A review by minimicropup
The Note by Alafair Burke

funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This isn’t a bad book, and it’s not badly written either. I just didn’t enjoy it. It’s focused on a messy friend group that can’t stop fighting, making bad decisions, and overthinking everything, which for me overshadowed the occasional bits of intrigue. I think this may appeal more if you enjoy character-driven novels about complicated friendships that are heavy on reflection with some drama thrown in. For me it was a lot of waiting for reveals that never quite paid off.
 
Energy: Withholding. Sulking. Contemplative.
 
🐺 Growls: If you don’t care about the friendships or some plots (like “I need a biobaby” tropes), it can be hard to stay interested.
 
🐕 Howls: The connections between all the characters can be hard to remember– mapping them out helped me get more into the story. The friend group felt kinda mismatched, and since they hardly see each other, their reason for staying friends seemed a bit weak. This felt more like a contemporary fiction than a thriller or mystery, with lots of dialogue and introspection. Exciting stuff—like a prank gone wrong—got lost in angsty flashbacks and long monologues.
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Hamptons, NY, USA
Perspectives (3): A law professor seeking tenure while addressing the aftermath of a viral video taken on a subway platform, joining college summer camp friends for a mini-vacation. One of the summer camp friends dealing with an event from that time which influenced their career path. A detective investigating a report regarding a missing man.   
Timeline: 2020s. Linear with flashbacks. ☀️ Summer.
🔥 Fuel: What are the scandals each person was involved in?  What happened to the man they pranked? Was the prank the reason for it? Why is he missing? Will they be accused? Does one of them know more than they’re saying? Will Kelsey be able to have a biobaby?
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief to over-the-top
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Luggage. Dining out. Parking spot. Poolside. Missing person flyer. Note on a napkin. Talking. Courtroom.
  • Third person, invisible in the room tagging along, overhearing conversations and thoughts
  • Meticulous, simplistic, heavily hinting writing style
  • Summer camp secrets resurfacing
  • ‘On-the-nose’ commentary around racism, resentment, class, true crime, and pandemic trauma
  • Complicated female friendships
  • Poor choices snowballing
  • Practical joke gone wrong
  • Mix of flawed, angsty, and immature characters lacking self-awareness
  • Accusations, betrayals, confessions, scandals, drama bombs
  • Guilty or innocent?
  • Legal proceedings
  • Police sleuthing moments
  • Popcorn thriller-style psychological friend group mysteries
  • Whodunit, whydunit
 
Content Heads-Up: Cancer (brief mention; BRCA mutation). Death. Infidelity. Loss of parent (as adult). Murder. Pandemic (recall, discussion; vaccines, restrictions, post-pandemic). Panic, anger responses. Potential false accusations. Racism (prejudice, bias, microaggressions, workplace). Sexual content (consenting; self-pressuring; compromising self). Step-incest. Suicide.
 
Rep: American. Second generation Chinese. Black. Mixed race (White, Chinese). Cis. Hetero. Pale and dark skin tones.
 
📚 Format: Library Audio

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