I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
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Web ID: 15419231Intense book
I like boarding school books and knew this was much more than just that. Well written book that kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not worth the hype
I read over 100 books this year and this is one of the few I could barely finish. There was nothing page turning about this book and I’m at a loss how this ended up in several best of 2023 lists. I didn’t like the main character (or any character for that matter) and the story dragged on way too long with lots of meandering side stories that went nowhere. I’m glad that I got it from the library rather than purchasing it. Don’t waste your time.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Whodunit, rumors, reckoning…
4.0 Whodunit, rumors, reckoning… Bodie was a student in a NH boarding school in the 1990s. In 1995, her roomie Thalia was murdered. Omar, the athletic trainer at the school , was arrested for the murder and has been in prison for 23 years. 23 years later, Bodie has been invited back to teach two two-week classes about film and podcasts. Now everyone is questioning the murder case and the arrest of Omar. One of the podcast students decides to examine the case for her class project. Many questions and theories are discussed, including suspicions concerning a popular teacher. * Many possible suspects! Did Omar do it or not? * How memories change over the years! * What will you find when you re-examine your youth? * Slow start - lots of characters - stick with it!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not very interesting.
I do not recommend 'I Have A Few Questions For You', The basic story line is thin yet the book goes on and on, never getting anywhere near interesting, let alone a 'thriller'. The book is awfully wordy and perhaps 100 pages too long, imho! Further, the ending is vapid to say the least, and a major disappointment after slugging through the often repetitive development. Finally, like 'Lessons in Chemistry', it is laced with NOW and MeToo tropes, that sort of taint the story; I wondered it the book had been conceived to carry these messages or the other way around. It very definitely is not Agatha Christie.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved it!
I loved this story! It brought back all of the feelings I had when I was listening to the podcast Serial about Adnan Syed’s case and whether he murdered his girlfriend 20 years ago. The fact that he was let out of jail not too long ago for being falsely accused helped build my interest in this fictional tale. I also love the narrator, Julie Whelan, who is super talented and whose voice always draws me in to the story she is narrating. I should also give credit to JD Jackson, who narrates Omar’s character over a phone from jail. It was so realistic and added to the very real vibe set by the story. Last, I give full credit to the author, Rebecca Makkai for creating a story and characters who drew me in and held me captive through 12 hours of an audio book. It’s a good thing I listened to this book over a weekend because I didn’t do anything else besides work puzzles on my Ipad while listening to this awesome story. I mentioned above how listening to this book drew me back to my enjoyment of the podcast, Serial, but in this instance, because it was a fictional story, the reader got a point of view from someone who lived at that time, with the person who was murdered. As Bodie narrates her story from both current time and flashbacks, we learn who she is as a character, messed up and flawed as she was, but also as an adult who can look back and see through those flaws and it’s riveting to be along for the ride as she pieces things together. Bodie’s is not the only character in the story however, this is a fully fleshed out novel with schoolmates, best friends, and disappointed teenage angst. All of it very well written with a depth that captivated my interest. This novel deserves all the accolades and is on my “Best of” list for books I’ve read so far this year. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So Long
I am a huge fan of the recent trend to use podcasts to solve cold cases in books so this story drew me in right away. The execution, however, was entirely too drawn out. The writing was good and drew me in but there were instances where examples are given and the list runs on forever and it becomes annoying. I enjoyed investigating with Bodie’s students but found the book tried to throw too many social issues at me and had it just been one or two, the book would have been significantly shorter.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Couldn't look away
Boarding school teenagers, murder, memory, podcasting, ethics in true crime, racial injustices, power dynamics in relationships - this book was A LOT and I loved it. Unforgettable. Unsettling. Captivating.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Bodie ruined it for me. 2.5 stars
Rebecca Makkai’s new book “I Have Some Questions for You” is a searing investigation into one woman’s past and the resurfaced interest in her roommate’s murder and the potentially wrongful conviction that resulted. Written as a podcast series, Bodie Kane dives down a rabbit hole of what-if’s as she, her students old acquaintances and her audience reopen a past Bodie has tried so hard to forget. I wanted to like…no love…this book. I didn’t. I’ll get to my main issue with it in a bit but first a few things I did enjoy. I liked the premise of the book and enjoyed the way it was set up. Bodie is a podcaster and it’s fun how the book reads as if it’s a podcast. I also think Makkai is an excellent writer. Even if I didn’t love the content, there’s no taking away from her art. Dark academia is also a genre I very much enjoy and “Questions” exploits the dark underbelly of a prestigious boarding school. The highlight of the entire book though, is in its audio option. Julia Whelan absolutely rocks her narration and where I would’ve surely abandoned this one at about the halfway point, I pressed on only because of Whelan’s captivating audio rendition. I know most people are losing their minds over this one and I’m very likely the unpopular opinion. But it was a huge miss for me. My main issue were the multiple subplots and the one that totally derailed the book was Jerome’s. That subplot ruined Bodie’s integrity for me, to which I totally lost faith in her endeavor to overturn Thalia’s case. She came across hypocritical in which only focusing on the narrative important to her while totally disregarding a very similar one only because she knew the intended target? How do we know there wasn’t more to that story, or more layers to peel back? She totally disregarded it while locked onto the neck of Thalia’s case like a rabid pitbiull upturning and ruining anything and anyone who stood in her way. Going so far as to lying to get people to see things her way. Her fevered obsession with the case left a trail of carnage and I’m not altogether sure her intentions were anything other than a self-fulfilling prophecy. I also think the book was crazy long. It was pitched as a “page-turner” but I would never say it read that way. It’s long and a very slow burn with a climax that leaves us with more questions than answers. Really all we can do, like Bodie, is speculate as to what happens after that last page and if it was all worth it. Does the book raise important social issues surrounding classism, nepotism, racism and sexism? Absolutely. But Bodie’s pick and choose soapbox attitude and mentality to fit the narrative she’s chosen as the more important one reminds me way too much of so many things wrong with today’s society. This took away from the most important issues in the plot and ultimately led to my general “meh” feelings toward the book.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com