Book Review: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

Do you love a thrilling roller coaster ride filled with intrigue and adventure? Are you interested in the secrets that certain elite boarding schools have been known to keep? Take an exhilarating journey into this world of mystery and suspense with me through my review of I have some questions for you by Rebecca Makkai, a novel about a podcaster and film maker revisiting her old boarding school where her roommate was murdered. Someone was convicted at the time but was it the right person? Can Bodie unravel the clues to unlock the truth behind what lies beneath these hallowed walls?

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

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 1995 murder of a classmate, Thalia Keith. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletics coach, Omar Evans, are the subject of intense fascination online, Bodie prefers-needs-to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when The Granby School invites her back to teach a two-week course, Bodie finds herself 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.

One of the most acclaimed contemporary American writers, Rebecca Makkai reinvents herself with each of her brilliant novels. Both a transfixing mystery and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, I Have Some Questions for You is her finest achievement yet.

About The Author

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the story collection MUSIC FOR WARTIME (2015) as well as the novels THE HUNDRED-YEAR HOUSE (2014) and THE BORROWER (2011). Her work was chosen for The Best American Short Stories in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and appears regularly in publications such as Harper’s, Tin House, Ploughshares, New England Review and Ecotone, and on public radio’s This American Life and Selected Shorts. The recipient of a 2014 NEA Fellowship, Rebecca has taught year at Northwestern University, the Tin House Writers’ Conference, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

My Review

Bodie Kane had been living a blissfully uncomplicated life until she was invited back to teach at The Granby School. Though it brings up painful memories of her family tragedy and the 1995 murder of classmate Thalia Keith, Bodie can’t help but be drawn into revisiting the case – especially when suspicions arise that maybe Coach Omar Evans wasn’t guilty after all… Could Bodie have known something in ’95 that could solve this unsolved mystery? Time will tell!

With so many book reviews out there, it can be hard to know which ones to trust. That’s why I decided to give an honest review of Rebecca Makkai’s “I Have Questions For You.” I want to tell you what I liked and didn’t like about the book so you can make an informed decision about whether or not it’s something you want to read.

Some of the plot points and characters felt rushed or underdeveloped. There are so many people mentioned throughout the book that it was difficult at times to keep track of who was who and what was going on. Additionally, the style of writing made it difficult for me to connect with Bodie, the protagonist. I didn’t have any strong feelings either way for her, I didn’t like or dislike her, she was just there.

The issues she has with her ex-husband and current lover were a lot for me to take in and process. While Bodie is examining the murder of her roommate at school she realised that someone has mentioned she was essentially too ugly to have to worry about the abusers. She doesn’t really investigate this or consider that there must have been abuser for this to be mentioned. This meant some of the most interesting aspects were ignored by Makkai; Bodie spends so much time focussing on her issues at school, the mockery and bullying, which, while awful for her isn’t really comparable to an abuser but then she dismisses the accusations against her husband. I wanted to explore this hypocrisy more but that didn’t happen. Other parts which weren’t relevant seemed to be over-explored making this even more frustrating.

I am sure that Bodie was deliberately flawed but I found her frustrating at times, she seems to have taken the story of the girl’s dreadful murder to try and focus it around her as the central character instead. There are times when she explores how girls are conditioned to accept exploitation but it doesn’t really gain any momentum, instead, it feels a little like the message is more just one of misogyny existing rather than what can be done to challenge it. I also really disliked the listing of people that horrible things had happened to like a shopping list of nameless, faceless people rather than any information on what happened or the impact of such actions etc.

I felt like there was a message to be told from Makkai here which just didn’t come through for me. I have questions for you was too long and drawn out for me which made it a difficult and as mentioned before, confusing read. I wanted to rush to get through to the end in case it was brilliant but it felt tedious.

All things considered, Rebecca Makkai’s “I Have Questions For You” is not a bad read but unfortunately suffers from having too many characters and too much plot meaning it sacrifices character development in order for everything else to fit together. If you’re okay with this kind of storytelling, then you should definitely pick up this book! However, if strong character development is important for your enjoyment, then it might not be worth your time just yet.

Rated