Reviews with content warning for Racism - I Have Some Questions for You

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Reviews tagging 'Racism'

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

113 reviews

deadhouseplant's review against another edition

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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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phantompansy'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? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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mantissabolt's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense

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

3.75

This is called a "literary mystery", which means that all characters are flawed. She does a pretty good job of making most of the characters three-dimensional.

It is not 100% clear who did it, though you are pretty sure. The person is probably did it, was never charged, but his life (and the life of his wife and children) is probably destroyed. The person who is in prison for the murder and probably did not do it, is still in prison, but may eventually get out. The person she spent about half the book thinking he had done the murder, did not but was a abuser of children and by inaction let a innocent man go to prison.

She does a lot of interesting things in telling the story, like having a class on podcasting be a major vehicle to propel the story. Every once in a while, the main character gets upset by the news, but instead of it being "a" thing, she lists a whole series of real life events that could the thing that upset her. It always helps convey the sense of the story. I could see this trick being very annoying for some people, but I liked it.

This is not a classical mystery and has only some of those tropes. This is very good, but not great.

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itsbilliam's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

okay so i’ll start with what i liked about the book. great writing, like i literally didn’t want to put the book down. BUT, i’m just a little confused on what the purpose of the story was. was this book supposed to be a commentary on true crime and podcasting? was this supposed to be on the court/legal system not believing women? was this about guilt/shame on young people/teenagers for keeping secrets? is this on racism and the legal/court system? i feel like there was too much focus on. i definitely like the book and i loved what it was saying but i feel like the message of the book was lost. i wanted more focus and i only got that focus in the second part of the book. if the first part of the book connected as well with the second part, i think it would’ve hit harder.

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maddysoup's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious 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

3.0

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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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