READERS GUIDE

In order to provide reading groups with the most informed and thought-provoking questions possible, it is sometimes necessary to reveal certain aspects of the storyline. If you have not finished reading, you may want to do so before reviewing this guide. 

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. Harley, Róise, and Maggie are each approaching their thirtieth birthdays with varying levels of anticipation and anxiety. Why is thirty seen as such an important age? Do you agree? 

2. Getting older is made even more complicated for the group by the recent death of their friend, Lydia. How does each girl process the loss? Did any of their reactions feel like particularly relatable coping mechanisms?

3. Harley, Róise, and Maggie have been friends for years. How similar or different are the girls from one another? How important is shared history or “group lore” to maintaining their friendship? Do you think they’d still be friends if they met at thirty?

4. What kind of friend do you think Lydia was? Were you surprised when you found out what caused the group’s last fight before her death? 

5. On her birthday, Róise sees a decade-old photo from a time when she and her friends “were all still wearing skull-print scarves and plastic chokers that looked like neck tattoos.” Which style trends from your past would you bring back? Which are you glad are over?

6. Maggie’s friends, especially Harley, do not like her romantic interest Cate. Is it a red flag if your friends and your significant other don’t get along? Did you notice any other red (or green) flags in Maggie and Cate’s relationship? What about the other relationships in the novel? Were you rooting for any to succeed?

7. Harley restarts her piano lessons almost a decade after she failed miserably at the instrument in high school. Why do you think she decides to try again so many years later?

8. At one point, Maggie and Tess discuss book genres, including what they call “One Woman’s Journey memoirs” and “self-indulgent party-girl memoirs.” What do you think the hallmarks are of these categories? Though it’s a novel, not a memoir, how does Thirst Trap nod to or differentiate itself from narratives in those genres?

9. The house the friends live in plays a central role in their friendship. What does the house represent for each of the girls? Did their feelings toward their home evolve over the course of the novel?

10. During a conversation about their future living arrangements, Róise wonders aloud whether the friends are “good for each other,” to which Harley replies, “We’re best friends. Aren’t we?” Do you think that Maggie, Harley, and Róise are good for each other? Is it possible to be best friends and not be good for each other?

11. What changes did you observe in the girls by the end of the book? Do you think that turning thirty will actually end up causing a big shift from their “roaring twenties”? How do you envision their thirties?