GeekMom discussion

Here's the first questions for this month's book club! I hope you all are enjoying the book so far.

When a person goes missing, it’s hard to have any closure because you don’t truly know if they are dead or alive. Do you think that Maddie did the right thing for her and for her boyfriend’s family by trying to cease contact with them?

If you had a chance to find a missing person you loved or had loved in the past, would you try and find them. Even if it took you to a whole other world?

Do I think Maddie did the right thing? I don't think I could cease contact altogether. I can sympathize with Maddie getting somewhat annoyed with Alvin and Randy's Mom because she was pretty "in your face", but I think I would crave that continued interaction -- after all, Maddie, Randy and his Mom were all suffering together.

Would I try to go find a missing person into a whole other world? If it were my boys or my dear husband, you'd better believe it! No question. But Maddie was dealing with a serious boyfriend who wasn't 100% honest with her -- she seemed conflicted in how much "closure" she really wanted/needed.

Finally started reading the book! I think Maddie did the right thing from her point of view. Although they had this shared experience of Alvin, things were rocky anyway and because of how Alvin's mom and Randy are, she couldn't have moved on without breaking from them. She needed the break to get herself healthy. (Now if it were my husband, the opposite would happen.... my inlaws are awesome and I don't see myself remarrying anyway.)

I think the real thing that bugged Maddie was that this was done against her will. If she had known that she could travel and that she could see Alvin, she may have chosen to go (with a good deal of pondering)... but not having the chance to ponder was a bit cruel. Likewise, if I knew there was something I could do to help, I would probably help, but I would be angry about being manipulated.

I think I would be torn even more than she was. I would teeter between wanting to tell him off and wanting to never see him again. I would never in my life consider a reconciliation. This indecisiveness and duality seems to pervade throughout a lot of her early interactions with people in her new world.

I'm not sure what I would do - It would be very hard because it would be a constant reminder of that person who was missing. Add in the fact that he was cheating on her, which makes it harder.

I'm not sure if I'd go after an ex that disappeared for a year and had cheated on me. But you are right, Bettina, that she wasn't given a choice.

Mostly I want to say yes, she did the right thing, but the Randy situation makes it less clear cut. He's not a normally functioning adult and would take the loss of his primary caregiver much harder than a regular family member.

I'm not sure I would try and find them, especially if it became clear than they'd left of their own free will. If they've left me behind like that then I'm not sure I'd put the effort in to find them.