'The Whispering Dark' Book Club Readalong Day 1!

Welcome to the first day of our book club readalong for OwlCrate's October book, The Whispering Dark by Nicole Kelly Andrew!

Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 1-6 of The Whispering Dark, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.

Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! Don't forget, you can also post about the readalong on Instagram with the hashtag #OCTheWhisperingDark for another chance to win!

The story begins...

Chapter 1:
Delaney Meyers-Petrov, deaf since she was a child, has been admitted to the prestigious Howe University Godbole School of Neo-Anthropological Studies - a program known to attract those who play in the occult. She arrives at the Godbole building on the first day, running late, and calls someone who seems to recognize her an asshole in the elevator.

Chapter 2:
Colton Price came back from the dead with a colourful girl leaning over him - it was certainly no longer the day he fell through the ice while skating with his brother. And Liam remembers dying. He tells the colourful girl not to let him go.

Colton isn’t supposed to know Lane standing outside this elevator. They have become strangers over the years and he has been warned not to interact with her. He knows he shouldn’t talk to her, and when another person, Hayes, enters the elevator he gives Colton a look telling him off, like he had been caught doing something wrong.

Chapter 3:
Colton is Professor Whitehall’s TA. The professor tells them that they will spend the next four years learning to move through time.

Chapter 4:
Delaney is hanging out in her dorm with her roommate, Adya, who is trying to figure out how to scry. Ever since she arrived at school there has been some sort of formless mass that feels like it wants her to look at it. When Adya brings up asking for Professor Whitehall’s advice, another student, Mackenzie, strides in, claiming that apparently the Professor is a scam and it’s Colton who does all the work. Apparently Colton can pry open the sky even without a lay line - sort of supernatural river of energy.

Mackenzie assures Delaney she’ll catch up with all the jargon, and at the sound of a shattered mirror Adya tells them she saw a boy’s face in the mirror, and she was pretty sure he was dying.

Chapter 5:
Colton has a strict routine. When a knock comes at his door at 6:30 in the morning he is unimpressed. Mark Meeker, Godbole drop out, tells him the Apostle wants Colton to figure out why students are dying. The Apostle has been sending students to complete a task, but those students are turning up dead. Later in study hall Hayes tells Colton to keep his head on straight, that he sees Colton already altering his behavior towards Delaney.

Chapter 6:
Over the first weeks of the semester Delaney daily brings a coffee to Whitehall’s class as a gesture of apology for Colton. for calling him an asshole, not sure why it offended him so much. The coffee goes unrecognized.

Whitehall has Delaney visit him in his office, Colton also present, and while Whitehall presses Delaney about her accent Colton reveals she’s deaf, which Whitehall seems to find fascinating. He asks her if she ever hears things in the quiet.

 Questions:

1. Why do you think Colton has been warned to stay away from Delaney?
2. Why do you think Delaney doesn’t remember Colton?
3. Who do you think Anya saw in the mirror?
4. What do you think some of the Godbole students pledged to, and what do you think the Apostle is sending them to do?
5. Did you enjoy the first section of the book?

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