Sunday, April 22, 2018

Lucky One (Sparks) Discussion Questions



Welcome to a discussion post for The Lucky One.  



1. After Thibault finds the photo of a girl wearing a shirt that says lucky lady across the front, his best friend Victor convinces him that the photo is his lucky charm. Do you believe in lucky charms? Do you think the photo is Thibault’s lucky charm, or is his good luck just a coincidence?

- I’m somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I believe that things can be lucky while other things are just ridiculous.  
- I mean you could consider that’s the photograph of Beth was some sort of lucky charm but then you could say that Beth’s brother Drake was lucky for other reasons and that the day he died he was just in the wrong place.  
- Logan was lucky before he found the photo. He hadn’t died on his first tour. Ok his luck changed in things such as poker but then poker is such a game of chance. 



2. Do you find it odd that Thibault walked across the country to find the girl in the photograph, a woman he knew next to nothing about? Why is Thibault so compelled to find this woman?
- I don’t think it’s odd. He was in the army. He served in Iraq 🇮🇶. I’m sure he went through a lot more harsh things.  
- I think he was compelled to find her because it would put his mind at ease. Five years is a long time. Plus after his friends death he wanted to do something that made he feel more close to him. 



3. Thinking about how difficult marriage is, Beth remembers her grandmother’s saying: "Stick two different people with two different sets of expectations under one roof and it ain’t always going to be shrimp and grits on Easter." Do you agree? Do you think marriage is worth the hardship that often accompanies it?

- I’ve never been married but I think if two people are completely different with no interests in common then it’s likely to fail. Marriage is hard but you have to have that common ground to understand each other.  
- I think you have to work at marriage to a point. If it’s really not working the best thing for everyone is just to divorce and go your separate ways. 



4. Compare the main male characters in the novel--Thibault, Clayton and Drake. How are they different and how are they similar?

- The three main male charters have a lot in common from Beth and Ben to being or having a job that is both routine and unexpected.  

- There are so many things that make them the same and different all together and then just with one of the other people. Logan and Clayton are the same because they lied to Beth but for different reasons. Logan’s lies were to protect Beth but Clayton lies just to harm her. 


5. Thibault, we learn, was a soldier in the Iraq war, but when we meet him he looks and acts nothing like a soldier. How has the war affected Thibault and in what ways are his actions in this novel determined by his time spent in Iraq?
- He’s affected like most people are when they see friends die in war. But I think his friend dying on the lake affected him more. 




6. Victor seems to think that Thibault is in love with Beth even before he’s met her. Do you think it is true that Thibault fell in love with Beth before he ever met her?

- I think he had strong feelings towards her. It’s on the verge. What someone might think is love maybe someone else’s lust or creepiness. 




7. Beth is somewhat guarded and she doesn’t allow herself to fall in love with Thibault easily. What, besides her past romantic failures, makes her initially wary of Thibault?

- the fact that he’d been in a job that killed her brother. Even though he was no longer a marine
- Also the fact that he walked across the contrary.   
- She has been so affected by Clayton that it’s hard for her to feel things towards other people. She had dates between Clayton and Logan but Clayton had a hold over her that those dates never went anywhere else. 
- She also has to think of Ben.  





8. What role does Nana play in bringing Thibault and Beth together?

- Giving Thibault a job was the thing that brought them together in person. She makes Beth see that though Logan lied to her she didn’t give him a chance. 



9. Why doesn’t Thibault reveal the truth about himself to Beth earlier? Do you think he acted dishonestly and do you think Beth is right to be upset when he finally tells her the truth? Should she have forgiven him?

- I think Beth is more upset that Thibault wasn’t the one who told her why he was there that it was her ex husband who told her. 



10. Do you think Thibault and Beth are destined to be together? Do you believe in fate?
- Its a love story of course they were destined to be together. 
- I don’t believe in destiny or fate. Sometimes things just happen. Logan didn’t know how things would turn out. If he would have feelings for Beth if they met in person. If he had just wasted his time walking over 1500 miles and through a minimum of 8 states. 



11. What do you make of Clayton? Do you dislike him? Do you understand why he behaves the way he does? Is he a good father to Ben? Does your own opinion of him change by the end of the book?

- Clayton has his faults. Most men do. But is he a good dad to Ben. That depends on how you grew up. Personally he’s not a good dad in my eyes. He can’t see that Ben doesn’t like the same things as he dose and tries to force him into the things that Clayton wants him to do rather then support Ben. He loves Ben but can’t see that Ben is different. I don’t think my views on him change by the end. I always knew he had love for Ben. 




12. What role does Zeus play in this story?
- Zeus at first I thought was just a companion for Logan but as time went on he is more then a companion. He is a protector 




13. Describe Ben and Thibault’s relationship. How does Ben change as he and Thibault become close?
- Ben opened up a lot more. You could tell there were small changes happening as soon as they met. Though he’s not Ben’d father Logan has become a sort of father figure to him.  


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