You Shouldn't Have Done That

The novel explores the complexity and power of friendship, particularly Jane and Ivy’s and Cal and Brad’s. While these relationships shift over the course of the story, they remain destructive. Have you ever been in a similar “friendship?” If so, how did it impact you?

Did you suspect Brad had done something to Cal?

Ultimately, who do you think is to blame for what happens to Cal? To Emerson?

At one point Cal thinks “People believed anything if you were attractive enough.” Is there truth to this statement?

Is Emerson a bad person or simply a teen swept up in the allure of social media?

How did Ivy’s childhood and her mother’s hoarding shape her self-esteem and relationships?

These characters are complicated and flawed. Which character did you relate to most? Did any of them evoke mixed emotions? Why do you think that was?

Jane keeps Cal’s high school gambling a secret from Wade, and Ivy states that she couldn’t imagine hiding anything so important from her husband. Yet the novel ends with Ivy keeping a devastating secret from Greg. Is hiding something from your partner ever OK? Where do you draw the line?

Max knows what Ivy has done yet opts to cover for her. Do you agree with his decision? What lengths would you go to to protect a loved one?

In a social media post, Emerson wrote Sometimes it's the people who are right in front of you who are actually the most lost. The novel examines the facades we present to the world. Discuss.

Lincoln is one of the more compassionate characters in the story. His mother tells him, “You’ve got a big, soft heart. The world’ll try to harden it. Don’t let it.” How do Lincoln and other characters lose their humanity as the novel unfolds?

What do you think will happen next for these characters?