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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I forgot that I already read this and I remember too much to keep going. Julia Whelan is a fantastic narrator. I rated this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on my first read.
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai is a whodunit mystery about victimhood and the American justice system. The novel is a slow burn not relying on big twists but having different viewpoints as we get older. I did not guess who did it in the end, the novel does a good job of drawing the process out and giving you reasons to believe and doubt a myriad of suspects. The writing is good and different from other mysteries, as the main character Bodie has her own bias and is determining her feelings about victimhood and the predator/prey relationship, as she is drawn with empathy to the victimhood of her ex-roommate compared to her shading the victim when it comes to the ex-husband. The story is a slow burn with slow being the main word. I feel the novel works in too many subplots some that affect the main story and some that barely connect. This novel could have dropped 60 pages of subplots and be darn near perfect. This is an interesting story when you reach the end you are satisfied because you know who did it but you're left unfulfilled because it kind of doesn't matter anymore and it has been 24 years. The novel took me back to the 1990s through its effective flashbacks, I could hear the music and imagine the clothes very well. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai was published on February 21, 2023, by Viking.
Plot Summary: Bodie Kane is a successful podcaster the analyzes film stars mysteries like Natalie Wood's death and The Black Dahlia murder. She gets invited back to her old boarding school Granby, to teach a class on film and podcasting. This is a big deal for Bodie to come back it was not one of the best experiences she did not fit in and her roommate was murdered on the campus. Bodie had convinced herself that the murder was solved 24 years ago, but as she assigns her podcast students the history of Granby one student focuses on the murder and that the wrong man was charged. Bodie starts remembering things from the past and with a different viewpoint than 24 years ago and she comes up with 9 suspects including herself as the 10th suspect.
What I Liked: The writing and analysis of the groomer and the victim are interesting and we get both sides. I liked the self-analysis on victimhood. I enjoyed all the different scenarios she came up with for all the murder suspects and even herself. The writing about victims and all the questions and scenarios that one can go through, I thought the writing was very poetic and is throughout the book. The review of the justice system and the lawyers not wanting to give all the facts to confuse the judge and jury. The majority of the flashbacks scenes were written well, my favorite was Omar and the girls' rowing crew.
What I Disliked: The subplots that don't go anywhere. I liked the husband's abuse of power and the questions it brought up but felt like it was too long of a subplot and distracted too much from the main plot and only minimally affects Bodie in the long run. The subplot about her roommate at Granby when she returns to teach and the relationship with the roommate and teacher at Granby. Bodie was hard to identify with as a character. The story moved too slowly.
Recommendations and Rating: This is my first Rebecca Makkai novel this book has been highly recommended, the writing was the standout and the main mystery was good even though it took me a little bit too long to get invested, but the subplots and way too many characters slowed the book down for me. I am a male reviewer, and I think some of the things that Bodie went through will hit harder for women than my male perspective can relate to. The story reminded me of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell meets In the Woods by Tana French. If you like a slow build mystery that looks at the American Justice system then this is the novel for you. I rated this novel 3.5 stars out of 5. This was a hard one to rate I felt the writing and word choice were too good for 3 stars and the plot and way the story was told was a solid 3 stars. I think the writing itself is too good for me not to try out another Rebecca Makkai book.
Plot Summary: Bodie Kane is a successful podcaster the analyzes film stars mysteries like Natalie Wood's death and The Black Dahlia murder. She gets invited back to her old boarding school Granby, to teach a class on film and podcasting. This is a big deal for Bodie to come back it was not one of the best experiences she did not fit in and her roommate was murdered on the campus. Bodie had convinced herself that the murder was solved 24 years ago, but as she assigns her podcast students the history of Granby one student focuses on the murder and that the wrong man was charged. Bodie starts remembering things from the past and with a different viewpoint than 24 years ago and she comes up with 9 suspects including herself as the 10th suspect.
What I Liked: The writing and analysis of the groomer and the victim are interesting and we get both sides. I liked the self-analysis on victimhood. I enjoyed all the different scenarios she came up with for all the murder suspects and even herself. The writing about victims and all the questions and scenarios that one can go through, I thought the writing was very poetic and is throughout the book. The review of the justice system and the lawyers not wanting to give all the facts to confuse the judge and jury. The majority of the flashbacks scenes were written well, my favorite was Omar and the girls' rowing crew.
What I Disliked: The subplots that don't go anywhere. I liked the husband's abuse of power and the questions it brought up but felt like it was too long of a subplot and distracted too much from the main plot and only minimally affects Bodie in the long run. The subplot about her roommate at Granby when she returns to teach and the relationship with the roommate and teacher at Granby. Bodie was hard to identify with as a character. The story moved too slowly.
Recommendations and Rating: This is my first Rebecca Makkai novel this book has been highly recommended, the writing was the standout and the main mystery was good even though it took me a little bit too long to get invested, but the subplots and way too many characters slowed the book down for me. I am a male reviewer, and I think some of the things that Bodie went through will hit harder for women than my male perspective can relate to. The story reminded me of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell meets In the Woods by Tana French. If you like a slow build mystery that looks at the American Justice system then this is the novel for you. I rated this novel 3.5 stars out of 5. This was a hard one to rate I felt the writing and word choice were too good for 3 stars and the plot and way the story was told was a solid 3 stars. I think the writing itself is too good for me not to try out another Rebecca Makkai book.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
This year I propose myself to write reviews of the books I read, so here we go, the main character, Bodie, returns to her high school boarding school after 23 years to teach a course about podcasting because she is some sort of journalist professor and has a podcast about Hollywood women and true crime? So, when she is teaching the course, one of the students decides to research a murder that happened when Bodie was a student; her roommate Thalia was murdered. D: The killer is in jail, but before going to teach this course, Bodie was already getting anxious and thinking a lot about the case because of many inconsistencies. To me, one of the problems of this book is that it took more than 20 years and half of the book for Bodie to verbalize who she thinks is the real killer, but who knows, maybe it is like that, I have no idea how I would have reacted to the murder of a roommate. Another thing that made the plot difficult to follow is that Bodie is constantly throwing names of students, teachers and people from the present as well as people from the past and there are so many names, and not all were relevant to the plot. Also, so many things are happening, Bodie is not just concerned about the murder but also her personal problems with her ex-husband and her new lover, at times I found Bodie a bit self-absorbed and it was difficult to empathize with her. My problem was that there are many things happening at the same time, not just the possible abuse and murder of Thalia but Bodie also is questioning and mentioning many murder cases during the book, and I get it, the author wants to reflect on how true crime is perceived and the narrative of these cases. There is also the issue with her husband that also makes Bodie think about what constitutes abuse. In conclusion, I feel like the plot and topic were good but too many things going on and omg at the end sorry I will mark this as a spoiler, we don´t know who is the killer, I know it is usually like that but this is a fiction book and I was hoping to know who murdered Thalia.
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes