Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Sike by Fred Lunzer

1. Is Sike a futuristic novel? What genre would you say it is? How does the fact that it explores a non-existent technology affect this?
2. How does Sike reflect on the current effort from technology companies to provide emotional connection and self-improvement? What parallels do you see with real-world innovations, especially in AI?
3. What are some of the pros and cons that Sike, the app, would bring to our world? Would it help personal connections? Would it help world leaders make better decisions? What ethical dilemmas does Sike introduce by collecting and analyzing its users' most private thoughts?
4. What do you think about the different subject themes in Sike, like rap, technology, psychology, venture capital. Are these topics you could relate to before reading the book? How about after?
5. If you're willing to share, what are your own experiences with therapy? Have you tried any mental health apps or other technological integrations to emotional wellness? Would you sign up for Sike if it existed?
6. What do you think of the characters in Sike? Would you want to be friends with any of them?
7. Sike is told from Adrian's point of view. Did you read Maquie's thirdperson chapters as being from an omniscient source or from Adrian's perspective? Is Adrian a reliable narrator when he's relaying his own actions? When he's relaying Maquie's?
8. Adrian and Maquie both struggle with the balance between self-awareness and self-delusion. Which character do you think is more successful at confronting their flaws, and how?
9. Was Maquie's lie about her infidelity a good risk, or should she have told Adrian the truth? How would you feel if your partner did something similar?
10. What do you think Adrian's intentions were when he put the cricket down Nunchi's neck during Bad Tamago?
11. Discuss Adrian's decision to quit using Sike at the end of the story.
12. If we checked in on Adrian and Maquie in five years, is it likely that they would still be together?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Celadon. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.