Welcome to Quill Quotes Book Club, Her Final Words Discussion #1! We hope you are enjoying the book so far. Please keep in mind this discussion is only for the first half (Chapters 1-26). If you read ahead or finished the book, please keep any spoilers or thoughts on later parts for the next discussion. See Her Final Words Book Club Summary Page for the reading schedule and other discussions.
Kevin’s Thoughts
I really like this book so far! There’s a lot going on besides just the murder of Noah and everyone seems to have something to hide. I have some theories but don’t really feel confident in any of them as far was what’s going to happen. Hicks is definitely involved somehow but I’m not sure if he’s actually a killer or just secretly protecting the Church. Josiah seems to be a prime suspect too, although I don’t see why he’d jeopardize his position of power as the preacher to murder children? I also think it’s possible Eliza did kill Noah but only if he was going to die soon from his medical condition so that she could draw attention to the other murders/disappearances.
Favorite Quote
“And shit, didn’t that make things complicated. Most people could be persuaded to listen to reason if they didn’t actually feel that strongly about a topic. But once their opinion became entangled with their sense of self, logic went straight out the window.”
– Brianna Labuskes, Her Final Words
Brooke’s Thoughts
Mystery is my favorite genre! I love trying to guess what happened! I don’t think Eliza is the killer but I still don’t think we have quite enough pieces to put the puzzle together yet. There are a lot of strange things that happen in this small and a lot of shady characters. It’s hard to tell which side everyone is on. I can’t wait to find out!
Favorite Quote
“Just because someone isn’t lying,” Dr. Ali said, each word slow and weighted, “doesn’t mean that they’re telling the truth.”
– Brianna Labuskes, Her Final Words
Vote
Sorry, this vote is now closed. See results below.
Her Final Words Discussion #1 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:
- Who do you think killed Noah? Do you think it was the same person who took Molly?
- Why did Eliza specifically ask for Lucy at the FBI station?
- Do you think Cora, Eliza’s mom, died naturally?
- How do you think the Allessandra Shaw case is related to the current events?
- How do you feel about the author’s writing style?
- Share a favorite quote!
Commenting
We can’t wait to hear from you in the comments! Be aware, some comments may be held for our review to reduce spam and won’t appear on the site right away, but we’ll do our best to review quickly. If you have any trouble commenting, please let us know on social media or via email to hello@quillquotes.com so we can try to help.
If you’d like to keep track of the discussion or replies to your comment via email, be sure to change the dropdown above the Post Comment button. You can also use the checkbox to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us if you haven’t already! You should receive an email to confirm, so please check your junk/spam folder and add hello@quillquotes.com to your safe-sender list if you don’t receive anything.
We hope you enjoy this discussion and join us again in 2 weeks for the final discussion over the whole book! Check out the Her Final Words Book Club Summary Page for details.
Really enjoying the book so far! Probably going to finish it tonight!
1. I think Josiah is the abductor of the girls/killer. I think that Noah maybe died of a disease and it was to look like a murder in order to bring attention to the fact that girls are ‘running away’ aka going missing. I think that Darcy Dawson has something to do with it all as well. Or possibly that she was a victim when she was younger?
2. I am still not totally sure why Eliza asked for Lucy but whatever case she previously was on must have had some connection to the abductions of Molly and Allesandra and so Eliza thinks she is the most likely to help?
3. I am not sure if Cora died naturally/and baby but I do believe Hicks was the father of that child.
4. I believe Allesandra was abducted and Eliza/Molly figured it out. I believe she was definitely not the first abducted but it was what brought it to Eliza’s attention since she was friends with her and didn’t believe she ran away.
5. I enjoy the author jumping back and forth, mainly because they label who they are jumping too lol
6. Favorite quote : “Reaching out, Molly covered Darcy’s free hand, squeezing once and meeting you’re eyes. “ I d-don-don’t think you’re anything.”
I like this quote because I could see myself saying something similar and not exactly meaning too. Just like Molly did.
Can’t wait to finish!
I like your idea that Noah died from his disease and Eliza made it look like a murder so the police will investagate!
I’m not sure why they are abducting girls unless it is because they know too much.
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of jumping back and forth with chapters but the author does it well. I also enjoy her writing style and the chapters being quick.
LOL! I could see you saying something like that too.
I can’t wait to finish either!
I like the idea that Darcy might have been a victim when she was younger. I’ll be surprised if she was involved in Noah’s killing though.
Lucy was somehow involved with a prior case since Eliza saw her name in one of Hicks’ case files. I’m just not sure if it was Allessandra’s or a different case; from the timeline, it seems like the case would need to be older for Lucy to have worked on it and if she had worked Allessandra’s case I think the name would have rung a bell for Lucy already. Eliza/Molly definitely know something about the church but haven’t been able to speak out and trust anyone in town. Hicks is my prime suspect with how he’s publicly against the shield laws but defends them in private, not sure what he’s hiding though.
Chapters jumping between characters is hit or miss with me but when it works the character names are almost always labeled!
This is a great mystery I’m thinking Eliza might have killed Noah so she could save him if that makes any sense. I’m thinking the church has some kind of ritual that is torture like what Is happening to Molly right now so Eliza didn’t want Noah to go through that. When Eliza went to get Noah’s blood checked something came up that she knew he would be killed anyway so she is trying to let the outside world know about it. Maybe the blood shows they have a different father than expected.
I think Hicks loved Cora and mad she died when could have been saved.
I’m puzzled why Eliza asked for Lucy, maybe she thought she wouldn’t give up and get to the bottom of the mystery of children dying Knox Hollow.
I like the quote when Lucy remembers her social worker friend saying,”The signs are always there,she’d say,Always.
Looking forward to finishing to unravel the mystery.
I agree, if Eliza killed him it would have been a mercy killing. I think someone else may have killed him but she moved the body and went to Lucy so she would investigate the church.
I’m not sure what the blood work will reveal, some disease maybe. I’m also interested in seeing what the toxicology report reveals.
Maybe Molly tried to report what was going on and that’s why they kidnapped her. Can’t wait to see what happens!
I thought the blood work would be a disease too but hadn’t thought about the father being different. Whether Eliza killed Noah or not, there’s definitely something else going on in the church that she wants Lucy to investigate. It seemed like it should have been longer ago but I’m wondering if Lucy investigated Allessandra Shaw’s disappearance. I would have thought Lucy would recognize the name though when the innkeeper said it so maybe there are more missing children we haven’t heard about yet.
I wonder if Hicks is Eliza’s father? It seems like he was in love with Cora but also has a history with her aunt. At the same time, if Hicks is the murderer, I could see Cora having been his first victim.
I wondered if Hicks was the father too or if Josiah is the father to all of the church’s children.
After reading your comments I am also now thinking that maybe Eliza, Noah and others are maybe the children of Josiah and maybe Darcy is the mother? Or some other abducted girl? Eliza is confirming this with the blood tests?