Book club resources
Your Deepest, Darkest Secret
We know that a great discussion is even better with the right atmosphere, so we've rounded up everything you need to host the perfect meeting. Dive into the playlist to set the mood, and grab the discussion guide to keep the conversation flowing (or starting!).
Discussion Guide
Ready to start the discussion? I’ve broken the book club guide down into three parts to help your group navigate the story. Start with Ice Breakers to get the conversation flowing, then Warm Ups for a closer look at the story, or head to the Spoiler Zone for those 'can you believe it?' moments. Tap below to begin.
Ice Breakers
- What was your first impression of the "Lily" we meet at the lake house? Did you trust her?
- Teen Clem. Would she be your ride-or-die bestie, or would you run the other way
- The stormy, isolated lake house vs. the creepy Wrenwood Academy. Which one would you rather spend the night in?
- The story bounces between "Now" and "Before." Did you race through one to get back to the other? Which timeline did you like better?
- What did you think of the ending? Was it a total shock, or did you call it? Any clues you're mad you missed?
Warm Ups
- Clem basically appoints herself Lily's bodyguard from day one. Is she sweet, scary, or a bit of both?
- Mr. Radford hides behind his “cool teacher” persona. When exactly did your skin start crawling?
- If you were sent to Wrenwood Academy, where would you spend most of your time? The woods? The library? Or would you join a club like drama or debate?
- Everyone’s hiding something in this book. Whose secret shocked you most?
- The bullying at Wrenwood plays out while the adults look away or make it worse. What is the book saying about institutions that fail the people in their care?
- Clem and Lily's friendship. Is it goals, or a little too intense
- There are a lot of bad omens in the book. The dead fox with baneberries at its muzzle, the "suicide berries," the raging storm. How did that natural imagery shape the sense of foreboding and did it change how you read what was coming? Were you yelling at the characters to get out?
- Mr. Radford zeroes in on Lily right from the beginning, when she's grieving and alone. What does that tell you about how predators like him operate?
Spoiler Zone
Spoilers ahead
Save these until everyone has finished the book.
- The narrator we've followed as "Lily" all along is really Clementine Hastings, who was only pretending to be Lily. Did the reveal shock you? Looking back, which clues were hiding in plain sight?
- Sloane, Ava, and Cole turn out to be Mr. Radford's children, and the whole friendship and lake weekend was an orchestrated act of revenge. When did you start to suspect Sloane or did the twist catch you completely off guard?
- Mr. Radford's death is revealed to have been premeditated: Clem drugged him and staged his death as a suicide, having come to Wrenwood specifically to investigate what happened to Allison Collins, AKA as Ace in juvie. Knowing her full reasons, did his death feel like justice to you?
- Clem is, by the end, a killer several times over. Dakota, Cole, Ava, and the staging of Mr. Radford’s death. Did the novel earn your sympathy for her anyway? Do you believe her actions were justified?
- Sloane confesses that she and her siblings killed Allison "to see what it would feel like," and Cole describes all three being diagnosed as psychopaths. How does the book handle the question of who counts as a monster, and whether killers are born or made?
- Mrs. Kessler protects her son, then locks Lily in the same hole her own grandfather once used to punish girls. What did you make of the generational cycle, Mrs. Kessler to Mr. Radford to the triplets, and the way trauma and abuse keeps echoing down the family line
- Everyone in this book got dealt a rough hand, but some choose to protect people and some choose to hurt them. What's the book telling us: does your past define you, or do you get to decide who you become?
- The book withholds Lily's true secret until late, that her crushed pills ended up killing her father, not Cynthia, and that Cynthia used it to blackmail her for years. How did that final confession change your read on Lily and on the blood pact scene at the lake?
- Everyone called Liz crazy for years but she was right about Sloane all along, and she's the one who pulls the trigger in the end. After all that doubt, she gets the last word. Did her payoff feel as satisfying to you as it did to her?