READERS GUIDE
Reader’s GuideDandelion Is Dead by Rosie Storey
Discussion Questions:
1. Is grief the catalyst that unites Poppy and Jake? Why do you think they fall in love?
2. Poppy essentially catfishes Jake. Can you empathize with her actions? If you were on the receiving end, would you be able to forgive her
once you found out the truth?
3. Forgiveness is a central, though subtle, theme in the book. Near the end of the story, Poppy’s mother tells her: “The best advice I ever received is to forgive. Regardless of if the other person is sorry. Or whether they’ve apologized, or ever will apologize. Forgiveness is something we must do because our own souls deserve that peace.” Do you agree with this notion?
4. At her engagement party, Poppy reflects on romantic love: “Love . . . wasn’t passion, romance, laughter, or lust. It wasn’t happiness, or Jake, or other people’s relationships on social media, or at the cinema. Love meant Not Being Alone and it didn’t have to feel nice every minute of the day, or most of the day, for Poppy to have to want it. . . . Love was having someone who loved you back and who was there for you when everyone died, left, got sick. Love was having someone to like you, still, when you’d been a bad person.” Does Poppy understand love?
5. Poppy grapples with the expectations of women in society, particularly marriage and motherhood. Can you relate to this complex feeling of pressure and uncertainty?
6. Dandelion defies convention. She is sexually liberal; she can be aggressive; she has no shame. How do you feel about Dandelion? Could
you be friends with her?
7. Near the end of the book, Sam says to Poppy: “You know that if you walk away from us, you’re kissing goodbye to your chance of having children, right? . . . We all know what it’s like for women once they get to a certain age.” What would Sam and Poppy’s life have been like, if they’d stayed together?
8. Jake cheated on his ex-wife and is still grappling with whether or not he can be a good man, despite doing a bad thing. When he admits “his greatest shame” to Poppy, he says: “It was once. I’ll regret it forever. And although I did cheat, I don’t want to be a cheat.” Do you think Jake is a good man?
9. Outside of Poppy and Jake, did you have a favorite character? Perhaps Jetta, Stefan, Jake’s dad, Yan, Zoe, Poppy’s parents, or even Billy. What does this character add to the novel?
10. What do you think Poppy’s and Jake’s futures hold? Can you describe a photograph of them in five years’ time—either together, or separately?
