The Thoroughbreds Book Club Questions
by Elin Hilderbrand
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
The Thoroughbreds is packed with secrets, loyalty tests, and messy choices that make it easy to disagree with your book club. The characters rarely fit into neat heroes or villains, so you can debate motives, consequences, and what you would have done in their shoes.
Use these questions however your group likes: pick a few that spark the strongest reactions, go around the circle, or split into smaller chats. There are no right answers here, just plenty of chances to compare your reading and maybe change your mind.
Secrets and Trust
- 1.Charley keeps her trip to the Clark Art Institute with Mr. Maverick a secret and lies to East about a flat tire, while East has hidden his own history with Simone Bergeron. When they meet on the chapel roof, Charley says she wants a break — did you agree with her choice, or did you think she was punishing East for something he had already tried to move past?
- 2.Audre discovers that $7,321,000 is missing from Tiffin's operating budget, finds DocuSign paperwork she has no memory of signing, and decides not to tell Jesse Eastman right away. Was her concealment a defensible way to protect the school, or an unforgivable failure of accountability given she later authorizes Oak Bellamy to invest even more aggressively?
- 3.Mr. Maverick does not correct the docent who assumes Charley is his valentine, questions whether East is her intellectual match, and tells her his Wednesdays with her give him something to look forward to. Was this genuine loneliness and mentorship, or a boundary violation, especially after Amanda warned him to be careful with Charley?
- 4.Cal opens Cinnamon's file while drunk and curious, and Dub responds by saying 'You violated my trust' and blocking him before accepting the full ride to Atwater. Did you agree with Dub cutting Cal off completely, or could Cal's apology and admission of love have earned him another chance?
Friendship, Identity, and Disclosure
- 5.Dub announces he is gay during his senior speech, and Hakeem reacts by leaving the chapel and later admits he was hurt that Dub did not tell him first. How did you read Hakeem's response — as a friend's legitimate pain, or as a betrayal of Dub in the moment he needed support most?
- 6.Taylor confides her pregnancy to Dub rather than Hakeem, plans an abortion, and then miscarries at a Cumberland Farms — never telling Hakeem until spring break on Harbour Island. Did you agree with her decision to handle it alone, or did you think Hakeem deserved to know from the start?
- 7.Cordelia has been closeted since fabricating a dead husband twenty-three years ago, is nearly moved to tears by the student body's standing ovation for Dub, and keeps deleting and regretting Honey's texts. How did Dub's courage complicate your view of Cordelia, and what did you make of her wanting to bring Honey back to Tiffin as college counselor?
- 8.Dub waits nineteen and a half months to open Cinnamon's email attachment and then plays her recorded voice and song at graduation instead of Ms. Robinson's remarks. Do you think sharing something so personal in front of the whole school honored Cinnamon's wishes, or was it a burden to put on Davi, Hakeem, and everyone else in the tent?
Love, Loyalty, and Hard Choices
- 9.Davi is with Liam all fall and spring — even secretly housing him over Thanksgiving — only to watch him climb into Pippa's garland-decorated Land Rover. How did you judge Liam's behavior toward both women, and did Davi's decision to hold on to him make her sympathetic or frustrating to you?
- 10.Audre plans to move to New Orleans with Coop, sends the email announcing her departure, then reverses course and stays at Tiffin when Loredonna takes the Patriots job — pushing Cordelia and Rhode into a rivalry for the Head position. Was Audre's final decision about love, duty, or simply avoiding the hard choice?
Power, Accountability, and Revenge
- 11.Olivia spends the spring preparing an exposé on the special treatment bought for Andrew Eastman, hacks the school server with Grady, and then reaches the Priorities tunnel only to find East crying and choose not to expose him. Did that turn feel earned, or did it come too easily for a character who had spent so much of the book scheming for revenge?
- 12.The Honor Board expels Pippa unanimously, but Sondra Sacks publicly exposes her own affair with Rhode Rivera in the meeting and Erik Sacks tries to bribe Audre with a donation. Who bears the most responsibility for the Haydensboro Massacre — Pippa, Olivia, the parents, or Tiffin itself for admitting Pippa and hosting a culture where this was inevitable?
- 13.Tilly Benbow's scenes as a girl crying on the phone in the woods, losing weight, and being referred to Dr. Pringle read completely differently once we learn she was involved with Joey. How did that reveal change your understanding of Tilly, and did anyone in her life — her parents, Olivia, the school — fail her before Charley recognized her at Wawa?
- 14.Olivia's In and Out list, Madison J.'s 'Tag ur friend and their crush' Instagram post, and Davi's 'comparisons are odious' sign all use social media to rank and sort people. Which of these moments felt most damaging to you, and did the book land on any real answer about living under that kind of scrutiny?
Endings and Unanswered Questions
- 15.The epilogue leaves us with Charley having vetoed the superlative winners, retorting 'High school is over,' stripping off her dress, and diving into Jewel Pond for a champagne toast with Davi. Did that final image give you the closure you wanted, or did the unanswered threads — the Head of School search, Olivia's exposé, East at Babson — leave you wanting more?