Literally Leander discussion

Our final book for the year of 2019 was Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand. Please be aware that there are major spoilers in this thread for the novel!

This month, we borrowed and tweaked our discussion prompt questions from LitLovers. As always, don't feel any pressure to answer these! We'd love to hear any questions, comments, or observations of your own.

1. How would you describe the island of Sawkill Rock? How well does the author do in terms of creating an immersive atmosphere? Does the island seem to change during the course of the novel?

2. What are your thoughts about giving the Rock, an inanimate object, its own perspective? Why might the author have done so? What does the following passage mean? "It did not relish tying an innocent to the burden of its ancient might. But the Rock required an infantry."

3. Each of the three girls, Zoey, Marion, and Val, is dealing with her own set of problems. Discuss the relationships between the girls and the way their separate stories intertwine.

4. How would you describe each of the girls? Is there one whose story you find more sympathetic than the others? Or does one of the girls appeal to you more than the others?

5. One of the concerns of the book is competition: the way society pits girls against one another, manipulating them into butting heads. Talk about how that operates in Sawkill Girls and how Zoey, Marion, and Val manage to overcome this competitiveness.

6. What are your thoughts about the Collector when you finally meet him? Did he meet the expectations of mystery surrounding him at the beginning of the novel?

7. What is your take on the fact that the three girls each represented some aspect of LGBTQIA+?

I'm actually remembering to post in the group directly after finishing the book! Yay!

I mentioned it earlier, but horror is not my genre. I was still willing to give this book a chance but was definitely wary going in, and I didn't end up feeling all that impressed with the story itself. It definitely had its spooky moments, but I had a hard time connecting with any of the girls and was rather disappointed by how its gentle take on feminism and girl power turned into fighting the Collector and a cult of men who believed that girls should sacrifice themselves so they could live.

2. What are your thoughts about giving the Rock, an inanimate object, its own perspective? Why might the author have done so? What does the following passage mean? "It did not relish tying an innocent to the burden of its ancient might. But the Rock required an infantry."
I actually thought that this was a really cool aspect of the book. I liked how it suggested that the Rock was a sentient being who strongly disliked the Collector's invasion, but was unable to fight him on its own. It gives a feeling that the world is greater than it seems, and certainly played into the spooky atmosphere of the novel.

I think the quote refers directly to the fact that the Rock has to give its power to the girls, thereby dooming them to a larger fate that could destroy them. This is particularly seen with Zoey, who tries to extricate herself from the situation but finds leaving impossible. I guess I have to question whether the Rock gave the girls their gifts with the same intention as the Hand of Light--did it intend them to use the powers against each other? I think not; it seemed like it wanted them to figure out how to work together, which is an altogether warmer, but still dangerous, intention.

5. One of the concerns of the book is competition: the way society pits girls against one another, manipulating them into butting heads. Talk about how that operates in Sawkill Girls and how Zoey, Marion, and Val manage to overcome this competitiveness.
The spirit of competitiveness most obviously manifests in the ritual of the Hand of Light--the girls are forced to fight one another, drawing blood to lure the Collector, and then fighting until they are each eaten.

Less obviously is that Zoey has always seen Val as her arch-nemesis; Val is the one who befriended Zoey's best friend, Thora (and gave her to the Collector, though Zoey didn't know that yet.) Zoey feels as though they are directly at odds, and postulates that Val had something to do with Thora's death and the deaths of the other girls in their age range.

7. What is your take on the fact that the three girls each represented some aspect of LGBTQIA+?
I think the girls' sexualities further drive home the point of feminism. Val is lesbian and laments her future: to one day find a boy to give her a child, another girl to fulfill the demands of the Collector. In truth, she has no want or need for men to feel happy. Zoey is asexual, but not aromantic; she doesn't need physical intimacy to connect with others, just the feelings that she shares with them. Marion is bisexual, and while she could find happiness with a man, she finds the same amount of happiness with Val.