Welcome to our discussion of The Herd by Andrea Bartz! Below are some questions to get the discussion started, but feel free to bring up any topics you’d like to discuss. Today, the questions came from the Book Club Guide in the back of the book, so if you read to the very last page, these will already be familiar to you.
What do you think of the friendships of the four women in this novel? Are they true to real life friendships?
What role do you think ambition played in their relationships?
Eleanor founded the HERd to be a space for women to come together and be mutually supportive. Do you think it’s important for our society to have women only spaces?
The HERd has many detractors, including an online group called “The AntiHERd” that often evinces vitriolic hate toward Eleanor in particular, and women in general. To what do you attribute the current (or perceived) rise of online harassment and misogyny? Are women in positions of power held to different standards than men?
What did you think of Hana and Kate’s relationship? What factors contribute to its closeness or shakiness?
What do you think of the pressure Eleanor felt to maintain a perfect public image? How did you feel about Eleanor when you learned the secret she’d been trying to protect?
What did you think when you found out what happened to Katie in Michigan? How did her desire to make up for mistakes influence her choices throughout the novel?
As the novel progresses, we find out Katie, Hana, Mikki, and Eleanor are all hiding incredibly important pieces of themselves from one another. What were the dynamics that made it so difficult to be vulnerable in their friendships?
What do you think of the friendships of the four women in this novel? Are they true to real life friendships?
What role do you think ambition played in their relationships?
Eleanor founded the HERd to be a space for women to come together and be mutually supportive. Do you think it’s important for our society to have women only spaces?
The HERd has many detractors, including an online group called “The AntiHERd” that often evinces vitriolic hate toward Eleanor in particular, and women in general. To what do you attribute the current (or perceived) rise of online harassment and misogyny? Are women in positions of power held to different standards than men?
What did you think of Hana and Kate’s relationship? What factors contribute to its closeness or shakiness?
What do you think of the pressure Eleanor felt to maintain a perfect public image? How did you feel about Eleanor when you learned the secret she’d been trying to protect?
What did you think when you found out what happened to Katie in Michigan? How did her desire to make up for mistakes influence her choices throughout the novel?
As the novel progresses, we find out Katie, Hana, Mikki, and Eleanor are all hiding incredibly important pieces of themselves from one another. What were the dynamics that made it so difficult to be vulnerable in their friendships?