Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

17 reviews

addie's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Child death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, and Cancer

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely riveting! This is a fascinating take on a “literary thriller,” with a propulsive storyline and thought-provoking social commentary. I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it three days ago. There are so many things I enjoyed about this, but the author’s craft choices were my favorite part. From the beginning, I was totally hooked on the narration style — Bodie addresses a specific listener and tells her story throughout the book as though he is the listener. There was also a repetition of lines about crime victims that could’ve been straight from headlines throughout, driving home the book’s commentary on victims, true crime, violence against women, and more.

this is sort of not a spoiler, but still, the chapters throughout that rehashed the murder as committed by each suspect were so effective!!!

I could say a million more things about this book (and might), but you should really just read it for yourself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

deetabz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Murder, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, Racism, Self harm, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cancer, Classism, Eating disorder, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Body shaming, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Stalking

wynnebirchmaple's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I couldn’t wait for it to be over which is markedly different than dying to know how it would end. Sad commentary on sad commentary and meta sadness all around. Structure is hard to manage in this work that was laborious. Too many characters, too many distractions and disruptions, a shallow swim in a phenomena no one has been able to explain—national obsession with true crime. Glad I didn’t buy it, own a previous work by the author that I haven’t read and am not sure I want to even though there’s big buzz, award kudos the whole thing. Author tried to over-serve and that’s what happens when you have a prior best seller and it’s easy to create a national conversation and vogue situation that everyone still rollicking in loungewear needs to get on board with. I am in no way better for reading this and I will look at Lake Forest Academy differently for now on. Author went there, lives there and has situated her novel in a similar but different place. Creepy really…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Death, Deadnaming, Drug use, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

I don’t know why people like this kind of stuff. I’m really annoyed that this was so long and not because there was no payoff, it was just crap—like a compilation of Kepnes’ adapted work, “You” Emma Cline’s “The Girls” Kukafka “Girl In Snow” and Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” I didn’t like any of them and this one is now on the virtual shelf of harmful books to women that hijack political themes to make them sell or have obscene page count. Sheesh…

yes_smam's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Minor: Abortion, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Gun violence

goldenbeebookshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

It's hard to rate this book because there are some compelling things happening here, but it's hard to tell from the description that this novel is mostly about the realities of women who are assaulted and/or murdered, the men who more often than not get away with it, and the deeply flawed and racist judicial system. These are not tangential things- these are the main focus of the plot more than any mysterious aspect finding the real killer.
All evidence thus far does paint a bleak picture for women in America- and there's value to that being explored, I just don't know how I feel about it being hung on this mystery scaffolding. The main character's actions do prompt some questions about whether or not there's nuance when it comes to believing women, to penalizing men for the actions of the past and assessing whether there's a spectrum of behaviors that might warrant different actions, and what kind of justice or truth can be found in the court of public opinion in a time when anyone can have a podcast or YouTube channel.
There is some great writing here- little concise sentences here are there that completely capture the feeling of being young, or being lost, or a person struggling in the world.
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, and Bode felt a little incomplete as a character. There are little pieces of things dropped in and abandoned that I was uncertain as to whether they were meant to serve as mini red herrings or if they were underdeveloped plot additions. The last quarter of the book did move a lot faster and I find myself eager to sit down and read for an hour straight, which I hadn't been as eager to do before.
I think it might be helpful for people to know going into this that this is a story that feels true in that justice is rarely found in white patriarchal contexts, vigilante justice while potentially satisfying isn't always accurate or successful, and there are ripples of grief and shame that impact family and friends because of the choices of one person that are inescapable. There's no real high note to end on here, which is real, but rare in a fictional mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Cancer, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Racism

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence