Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

I Have Some Questions for You: A Novel by Rebecca Makkai

45 reviews

magsbord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, and Infidelity

Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Classism, and Self harm

nadia_luq's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

kimveach's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective fast-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

4.5

This book grabbed my attention from the start and held it through to the end.  I loved the story of a podcaster looking into her own school history of a murder of a classmate.  With her students attempting a podcast similar to Serial, she examines not only the original murder but also society as a whole in this Me Too age.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Classism, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Self harm, Drug use, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

rachelkreadsbookz's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity

mads_jpg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.25

As someone who isn't a big fiction reader, I probably would never have read this book if it weren't for my work book club, but I'm so glad I did. 

I'm also really skeptical about the true crime entertainment industry, so this book's take on the genre was incredibly refreshing. The author's frequent references to real life cases, and her deliberate choice to not name perpetrators and instead center the experiences of both victims and survivors was fantastic. This book left me angry at the injustice of the justice system and the microagressions that eventually lead to violence against women and people of colour. 

Overall, it was an insightful take on true crime as a form of entertainment, and my only real critique was that the ending left me somewhat wanting.

While I'd loved the use of "you" as this ongoing mystery, I was disappointed we never had any kind of climax/closure with Mr Bloch. And while I know in reality Omar would probably never get justice, I really hoped the book would opt for a happy ending for him. Lastly, the final chapter felt like an odd way to finish the story. Aside from Bodie reflecting on Carlotta's death, it just felt like a moment of pause before the actual ending, so I was genuinely surprised when I realised it was over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, and Sexism

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

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Racism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Self harm

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…

amcghig's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug use, Violence, and Sexual assault

lifewithjoce's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Rebecca Makkai’s latest novel is, to be honest, nearly too overambitious. It shoots to have a perspective on everything, and while most of the time that misses for me, I Have Some Questions For You manages to pull it off by leaning directly into the unlikeable narrator quality without undercutting my investment in the story.

The book takes place in the aftermath of #MeToo, with our now adult narrator looking back on her days at her high school boarding school while also going through things in the present day. The true “mystery” of this book revolves around a 15 year-old murder that resulted in a Black man being imprisoned. While there are some conspiracy theories that he did not actually do it, for the most part it is believed.

It is only now, all this time later, that our narrator takes the time to think about whether Omar could have possibly actually done it, and what it means if he didn’t. What complicates this story is that rather than just exploring this one mystery, we are also exploring what it means to live in a post-#MeToo Trump era.

Full Review: https://writethroughthenight.com/2023/03/23/i-have-some-questions-for-you-a-messy-thriller-even-messier-protagonist-review/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Death, Murder, and Sexism