Reviews tagging 'Violence'

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

87 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Eating disorder

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Violence, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Murder, Bullying, Cancer, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Abortion, Blood, and Body shaming

porktheorc's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Racism, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, and Rape

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Child death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Body horror, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Stalking, Self harm, Transphobia, Rape, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Suicide, and War

bookishbee27's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Violence

ballousclues's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Grief, Violence, Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Alcohol

kshertz's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

3.75

I love this author! This book was hard for me at times. There’s. Lot of characters to this mystery and I got lost at times. You should have red herrings in a mysterious death true crime situation but maybe not so many? Then I’d get confused by the narrator trying to imagine each scenario. I DO love the hot takes and the me too commentary. I do love how the mystery all weaves and comes together. But the ending is frustrating so I can’t really recommend it! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Murder, Child death, Infidelity, Racism, Drug use, Alcohol, Violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Racial slurs

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

annaka's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I felt like the book was longer than necessary with plenty of unnecessary bits but it held my interest and I likely could have forgiven that if not for the ending feeling so rushed. We finally get to our killer and the we rush through the court case verdict and what happens after. The ending felt unsatisfying and I even went back and listened again thinking that perhaps I had zoned out during some important details. The main narrator isn’t very likeable, but this can be forgiven as well as part of the flawed system. The voice narrator did a good job with the reading and I think I felt more sympathy for the main chracter opposed to others in my book club due to this. The author also tries to philosophize and pass judgment on many issues, which is inherently bad, but almost seems to weaken the focus or power on any one theme. Overall, it held my attention and I mostly enjoyed it, but it won’t be a reread and I won’t be likely to pick up another book by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual assault

Minor: Cursing

edca224's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Eating disorder