Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (684)

Content

ClareR (6238 KP) rated I Have Some Questions For You in Books

Dec 22, 2025

I Have Some Questions For You

Rebecca Makkai | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I didn’t quite know what to make of this novel. It’s a true crime style story, that reads as literary fiction, and the mystery just went on too long. There were a lot of issues to deal with - it was just too busy. I couldn’t even prioritise the order of the storylines, it was as though they were all thrown at the book. What I like about a good crime story is usually the ‘tightness’ of the storyline, and this just didn’t do that. The characters would just deal with one thing, and suddenly something else would be thrown into the mix. It really did test my concentration levels!!

I loved Rebecca Makkai’s previous novel, and I’d had high hopes for this. Will I read her next book? Yes, I probably will - I still remember The Great Believers and know that she has written something I’ve really enjoyed. Just not this book.

Kudos

David McK (3801 KP) rated Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover in Books

Jul 21, 2019

Mention the words Spider-man, and I'm sure the first thing most people think of is the Marvel comics.

Maybe closely followed by the 70s TV series or 90s cartoon, and the more recent big-screen outings.

What I'm pretty sure is not commonly thought of, however, is a Spider-Man prose novel, which is exactly what this is, alongside being a prequel tie-in to the really-rather-enjoyable 2018 PS4 game.

That game - and, by extension - this novel, sees Peter Parker roughly already 7 or 8 years into his career as Spider-man, with the novel serving to set up the entry levels into the game in which (no spoilers) Spider-Man takes on Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin of Crime, and showing how he got to have his contact in the police force Yuri Wattanabe (sp?)