A review by stateofgrace
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

4.25

 More of a literary mystery than a mystery thriller. This was a very heavy read as it dealt more with understanding the factors that led to the death of a young woman and less about actually solving the mystery. A lot of topical themes were addressed: the ethics of true crime, the #metoo movement, consent and power dynamics within abuse. 

 

It’s definitely not a classical mystery — there isn’t a lot of closure in the case as the book both starts and ends with the wrong person in prison. However, this feels more purposeful since there is a strong theme of unfairness present throughout the book, specifically how to cope with the unfairness that is present in the world. 

 

I found the narrative device of having Bodie address all of her narration towards Mr. Bloch to be a bit confusing. I understand that it’s meant to emphasize that his abuse of power and sexual misconduct were a factor that led to Thalia’s death even if he himself didn’t kill her. However, I think that this message could have been conveyed in a less clunky way.