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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

The List

1. What did you think when you first read that Michael’s name was on The List?

2. Did you feel more sympathetic to Ola or to Michael? Did that change as the book went on?

3. How did reading their alternating perspectives shape how you saw the story?

4. Were you familiar with lists like the one on which Michael’s name appears before reading the book? What do you think of the discussion of it in the novel?

5. From call-out lists to online harassment, do you think that the ability to be anonymous online is a good or bad thing?

6. How did you feel about the portrayal of Michael and Ola’s relationship in the novel?

7. Do you consider Michael guilty of any wrongdoing? Why or why not?

8. Ola identifies as a feminist but begins to doubt her claim to that identity in the wake of Michael’s name appearing on The List. What did you think of her navigation of that dilemma?

9. If someone close to you was subject to anonymous accusations, how do you think you would handle it?

10. What did you think of the way that Celie responds to The List, and how did that change as the novel went on?

11. Discuss the portrayal of the mental health challenges faced by Michael, Lewis and other characters in the novel.

12. The novel explores the relationship between the online and offline lives of its characters. Do you think the two worlds can be separated?

13. How did The List make you consider the possible routes to justice available for survivors of sexual assault?

14. How much did you sympathize with Lewis, and to what extent is his fate a product of the internet?

15. How did you feel when you read the ending?

The List
by Yomi Adegoke

  • Publication Date: September 10, 2024
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
  • ISBN-10: 0063274884
  • ISBN-13: 9780063274884