Reviews with content warning for Murder - I Have Some Questions For You

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

283 reviews

t0r0_p's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.5

A fairly slow read although you have to keep reading because you definitely want to know what happens. A realistic and depressing book that reflects a lot on society, relationships, and the justice system.

In the end you never get any real answers and although realistic, the very depressing ending that the innocent does not receive justice is hard to swallow after all of the depressing elements of the story have unfolded. In the end there really is no wins.

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emilybsullivan's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book where the narrator is addressing the possible killer directly throughout while telling the story of how events in the past and present unfolded. The story was a bit predictable but it took you on a wild ride before it got back to the obvious resolution, which was entertaining. The characters are loveable even though I’m not convinced they’re supposed to be. The plot was definitely believable as well.

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porktheorc's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

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bookishbee27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

A multi-faceted and complex, character-driven thriller with some not-so-subtle swipes at true crime culture, but ultimately a slow burn in the second half.

The good: I loved the premise of IHSQFY and Makkai really conjured a very entrancing and sinister setting in the boarding school which drew me in quickly. I enjoyed how she conjured up the cliquey-ness of a prestigious school and how this interfaced with their adult lives. As a listener of true crime podcasts, I got a lot out of some of the commentary around the public's fascination with true crime. Definitely a very innovative and well-developed concept for a novel.

The not-so-good: I found this to be a very slow burn in the second half, and the constant to-ing and fro-ing about potential suspects dragged on and felt repetitive in parts. I felt the final section focusing on the trial was too detail-oriented and was an anti-climatic end to the story.

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ballousclues's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

2.5

I liked this book enough. It reminded me a ton of 13 Reasons Why, but surrounding homicide instead of suicide. This book was kind of hard for me to get through because of the pace. You are rehashing the murder of Thalia Keith from when Bodie Kane went to a private high school back in the 90s. Bodie works on a murder podcast and goes back to visit her old high school, The Granby School, to teach a class and help current high schoolers make their own podcast episodes.

Her whole time back at Grandby she is rehashing the murder of Thalia and trying to figure out who actually did it. One of Bodie's students decides she wants to do her podcast episode on the murder of Thalia and it reignites this fixation within Bodie. She can't just put the case down and clear it out of her head. It haunts her. As I mentioned above, it reads a lot like 13 Reasons Why. You have a list of names, why they did or potentially didn't do it, and then the book ends. To be honest, the story fell a bit flat for me. I liked it, but it was tough to get through and the ending didn't make it feel worth it to me.

I wouldn't recommend this book to a friend.

I kind of like books like this that don't give clear answers as to what happened and allow for us to create our own ideas. I can appreciate that most of this book centered around the fact that people don't always get justice and we may never know what truly happened. I think the book was more about "the friends we made along the way" than it was actually about a clear plot.

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