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A review by serendipitysbooks
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
4.5
When Bodie Kane was a student at a prestigious New England boarding school her roommate Thalia Keith was murdered. Now, in her 40s and a successful podcaster, Bodie is back at her alma mater to teach a two week period on podcasting. One group of students decide to focus on Thalia’s murder, which suits Bodie perfectly because she is convinced she knows who killed Thalia. And it isn’t Omar, the Black man currently in prison for the crime.
Boarding school settings hold a weird fascination for me and I typically enjoy books with a podcasting element. This book is written in the second person, a less common choice which therefore tends to capture my attention as a reader. What also really caught my attention was the way Makkai folded in real life cases of assault and murder of women, cases that have had a high profile in the news, into this book via the repeated phrase “the one where”. This really highlighted the scope of violence against women and ensures that this book is about more than the fictional story it contains. Lots of issues were raised throughout the plot - misogyny, the me too movement, cancel culture, memory, privilege, the obsession with true crime, social media, class, racism and more - and not all received the attention they deserved. Having said that I also felt the book was a little long and in places it felt like there was no real momentum. The ending was in some ways disappointing, but realistically so. At times I felt uncomfortable at the way Bodie was centering herself (rather than Thalia or Omar) but I think that’s what people tend to do, especially on their first close encounter with a major event, and even more so when that happened during their formative teenage years. I also wonder if the author is trying to make a broader point about society’s true crime obsession.
Boarding school settings hold a weird fascination for me and I typically enjoy books with a podcasting element. This book is written in the second person, a less common choice which therefore tends to capture my attention as a reader. What also really caught my attention was the way Makkai folded in real life cases of assault and murder of women, cases that have had a high profile in the news, into this book via the repeated phrase “the one where”. This really highlighted the scope of violence against women and ensures that this book is about more than the fictional story it contains. Lots of issues were raised throughout the plot - misogyny, the me too movement, cancel culture, memory, privilege, the obsession with true crime, social media, class, racism and more - and not all received the attention they deserved. Having said that I also felt the book was a little long and in places it felt like there was no real momentum. The ending was in some ways disappointing, but realistically so. At times I felt uncomfortable at the way Bodie was centering herself (rather than Thalia or Omar) but I think that’s what people tend to do, especially on their first close encounter with a major event, and even more so when that happened during their formative teenage years. I also wonder if the author is trying to make a broader point about society’s true crime obsession.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Racism and Violence