Literally Leander discussion

You Have a Match by Emma Lord was our first book of this year! Please be prepared for spoilers in this thread.

This month, our discussion prompts (which are not a requirement) were written by a staff member. We'd love to see anything you have to share about this book!

1. Have you done or ever considered doing a DNA test? Why do you think people are so interested in what a DNA test can tell them?

2. How do you think Abby handled finding out that she has a sister? Put yourself in her shoes; what would you have done?

3. Describe Abby and Savvy’s first meeting. Did you think that they were going to be close, or did you think that they would not get along? How does their relationship change over the course of the novel?

4. How does Abby’s relationship with her grandfather—Poppy—affect who she is? How does this relationship drive Abby’s choices?

5. Were you surprised to find out the truth of Savvy’s adoption? Why do you think Savvy’s and Abby’s parents were so determined to keep this secret from them? Why do you think parents keep secrets at all?

6. What would you say is the message of this book? What was your biggest takeaway?

Okay, so this technically doesn't have anything to do with the book, but I keep getting Emma Lord mixed up with the other young adult author of contemporary romances, Emery Lord. So I went in to this book thinking that I'd already read books by this author that I enjoyed, when in reality this was my first book by Emma Lord.

My overall feeling for this book was: it was okay. And, like, not in a bad way? But not in a particularly good way, either. For me, the book was ultimately forgettable. The main thing that I liked was that the premise, however unlikely, is also weirdly possible. What I didn't like was that all Savvy and Abby did for the majority of the book was argue. If I wanted to deal with sibling fighting, I would have just called my little sister, thanks.

1. Have you done or ever considered doing a DNA test? Why do you think people are so interested in what a DNA test can tell them?
I have never done a DNA test, and a small part of me is intrigued with what it could tell me. It's one thing to hear stories from your family about your heritage, but it's quite another to see it laid out clearly.

I think one reason that people are so interested in it is that it can feel like a connection to our ancestors. For instance, my family has always said that we were mostly German, but one of my aunts did a DNA test and there was so much more than that. It's a reminder that we're never just something; there's always parts of our family history that we don't know.

I think it could also be of interest to people who don't know about their family history. Like, for instance, people who were adopted and do not know their ethnic background.

Lastly, there's been quite a push on DNA services offering "health insights," many of which are assumptions based on genetic predisposition. Without going too far down the rabbit hole of how authentic health insights can be, or what the outcome of them could be psychologically, I know some people really do want to know what health issues their family genetics could lead to. Many diseases have some gene-based factors, so it's not completely crock.