What has been your favorite moment in the book so far?
Would you recommend this book to someone? Why or why not?
The book follows past and present timelines for both Monae and Gus’s families. Which timeline/time period are you enjoying the most?
What were your first impressions of the title? Did you know the Chevy in the Hole was a real place in Flint?
Why do you think the title of the book is Early Morning Riser? What questions would you want to ask the author of this book?
How did you feel at the end of the novel? What will you most remember from this novel? Did any moments particularly resonate with you?
“It was Jane’s fault that Jimmy no longer had his mother. It was all Jane’s fault—can’t you see that?” Do you agree? Why did Jane take care of Jimmy? Why did he become, in Jane’s words, “my Jimmy”?
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3 comments on “Brandon Reads 2023 – Week 4 Discussion”
I enjoyed the book. The characters prevailed through some dark and gritty circumstances. The ending gave hope for the characters and their circumstances without a conventional over-the-top rosy ending, which I would find unrealistic. Because life is not like that, is it? . I have recommended this book, and talked about it with some friends who have read it.
I, too, enjoyed reading about familiar (and not so familiar) places in Flint and Detroit. I also thought the character struggles were well written.
I was surprised this book was referred to as a “love letter” to Flint. While it did talk about a few people trying to now make a positive change in Flint, it was quite dark in both the history and the impact on the characters of the book. Not much of the positive changes were written about. Even at the end it talked about the Flint River still being polluted and didn’t give much hope of that changing.
I thought overall it was pretty dark, so I would probably not recommend.
My favorite part of the book is reading about recognizable places in Flint and Detroit. I wish the author would have written more about the places. I felt as though they were just mentioned.
I would not recommend the book. I was frustrated keeping tract of all the characters. I was constantly flipping back to see who was who. I felt like the story wasn’t fully developed. There were at least 2-3 times when I was reading a paragraph, I kept rereading it, because it didn’t make sense. It was like the editing was off. The author would be talking about something and then mid-paragraph be talking about something else. Was it the editing or her style of writing. I wish I had kept track of where these instances occurred. Did anyone else catch that?