I Have Some Questions for You
By Rebecca Makkai
- Release Date: 2023-02-21
- Genre: Fiction & Literature
Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Named a Best Book of 2023 by The Washington Post, People, USA Today, NPR, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, The Boston Globe, CrimeReads and more
“A twisty, immersive whodunit perfect for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.” —People
"Spellbinding." —The New York Times Book Review
"[An] irresistible literary page-turner." —The Boston Globe
The riveting new novel — "part true-crime page-turner, part campus coming-of-age" (San Francisco Chronicle) — from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers
A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.
In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transfixing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.
Reviews
Enjoyed
5By allison nolagirlTwists and turns!Boring and tortuously written….
2By Woman from MalviaI don’t know how i made it to read 53% of it. It’s a never ending, often engulfing, mostly boring review of issues, points, and conversations that fail to be delivered in a compelling writing fashion.Disappointing
2By Cali cooking galInteresting read except for terrible ending with no resolution. Makes reading it a complete waste.Not worth it
2By SofieAq0207This book felt like a complete waste of time at the end. Really held on with hope of a conclusion and there were one.Got my hopes up :/
3By BP2mommaGreat book, author was phenomenal, but, Ending was disappointingly and unfortunately very realistic… made me really sad about the world we live inAvoid.
1By Mooch777This lackluster book was incredibly hard to get through. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, and the narrator was unlikeable. The narrator’s fixation on the one teacher at the boarding school also never even developed into anything, despite her speaking to him throughout the book. I wanted to submit a rating for this book as a means of helping someone else AVOID losing the time I lost on it. Do not read.Couldn’t make sense of it…
2By FoolmontiIncomprehensible plot. Gave up one third the way in after realizing I no longer cared who did it. Wish I could return.Do not believe the crappy reviews!
5By Tria from NHLoved this book for the writing itself, the suspense, the truth but most importantly, for highlighting the theme of injustice women and society at large continually allows. There is so much to think about, to consider, nuance and context galore. Yet, it is still disturbing; beyond frustrating. A story woven with the perspectives of Gen-X (mine) and a more current generation, while also considering the traps and perils of youth that may never vary, that much. I love that I’m also inspired by the progress that younger generations benefit from, the language they have, and hopefully then, the bravery to course correct for all of us and end the injustice. This was a special book.Absorbing and Troubling
4By JerrmanDetailing some ills with society, from failures of the legal system, systemic support for male dominance and violence against women and implicit racial bias, all of which still exist today. The underlying unfairness of it all may hit hardest among women readers, although it should resonate with us all.I have some questions
2By CYM fanThis book went absolutely nowhere.Least enjoyable book I have read in a long time!
1By dominolouisFelt like I was walking though a marsh or quicksand most of the time.Great read
5By Elsaone77I loved this book and also her other one, the Believers.Unique And Good Read
5By CatbozzThis is unlike any book I’ve ever read. The structure is unique and skillfully touches on modern day topics, while also keeping me on the she of my seat and causing my jaw to drop every once and a while.I kept waiting
2By jessiggggI’m mad that I wasted 2 days on vacation reading this bc NOTHING happens. The whole book is one long “what if?”Couldn’t put it down
5By JosephineFarVery well-written, gripping, and thoughtful reflection on so many issues in today’s world—wrongful incarceration, the endless murders of young women and the failure to prosecute them properly, the pros and cons of true crime podcasting and amateur sleuthing, cancel culture. Highly recommended, I finished it in three days. Couldn’t put it down (even at the gym :-)Such a fabulous book.
5By EmmylounycCompelling and addictive.Relentlessly grim tale of obsession
2By DeniseJYMakkai writes well, with a strong sense of place, but by midway through, the unreliable narrator’s dogged pursuit of vengeance against a teacher who she believed had murdered a classmate becomes more unhinged than compelling. The novel would be improved by cutting at least 100 pages.An engaging read
3By Ist22214A bit of a slow start but then I was fully engaged. It has a thriller genre quality to it but operates outside that genre’s trappings. It’s very different in tone and style from The Great Believers but not quite of the same quality. Very glad I read an electronic version — made it much easier to keep track of all of the classmates.Had to stop reading
3By HawktaleHats off to anyone who can succeed in writing a novel but this immediately felt like it was pandering to a certain crowd which as a reader is hard to, well, read.
