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A review by lyndsayreads
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
2.0
This was ... incredibly underwhelming. I've literally only seen rave reviews for it. It's also a book I've seen floating around as a contender for the Women's Prize longlist, which, at the time of me writing this review, is set to come out tomorrow. And when I had the opportunity to get an ALC from Libro.fm, I jumped on. But now, I just don't understand the hype for it at all.
This is a "literary" mystery about a woman named Bodie Kane who returns to the New Hampshire boarding school that she attended to teach a short 2 week course on Podcasting. Bodie is the host of a true crime podcast and has always returned to the murder of her roommate from her junior year at Granby, Thalia Keith. While teaching this podcasting course at her old high school, she starts to question everything she believes to be true about Thalia's murder and the man convicted of the crime.
The biggest takeaway I have from this book is that the author really thought she was doing something with this story. But she absolutely was not. Yes, this book identifies itself as a literary mystery. But there's nothing really literary about the writing style, the characters, or the plot. There is not a single memorable character in this book. Even the main character never feels fully developed or like a real person. She has trauma in her past, but we are told and not shown anything. She suffers when she first starts at this boarding school but nothing is ever explored. And not a single side character made an impression on me.
You can tell that the author really thinks what she's writing is incredibly important and profound and groundbreaking. But in reality, the commentary is so surface-level and half-baked that it's almost embarrassing. This book never really settles on what it's trying to say. First, it’s about how rampant violence against women is. Then it’s about the criminal justice system and its repeated failings, especially to Black men. Then it’s about how awful and confining prison is. Throw in a small aside about the power-imbalance that some men hold over young, impressionable female partners and you basically hit the nail on the head of every single social commentary imaginable. She never explored anything deep enough for this book to have a message or a point.
I truly don't understand the hype for this one. Maybe I went into it with too high expectations and never let myself fully enjoy the reading experience. But I think that's because for a 450 page book, not a single interesting thing happens and there's actually no real plot or action or anything that kept me wanting more. This book just isn't good and I wouldn't recommend it.
This is a "literary" mystery about a woman named Bodie Kane who returns to the New Hampshire boarding school that she attended to teach a short 2 week course on Podcasting. Bodie is the host of a true crime podcast and has always returned to the murder of her roommate from her junior year at Granby, Thalia Keith. While teaching this podcasting course at her old high school, she starts to question everything she believes to be true about Thalia's murder and the man convicted of the crime.
The biggest takeaway I have from this book is that the author really thought she was doing something with this story. But she absolutely was not. Yes, this book identifies itself as a literary mystery. But there's nothing really literary about the writing style, the characters, or the plot. There is not a single memorable character in this book. Even the main character never feels fully developed or like a real person. She has trauma in her past, but we are told and not shown anything. She suffers when she first starts at this boarding school but nothing is ever explored. And not a single side character made an impression on me.
You can tell that the author really thinks what she's writing is incredibly important and profound and groundbreaking. But in reality, the commentary is so surface-level and half-baked that it's almost embarrassing. This book never really settles on what it's trying to say. First, it’s about how rampant violence against women is. Then it’s about the criminal justice system and its repeated failings, especially to Black men. Then it’s about how awful and confining prison is. Throw in a small aside about the power-imbalance that some men hold over young, impressionable female partners and you basically hit the nail on the head of every single social commentary imaginable. She never explored anything deep enough for this book to have a message or a point.
I truly don't understand the hype for this one. Maybe I went into it with too high expectations and never let myself fully enjoy the reading experience. But I think that's because for a 450 page book, not a single interesting thing happens and there's actually no real plot or action or anything that kept me wanting more. This book just isn't good and I wouldn't recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault