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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Bodie Kane, well-known podcaster, has been hired to give a guest lecture on the subject at her former boarding school - the same school where one of her classmates was murdered, drowned in the pool. Someone imprisoned for the crime, but Bodie has suspected she knows the real killer for years. She begins to subtly push her students into looking into the case, and with every push she makes, she gets herself further away from what may be moral.
I read this because it was John Green's favorite fiction book of 2023, and I can see why. I simply could not put this book down. I listened to this audiobook in just around 24 hours, which is unheard of for me. Maybe it was the narration or writing or pacing of this, but I just couldn't stop listening. This book made my mind race. The writing style is so strong and sometimes I just wanted to sit with the sentences. Bodie is a morally grey character. She believes that the ends will always justify her means, and it really makes the reader question what she's doing. She's a really interesting character to follow with her unique perspective on the case, and especially with her conviction in who she thinks actually did it. We cover some of what our relationship with crime has become in the internet age, how it's common for people with no connection to a crime to be obsessed with it and dig at it with all the tools we have now, but also sometimes to make baseless accusations because anyone can put anything online. We also see a little bit of cancel culture in a side plot (I thought that plot was a bit of a distraction from the main one, but it did certainly make me think). The mystery itself of who killed this girl isn't the most intricate mystery of all time, but I think the way that it is presented to the reader made it all the more interesting and engaging. It might be useful to go into this book thinking of it as a literary mystery, rather than a mystery/thriller.
I was enthralled by this book, but I couldn't put my finger on why it wasn't a 5 star or a new favorite of the year. I saw other reviews saying that it felt like the book was trying to say something and then didn't actually do it. I think that may be it, or maybe that the book stays pretty neutral. I think this book is meant to be a jumping off point for people to think about the nature of true crime, rather than tackling all of it within the plot of the book. Is that the wrong thing to do? I don't necessarily think so, but it may be what affected how I felt.
Overall, I get why this book has mixed reviews - I think it's intending to make the reader feel complicated about it - but I'm on the positive side of this one. I've heard great things about the author's other works, so I look forward to picking them up!
I read this because it was John Green's favorite fiction book of 2023, and I can see why. I simply could not put this book down. I listened to this audiobook in just around 24 hours, which is unheard of for me. Maybe it was the narration or writing or pacing of this, but I just couldn't stop listening. This book made my mind race. The writing style is so strong and sometimes I just wanted to sit with the sentences. Bodie is a morally grey character. She believes that the ends will always justify her means, and it really makes the reader question what she's doing. She's a really interesting character to follow with her unique perspective on the case, and especially with her conviction in who she thinks actually did it. We cover some of what our relationship with crime has become in the internet age, how it's common for people with no connection to a crime to be obsessed with it and dig at it with all the tools we have now, but also sometimes to make baseless accusations because anyone can put anything online. We also see a little bit of cancel culture in a side plot (I thought that plot was a bit of a distraction from the main one, but it did certainly make me think). The mystery itself of who killed this girl isn't the most intricate mystery of all time, but I think the way that it is presented to the reader made it all the more interesting and engaging. It might be useful to go into this book thinking of it as a literary mystery, rather than a mystery/thriller.
I was enthralled by this book, but I couldn't put my finger on why it wasn't a 5 star or a new favorite of the year. I saw other reviews saying that it felt like the book was trying to say something and then didn't actually do it. I think that may be it, or maybe that the book stays pretty neutral. I think this book is meant to be a jumping off point for people to think about the nature of true crime, rather than tackling all of it within the plot of the book. Is that the wrong thing to do? I don't necessarily think so, but it may be what affected how I felt.
Overall, I get why this book has mixed reviews - I think it's intending to make the reader feel complicated about it - but I'm on the positive side of this one. I've heard great things about the author's other works, so I look forward to picking them up!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
i've picked this book up a bunch of times and then hesitated and put it back down because i don't really do mysteries. but obviously i eventually did. i've been reading a lot of new hampshire-centric literature recently. and while i was skeptical at the beginning, this book did pull me in. i don't know if "propulsive" is a word i got from the pull quotes, but it's accurate. bodie was a sharp narrator, and while i waffled on whether i liked the direct second-person address (the "you" she talks to sporadically throughout), it ultimately did not bother me as much as i thought it would in the beginning. that being said, i felt the ending was a bit weak– maybe not completely pulled out of thin air, but it did feel like the author was trying to find a "surprise" ending contrary to what the story had been building up to; while i'm sure it made an important point about perpetrators of violence against women, i found the twist unnecessary. bodie also occasionally tipped over the very fine line of how much moony-faced-goth-girl-is-skinny-and-pretty-now i can tolerate. all things considered, a solid 3.5. i have my complaints, but i felt compelled to keep reading the whole time.
Spoiler
i did very much appreciate the depiction of her connection to mr. bloch and the struggle between feeling seen by a teacher and realizing he had done terrible things. i thought it was the most nuanced portrayal in the whole book.
You didn’t like this book because you don’t have OCD. In this essay, I will
Solid! Good mystery! The narrators had a hint of the same vibe as the narrator in Yellowface and I wish the author would have leaned into that a little bit more!
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Recommended by Aneesa for an upcoming book club at Queen Takes Book, which we attended together the day I finished the audiobook on Libby. 14 hours.
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Makkai ha fet un thriller intel·ligent que traspassa l’entreteniment per qüestionar les estructures de poder i la memòria col·lectiva. Mitjançant dues èpoques, contrasta la mirada ingènua dels 90 amb la consciència del Me Too, mostrant com el gènere dels crims reals de manera freqüent banalitza el dolor. La protagonista, una podcastera, encarna la cerca ètica de veritat, allunyant-se de la morbositat per centrar-se en les víctimes. Una novel·la necessària que combina suspens amb profunditat social.
More like 3.5 to 3.75 stars.
It was longer than it needed to be, and it just wasn’t as much of a page-turner as it had the potential to be. Good but over-hyped.
It was longer than it needed to be, and it just wasn’t as much of a page-turner as it had the potential to be. Good but over-hyped.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes