Reading Group Discussion Questions
LOOK CLOSER
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- Much of Look Closer is told from the first-person, primarily from Vicky and Simon’s perspectives. How did reading in the first-person make you feel about our narrators? Did the first-person voices make them more trustworthy, or more unreliable?
- Discuss the multiple meanings of the title Look Closer.
- The novel incorporates different forms of communication, including texts and journal entries. How did the use of these formats impact your reading experience?
- Discuss the way that different characters use disguises, physical and otherwise, taking a particular look at the importance of Halloween in the novel. Which disguises proved most successful?
- Is there a clear villain in Look Closer? If so, who do you think it is, and why? Did your ideas about who was a villain change as you read?
- Is there a clear hero or heroes in Look Closer? If so, who do you think it is, and why? Did your ideas about who was a hero change as you read?
- Were you surprised by the ending of the novel? If so, what were your predictions while reading, and how did the final twists differ from expectations?
- Simon is a law professor, but he has a unique idea of justice, comparing his actions to those of a soldier in war. What moral codes do each of the characters live by? How are they similar or different?
- If you had to summarize the prevailing motivation or emotion in the book, what would it be? Revenge? Justice? Greed? Guilt?
** Questions with SPOILER ALERTS **
- Do you believe that Vicky and Simon were justified in the actions they took for revenge against Nick and Lauren? Why or why not? Are there certain crimes that warrant this kind of revenge? Would you have taken these actions had you been in their position?
- Greed is at the heart of many of the crimes in the book. How does the desire for money influence each character? Conversely, Simon ultimately rejects the money he comes into at the end of the novel. Why do you think he did this? Would you have done the same?
- What do you think happens to Simon and Vicky after the novel’s end?
