Tweet Cute Book Club Questions: Parental Pressure and The Hidden Costs of Getting Ahead
Age: YA (14+)
Genre: Romance
Quick Review of Tweet Cute
For book clubs who love YA romance, this book is a no-brainer. Aside from being packed with witty banter and mouth-watering dessert mashups, the story also brings up insightful questions about the pressure parents put on teens, the risks we have to take to find ourselves, and the hidden costs of getting ahead.
Book Club Questions
Both Jack and Pepper feel pressured by their parents to meet expectations, whether that be taking over the deli, winning the Twitter war, or adapting to New York City. Compare their parents’ expectations (assumed and actual) to Jack’s and Pepper’s expectations for themselves. When are parental expectations for teens helpful vs. hurtful?
Despite her overachiever attitude, Pepper struggles to take real risks. Discuss the risks she takes throughout the book and how they act as signposts to her character development.
Jack and Ethan both feel like the other is the golden child. What insecurities led each twin to this conclusion? If you’ve seen the “golden child” dynamic play out negatively in your family, what could help the situation?
If you had access to Weazel, would you want to make an anonymous friend within your school/church group/sports team/[insert other closed, presumed safe community]? What’s the appeal of getting to know someone like that? What are the downsides?
Why do you think the author chose to put Pepper on the swim team and Jack on the dive team (besides giving them a convenient way to interact)? What do their respective sports reveal about them?
Jack and Pepper agree to not let the Twitter war get personal. Do you think they succeed, or is something like that always going to be personal?
Pepper and Pooja became rivals via an incident that Pepper misinterpreted. What led to them giving each other a second chance? Have you ever accidentally gotten off on the wrong foot with someone, and if so, what steps have you taken or could you take to change things?
Pepper’s sister has a strained relationship with her mom. What could either her mom or Paige have done to improve things sooner? How did their dynamic affect Pepper’s relationships with them both?
Why do you think Pepper went to help at Girl Cheesing the day she got suspended?
A few decades before the book, Jack’s dad stole Pepper’s mom’s ideas, either not knowing or caring that he destroyed her dreams for her own restaurant in the process. How do you think he justified that? In a society obsessed with hustle and winning, what are the hidden costs of getting ahead?
Bonus: Invent and name your own dessert mashup and bring it to book club to share.
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