Welcome to Quill Quotes Book Club and the final discussion for Dark Matter by Blake Crouch! We hope you enjoyed the read! Note this discussion covers the full book and will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t finished reading yet you may want to go back to the Dark Matter Book Club Summary Page for the previous discussions.
Brooke’s Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I liked that it was a sci-fi with a mystery thriller vibe. Most of the sci-fi books I read are about space and aliens so this was a nice change. Crouch also did a good job of explaining the multiverse in layman terms making it seem not too far fetched. I love thinking about all of the different paths my life could have taken. Overall, I give Dark Matter 4 stars.
Favorite Quote
“For anyone who has wondered what their life might look like at the end of the road not taken.”
– Blake Crouch, Dark Matter
Kevin’s Thoughts
I ended up really enjoying this book! After the first half I couldn’t wait to find out what happened and read the rest almost as soon as our first discussion was over. However, I only ended up rating the book 4 stars for a couple reasons. First, just like there are an infinite number of Jasons that split off from Jason1 after Jason2 stole his life, there would be an infinite number of Danielas. Therefore, I’m not buying that all the Jason’s had to stay and fight over this particular Daniela and universe. Maybe some of them were out of serum to use the box but I’m sure many of them could have just gone back in to search for another, less occupied universe that split off from theirs. Second, too many questions were left unanswered and up to your imagination. For one, was the universe Jason1 and family end up in a good one? If not, did they have enough serum to try again? Also, what happened to Amanda? I think if even just one of these things had been addressed it would have been a 5 star read for me.
Favorite Quote
“All your life you’re told you’re unique. An individual. That no one on the planet is just like you. It’s humanity’s anthem. But that isn’t true for me anymore.”
– Blake Crouch, Dark Matter
Vote
Last Week’s Vote
The majority was mostly right with Jason1 getting his life back, but since they had to leave his universe I don’t think it’ll be the life he knew. In a way, I’m sure every answer is probably right for some version of Jason given the infinite multiverse.
Rate Dark Matter
Sorry, this vote is now closed. The average rating was 4/5 stars!
Dark Matter Final Discussion Prompts/Questions
Feel free to comment whatever thoughts and questions you have! But if you aren’t sure where to start, consider some of the prompts/questions below:
- Do you think Jason and his family found a good place to live?
- Was Jason1 (the Jason we followed throughout the book) any better or more deserving of Daniela than any other Jason? Is our allegiance to him simply a matter of perspective?
- Do you think Jason or Daniela cheated when they slept with a different version of their partner? Does it make a difference whether they knew it was a different version or not?
- What do you think happened to Amanda? Do you agree with her decision to leave Jason? How did you feel about their relationship?
- If you had to choose, would you rather live Jason1 or Jason2’s life? Why?
- Would you risk going into the box for a potentially better life?
- Share a favorite quote!
Commenting
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We hope you enjoy this discussion and join us again next month! Don’t forget to vote on our next book if you haven’t yet.
Interestingly Jason1 and Amanda are in and out of boxes together-Jason looking for his family and I guess Amanda just following. At one point they even call it their shelter/prison home. At one point Amanda leaves Jason because she realized he will not rest until he finds his family. We did not hear from her again.
Jason did find his family but now— how does he (manage) the other Jasons. The competition is on. On;y one Jason could win. Clearly Jason1 was the smartest about getting his family back and there would be no sharing. With Jason2’s help he can leave his wondering life and begin again. Jason1 takes his family into the box, takes the shots and moves on to where? Will there be a book 2 to explain where Amanda ended up and what happened to all the Jasons? I did like reading Dark Matters even though I would rather watch a movie about si-fi. This one gets 4 stars.
Favorite quote is on page 225. How can something so powerful in one world not bleed through into this one?
I would have been scared to leave the box if I was Jason and Amanda.
I would have liked to know what happened to Amanda. A book from perspective would be very interesting.
A sequel about what happened to Jason and his family and the other Jason’s would be cool too!
I think this book could make a great series. I know Blake Crouch has a couple of his other books made into movies and series so maybe this one too.
I also really liked that quote too. I feel it in my soul.
This book was a great thriller! It kept my interest all the way through. I did feel like I wanted to know what kind of world they ended up in. I did have a hard time wrapping my head around all the different Jason’s. I get it in some ways but other times didn’t make sense to me how they all got there. I can’t fathom having that many alternate worlds. I felt the same as Kevin and wondered what happened to Amanda.
The funny thing happened when reading this book I thought of the book Sphere by Michael Crichton and then I read the last pages The Story Behind Dark Matter and he mentioned that book.
I do believe Jason 1 was the right one to be with his family since they were his choices. I was thinking they needed to get away from all Jason’s somehow and wondered if they would be on run all the time. I’m wondering if they still can find them through Charlie but that be a whole new book it could go on and on just like all the Jason’s.
A terrifying spin on the Prisoner’s Dilemma that asks, Is it possible to out think yourself?
Blake Crouch, Dark Matter
I liked this quote because it was so terrifying when he was realizing how many more Jason’s he had to get past to get his life back.
It blows my mind thinking about that many alternate worlds too!
I also got a Michael Crichton vibe from him too! Probably why I enjoyed it so much! I saw that he was the inspiration for a few of his books!
It kinda bothered me we don’t know what happened to Amanda but it makes sense because Jason1 would probably never know. She probably died in some and lived happily in others.
I would have also liked to know where he and his family ended up. They would have had to completely start over and I would have liked to see how they figured that out.
That’s an awesome quote! I do not think I am smart enough to out-think myself. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not? LOL!
I agree the book did a great job of keeping interest! I wasn’t sure I’d like it at first based on the description but once I got into it, I was hooked.
I’m not sure Jason1 is any more deserving of Daniela than many of the other Jasons. I think it’s more our perspective following him for the entire book and if we had followed one of the others Jason1 would be viewed as a bad guy. Jason1 was the only one to think outside the box and use getting arrested as a way to get his family back though, so some credit is due there. However, I feel bad for the majority of Jasons who agreed to the lottery proposal and were waiting at the box when Jason1 and his family left.
I remember highlighting this quote too! I would have to say it is possible to outthink yourself but I’m not sure if it’s really outthinking by intelligence or more through luck. We see that Jason1 wins his family back against all the others but the idea for how to do it came by chance from his experience in the bar with the drunk that none of the others had, so is it really outthinking them?