The novel vividly describes the dreary or squalid interiors of several locations—the cabins, Daniel’s home, the motel, and so on. Why this emphasis on the “insides” of buildings? How does this portrayal of interiors relate to the internal lives of the novel’s characters?

The novel employs multiple red herrings to sustain suspense. Compare the narrative roles of Elliott Gray and Daniel Clarke as primary suspects. How does Courtney’s perception shape the reader’s suspicion of each man, and what does the resolution of their respective storylines reveal about the nature of fear and misjudgment?

What evidence is there that the members of the Crane and Gray families love one another and have positive intentions toward one another? What gets in the way of their expression of these feelings and intentions?

How does the final revelation about Detective Josh Evans’s past reframe his actions throughout the investigation to serve as a commentary on the corruptibility of power and the nature of justice?

What draws Mae’s attention to the missing poster for Kylie in the first place? How do these earliest moments of her interaction with the poster reflect the dynamics of her family and her relationship with Reese? How does your answer connect to the story’s larger meaning?

What are some of the stereotypical signifiers of happy childhoods that the novel appropriates and inverts (like the baseball bat, family vacations, and so on)? What thematic ideas are supported by this inversion?

It’s Not Her draws on conventions of the domestic thriller genre. How does Kubica use the dual perspectives of Courtney, an adult outsider, and Reese, a teenage insider, to create a multi-layered exploration of family secrets that both fulfills and complicates genre expectations?

Analyze the character of Reese Crane as a product of her environment. How do her diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her desperate need for external validation make her vulnerable to the dangers she encounters at the resort?