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A review by mtstellens
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
4.0
I loved the setup and structure of this book. I think the podcast format was really interesting and had sections running through all of the potential murderers. I liked the actual prose and the setup of the narrator talking directly to the music teacher. Overall, it was a good page turner and definitely better than the classic genre thrillers. The twist that it was the boyfriend and that there was obvious evidence was really well written. Especially after talking to the guy's wife and seeing the effect of, at the time we think false, accusations. It was a 'regular' story made more.
I thought the twist at the end was good and I liked that there was a bit of an open end. There are many bad guys in this story and I felt like we got just enough closure to be satisfying but open enough to keep you thinking about it. It was still heartbreaking that the coach wasn’t acquitted, but it was realistic. Also I thought that the author did a really good job with integrating covid into the book, I went to an author talk with her and it was interesting to hear her having to rewrite it multiple times based on mask mandates as she lived through them.
I think that the “me too” thing in the middle of the book was weirdly placed and kind of a distraction. It felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the book. I can see the point Makkai was trying to make, that there is a spectrum to these thing and that it can be more gray than what twitter would say, but its inclusion felt like it cheapened what happened to the students by the music teacher and it made the mee too discussion short and it felt unfinished. I guess it felt like this book bit off a bit more than it could chew with this and the criminal justice system.
I thought the twist at the end was good and I liked that there was a bit of an open end. There are many bad guys in this story and I felt like we got just enough closure to be satisfying but open enough to keep you thinking about it. It was still heartbreaking that the coach wasn’t acquitted, but it was realistic. Also I thought that the author did a really good job with integrating covid into the book, I went to an author talk with her and it was interesting to hear her having to rewrite it multiple times based on mask mandates as she lived through them.
I think that the “me too” thing in the middle of the book was weirdly placed and kind of a distraction. It felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the book. I can see the point Makkai was trying to make, that there is a spectrum to these thing and that it can be more gray than what twitter would say, but its inclusion felt like it cheapened what happened to the students by the music teacher and it made the mee too discussion short and it felt unfinished. I guess it felt like this book bit off a bit more than it could chew with this and the criminal justice system.