’s what happens when you have a prior best seller and it’s easy to create a national conversation and vogue situation that everyone still rollicking in loungewear needs to get on board with. I am in no way better for reading this and I will look at Lake Forest Academy differently for now on. Author went there, lives there and has situated her novel in a similar but different place. Creepy really…

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I don’t know why people like this kind of stuff. I’m really annoyed that this was so long and not because there was no payoff, it was just crap—like a compilation of Kepnes’ adapted work, “You” Emma Cline’s “The Girls” Kukafka “Girl In Snow” and Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” I didn’t like any of them and this one is now on the virtual shelf of harmful books to women that hijack political themes to make them sell or have obscene page count. Sheesh…

basicbookstagrammer's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

goldenbeebookshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

It's hard to rate this book because there are some compelling things happening here, but it's hard to tell from the description that this novel is mostly about the realities of women who are assaulted and/or murdered, the men who more often than not get away with it, and the deeply flawed and racist judicial system. These are not tangential things- these are the main focus of the plot more than any mysterious aspect finding the real killer.
All evidence thus far does paint a bleak picture for women in America- and there's value to that being explored, I just don't know how I feel about it being hung on this mystery scaffolding. The main character's actions do prompt some questions about whether or not there's nuance when it comes to believing women, to penalizing men for the actions of the past and assessing whether there's a spectrum of behaviors that might warrant different actions, and what kind of justice or truth can be found in the court of public opinion in a time when anyone can have a podcast or YouTube channel.
There is some great writing here- little concise sentences here are there that completely capture the feeling of being young, or being lost, or a person struggling in the world.
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, and Bode felt a little incomplete as a character. There are little pieces of things dropped in and abandoned that I was uncertain as to whether they were meant to serve as mini red herrings or if they were underdeveloped plot additions. The last quarter of the book did move a lot faster and I find myself eager to sit down and read for an hour straight, which I hadn't been as eager to do before.
I think it might be helpful for people to know going into this that this is a story that feels true in that justice is rarely found in white patriarchal contexts, vigilante justice while potentially satisfying isn't always accurate or successful, and there are ripples of grief and shame that impact family and friends because of the choices of one person that are inescapable. There's no real high note to end on here, which is real, but rare in a fictional mystery.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

liblibby's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

This book pulled me out of a late-winter slump when everything sucks. This book grabbed me from the first two pages and never let me go.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Eating disorder