SuitabookDead jealous
Sharon Jones
- Reading
- If the death, danger or romantic jealousy feels intense, pause after a suspenseful section and talk through what Poppy knows, suspects and cannot yet prove. Afterwards, discuss how the ending treats belief and trust.
- Themes
- Truth, appearances and investigation: Poppy suspects that a death treated as an accident was murder and investigates while encountering lies and people who are not as they seem. The premise presents investigation as the engine of the story, while warning that appearances and information may be unreliable.
- Belief and spirituality: Poppy favours quantum particles and Dawkins over tarot cards and druids, while attending her mother and stepfather’s handfasting ceremony at a Pagan festival. The story clearly places contrasting beliefs together and gives space to a teenager whose views differ from those around her.
- Romantic heartache and jealousy: Poppy attends the festival partly to avoid seeing the boy she loves with another girl, and bonds with Beth over unrequited love. Romantic frustration is part of the emotional setting and intersects with the mystery, but its consequences are not described.
- Worth knowing
- The book includes a girl’s death, a possible murder, a previous boating accident, heartache from unrequited love, jealousy, lies and repeated movement towards danger. The ending and detail of these scenes are unclear.