This book follows Bodie Kane, a professor and podcaster, as she returns as a teacher to the New Hampshire boarding school where her roommate Thalia Keith was murdered. The school’s athletics trainer Omar Evans was convicted of the murder, but it remains subject to theories online. As Bodie returns so does her memories and Bodie starts to wonder about her own impact on the murder investigation.
I have some questions for you is my second read from the Aspen Words longlist and part of my Literary Fifteen reading challenge.
I started this one as a book but the way it was written and its reference to true crime podcasts made me want to try the audiobook and that was absolutely the right choice for me. It definitely felt like I was listening to a true crime podcast. With its school setting and a possibly innocent man in jail the connection to season 1 of the podcast Serial wasn’t hard to make.
The book picks up themes such as men’s violence against women, the ethics of the true crime genre, and metoo. However, I felt that these themes weren’t explored enough, it stopped at the first level of reflection and didn’t dig deeper. I want the books on Aspen Words to push me further in my thinking and because of that this is not a shortlister for me.
That said, anyone wanting a book with a true crime podcast vibe should check this one out. I found the plot around murder mostly well done. There is one instance where Bodie has the key to solve a question haunting the online detectives because she taught Thalia to do this that requires suspense of your belief (it still annoys me).
Emilie's Bookish Thoughts 