Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

28 reviews

addie's review against another edition

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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


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kimveach's review against another edition

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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.

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hinkleh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5


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yes_smam's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

4.25


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hschlecht's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense

4.25


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aileron's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-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

3.0


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readswithcocktails's review against another edition

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

3.0

I am still not sure whether I loved this book or thought it was just OK. 

I love an unreliable narrator, but I'm always annoyed by vigilante detectives. I mean, ACAB and all of that, but it also never works out when people decide to take matters into their own hands. Do I keep reading books with amateur sleuths? Yes. But I'm continually annoyed.

In spite of the fact that I think (and hope) I have my shit more together than Bodie, I felt a lot of kinship toward her. Weird, fat (although, I can't decide if Bodie was fat or just was dealing with some dysmorphia) music/theater kids in the 90s. We both dealt with the casual cruelty of a certain subset of 90s teen boys, and the casual (what we'd now call) assault and harassment that they'd engage in. Absolutely visceral reactions toward the stories that came out during the #/MeToo movement. In spite of all of that, it felt like something was missing from her as a character. I know her single-mindedness was part of the point, and I can't really put my finger on what I thought was missing.

The story was well constructed, alternating between the present and Bodie's flashbacks. I felt like the final section dragged. I was also never sure what the book was trying to say about power, sex, and relationships. It touched on the grey areas, with it's subplot about accusations against Bodie's ex husband, but I'm not sure what it's trying to say about them. Bodie grapples with it a bit. And maybe the point is that there are no easy answers. 

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thanks to Viking Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU is a bit of a "ripped from the headlines" novel, in that discourse about true crime's virtues and flaws is a recurring topic of debate these days. I found this fictional case to be quite compelling, layered as it was with issues of race, class, gender, and more. There's a lot to chew on.
- I didn't attend boarding school, but my college was insular in similar ways to the book's Granby school, which may be why I felt so drawn into this story. The way gossip slowly builds into truth over time rang true to me.
- It does get quite slow and introspective in the middle, but the revelations at the end had my mouth hanging open. 

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