Literally Leander discussion

Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith marks our last book of the year 2020! There will be spoilers in this thread, so beware!

This month, our discussion prompts (that you are in no way required to use) were written by a staff member. We're excited to see anything you have to say about this book, whether it be a stray thought, an opinion, or a question of your own!

1. Divya and Aaron share narration in this story. Was there a point of view that you preferred more than the other? If so, why?

2. How would you describe Divya’s relationship with her mother? What about Aaron’s relationships with his parents? How do your parents affect your choices?

3. Do you play video games? If so, which is your favorite? What do you think makes video games so interesting?

4. An important part of the novel is internet harassment, and how hard it is to find the perpetrators. Do you think there are better ways to fix this issue?

5. Compare Ryan and Rebekah. What makes them good friends for Aaron and Divya, respectively?

6. What do you think of Divya’s choice to give up professional livestreaming? If you were in the same position, what would you have done?

Don't Read the Comments was an interesting read for me. I went in pretty excited about it, but struggled to really get into it. It wasn't until I was about halfway through the novel that I really found my groove.

One thing that I found myself thinking is that I liked the story well enough, but I personally saw quite a bit of value in the potential for discussion (which makes it great for book club.) It has heavy threads of sexism as well as online safety and doxing, and a little bit of racism, too.

It's been a long while since I've posted in the group (sorry ya'll!) and my current mission is to get caught up. Unfortunately that means that it's been a while since I've read the book so my thoughts aren't as clear as they would've been had I done this back in December.

2. How would you describe Divya’s relationship with her mother? What about Aaron’s relationships with his parents? How do your parents affect your choices?
It's been too long for me to fully speak to the parental relationships in the novel. All I really remember is that Divya had a closeness to her mother that was... partially uncomfortable--and by that, I mean that there were times when it seemed like they were friends, or like Divya was the primary caretaker. On the other hand, Aaron feels smothered by his mom's dreams for him, and stifled by her unwillingness to believe his dreams lie in gaming. Understandably, she's edgy about his gaming since his father's own failure years before.

The funny thing about parents is that kids really do embody their parents' values, manners, and sometimes even their temperment. The power of a parent has when raising a child is not always visible to the eye. Personally, I think that it in part depends on how a child views his parent, either knowingly or subconsciously. Is the child trying to act more like their parent, or do they condemn their decisions and actively search for different ones?

3. Do you play video games? If so, which is your favorite? What do you think makes video games so interesting?
I love playing videogames! I think the reason why people play videogames is similar to the reason why people read: a good videogame will tell you a story. I've played many a game where I get caught up in the story of the game. Ones that I associate with interesting stories are ones like Bioshock, or the one that I am currently playing my way through: Ghost of Tsushima.

Others give the player an adventure, like open world games that would be like "Reclaim the Sun" in the book. Games like Skyrim give the player all the power of roleplaying, which is exciting in its own right.