I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

I´ve followed Rebecca Makkai´s writing for a while now, and I waited a bit too long to read I Have Some Questions for You. Although I am very messy when it comes to reading plans - I am an avid, but very ADHD reader - somehow I do keep a track of my TBR - thanks Goodreads for that! - therefore, two years after the promise, this weekend I finally finished it.

I was not eager to find out what exactly is the book about. For author that I appreciate, I prefer to surprise myself discovering their topics, as long as I keep entering their train of thought. It looks like the topic - reopening of the case of a teenage murder after decades - is very much belonging to my literary interests therefore I got immediately smitten.

The story is told exclusively from the perspective of Bodie Kane, now a successful film professor and podcaster. In the midst of a personal crisis, she returns to her boarding school alma mater to teach about podcasts. Intently, she included on the list of the possible topics to produce a talk about the case of a student murdered, who happened to be her roommate. Bodie has already her own toughts who may be the real murder and is thinking about setting free the person who was apparently found guilty, the person of colour Omar. As the case is re-opened there may be some surprises along the way.

The book has mostly a teenage ambiance - including a séance, which totally makes sense for the time and even later as I personally had high school colleagues, a bit later on in time, doing exactly the same, with inimities, hormones outburst and bullying and forbidden acts as practiced during the 1990s when the action takes place. Her own soon to be ex-husband, Jerome is suddenly entangled in a kind of #metoo case which may show how far the perspective on sexual harassment may twist in the last decade. 

There is a lot of interest in the story development, although I´ve found that sharing the details of the potential criminal - addressed at the first person - put a weight on a story. Not the weight that may help the story actually. 

What I actually found bothering, was: 1. the dialogues sound so bland and lacking the dynamic of everyday human communication (the book was written before the take of the AI-driven texts that may affect the way in which we talk with each other, but it´s too early to seize the results) 2. there are some chunks of text that do not make too much sense (e.g. ´You don´t have to havc been friends with someone to be old friends with them later´).

The only part I´ve found truly fascinated has to do with legal proceedings which are correctly described and integrated into the story.

Writing crime does not fit anyone and I understand the challenges, but as a regular crime reader, I wasn´t extatic, not even an ounce by the story. It tries to go in too many directions and take upon many contemporary topics omitting to build a strong case.

Rating: 3 stars