For our October read, my book club read You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto, and it sparked an engaging discussion. Since most of us are somewhat active on social media, the book’s themes of online influence, friendship, and jealousy made it much more interesting.
Synopsis
“Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious, more like Stalking Lite. Then Mer gets lucky; she finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads and swipes it. Now she has access to everything: the family calendar and Aspen’s social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors? Mer’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers.
Meanwhile, Aspen doesn’t understand why her perfectly filtered life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn’t find out who’s behind everything, she might just lose it all. But what everyone seems to forget is that Aspen didn’t become one of TikTok’s biggest momfluencers by being naive. When Meredith suddenly goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended and mysterious threats begin to arrive—but she won’t let anything get in the way of her perfect life again.”
Discussion Topics:
- The Characters and Their Friendship: We spent sometime unpacking the relationship between the two main characters, Meredith and Aspen. Are they true friends, or is there something toxic brewing beneath the surface? How did you feel about their dynamic?
- Jealousy in Friendship: Jealousy plays a central role in the story, and it led us to question its place in real friendships. Can true friends be jealous of one another? Or does jealousy reveal a deeper issue?
- Social Media and Influencer Culture: We reflected on the impact of social media and influencer culture on our generation. What kind of pressures or expectations does it create? Are we all affected in some way, even if we’re not directly involved?
- Plot Twists: Sutanto definitely keeps readers on their toes! What did you think of the twists? Did they add to the story?
- Your Hot Take on Social Media: The book sparked some opinions in our group! From our relationships with social media to sharing hot takes. What’s your personal “hot take” on social media?
- What Happened to Ben: Without giving too much away, we couldn’t end the discussion without talking about Ben’s storyline. How did you feel about the way his arc wrapped up?
I hope you find these questions useful if you end up reading this with your bookclub.
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