Hi all!
Welcome back! In June, we read Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly for The You’ll Read Too Bookclub! If you wish to access all of the latest updates/information, click here. Spoilers ahead!
Quick Reminder: This month we are reading ‘Black Mouth’ by Ronald Malfi!
Today I’m going to discuss the book in the same way I normally do online. You can find the recorded talk on my book club Instagram page. I’ll give a quick plot summary plus my overall star/scare-factor ratings. Then I will share the discussion topics and trivia questions. Please include all of your answers and opinions down below. I want to know exactly what you thought. I’ll also leave the answers to the trivia questions at the very bottom of the post, so if you wish to guess without being spoiled, do not scroll to the end until you’re ready. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
THEME MUSIC BY T. MARIE VANDELLY – JUNE 2023
PLOT SUMMARY
For the lucky among us, life is what you make of it, but for Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old Dixie was left alive, infamously known as ‘Baby Blue’ for the song playing in the aftermath of the slaughter. 25 years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she can’t remember, so when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in, re-creating a macabre decor with her family’s salvaged furniture. But as the ghosts of her family seemingly begin to take up residence in the home that was once theirs, Dixie starts to question her own sanity and wonders if the evil force menacing her is that of her father, or a demon of her own making.
OVERALL STAR RATING
I gave the book 3/5 stars. It was so hard to rate because it was probably the darkest, most messed up story I’ve ever read. I honestly went on a wild journey with this one. I must admit, it was slightly predictable. I figured out fairly quickly what was going on, but I want to give a massive congratulations to the author because this was her debut novel. Super impressive! It felt like I was thrown into a tumble-dryer, rattled to my core and spat back out. Wow!
OVERALL SCARE-FACTOR RATING
I also gave the book a scare-factor rating of 3/5 stars. Within the first 10 to 15 pages, I was hit with some extremely dark content. It really got under my skin. The way Dixie felt like she was descending into madness unsettled me deeply.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.) How did you feel about Dixie as a narrator?
Dixie was such a unique and strange narrator. She was far from reliable, due to her childhood trauma and the way she was being set up by Ford. Not only that, she was a very morally ambiguous character. The number of questionable things she did and said had me confused as to whether I should root for her or not. I have more to say on that in the next question.
2.) Knowing what we know, should Dixie have been pardoned for her behaviour toward Erin and the resulting death?
By the end, I felt incredibly sorry for Dixie. She had experienced more trauma than humanly possible. However, her behaviour toward Erin and what resulted from that was beyond pardon. Just my opinion! She stalked her crush’s love interest, pretended to be somebody else and most likely pushed her down the stairs, causing her death. No matter what one has gone through, one should not be excused for those actions.
3.) Do you agree that Dixie moving into her childhood home was odd? Could you do it, had you experienced the same event?
Personally, I couldn’t do it. I understand how it could bring some closure, but I would be constantly reminded of the pain and loss of my own childhood, parents and siblings.
TRIVIA QUESTIONS
Easy: What did the media dub Dixie?
Medium: What car did Rory drive?
Hard: What was Billy’s blood type?
I hope you enjoyed the book club discussion in this post and on Instagram. As mentioned above, share all of your thoughts in the comments below! If you have any feedback/suggestions to improve the book club, please let me know. I look forward to talking to you all next month! Thanks for reading!
Peace & Love xoxo
TRIVIA ANSWERS: Easy: ‘Baby Blue’. Medium: An SUV. Hard: A+.