READERS GUIDE
Discussion Guide1. Take Me Home is set in author Melanie Sweeney’s home state of Texas. What expectations of Hazel and Ash’s romance did the location set up for you?
2. Since leaving home for college, Hazel has avoided returning to her hometown. What feelings and memories do you have about your hometown and how have they evolved over the years?
3. Both Hazel and Ash find comfort in the big green chair of their beloved coffee shop. Do you have a favorite study or work spot? What makes it special?
4. Discuss Hazel and Ash’s first interaction in college. Do you think Hazel is justified in reacting the way she did? How would you have responded?
5. Take Me Home opens with an unexpected road trip back to Hazel and Ash’s hometown. Thematically, what does the road trip represent? Narratively, how does the road trip bring the frenemies closer together?
6. Hazel is studying for a master’s in psychology. How do you think this area of interest and growing expertise informs her reactions to her own conflicts? To what extent are we able to compartmentalize our intellectual interests with our emotional experiences?
7. Hazel has a knack for hiding her true feelings, whether to Ash, her father, Franny, or Sylvia. What do you think finally makes Hazel start to open up to the people in her life? In what ways does she do that differently with each of them?
8. Take Me Home is by turns heartwarming, sexy, and funny. At which point in Hazel and Ash’s relationship were you rooting for them to “just get together already,” or did you feel they rushed things romantically?
9. Throughout the novel, we are given a glimpse into who Hazel and Ash were during their high school years. Think about yourself in high school: How have you changed? How have you remained the same? Do you think if you met your current partner in high school, you’d have paired up?
10. As with any romance, Hazel and Ash have a few arguments. In these moments, who did you sympathize with more and why? Did you think one of them was more justified in their reactions than the other?
11. Throughout the novel, Ash worries about his family and how his family’s challenges might impact his relationship with Hazel, but instead, they both gain insights into their familial conflicts through their developing romance. Which of those insights feels most significant?
12. Take Me Home is an ode to the people and places we call home. Discuss the various places in the novel and how they play the role of “home” to each of the characters.
13. Hazel prefers a clean break rather than working to fix relationships. Are there times in real life when a clean break might be the best or healthiest option?
14. Ash is the only male child in his family with four sisters. How might this dynamic have shaped his character? In what ways does his prominent role as a caretaker both uphold and work against traditional gender norms?
15. Having finished the book, where do you see Hazel and Asher now, and do you think they have what it takes to go the distance?
