1. What secrets did you suspect the Dollhouse Academy was hiding? Were you surprised when the sinister truth was revealed?

2. At one point, Ivy says, “It’s more interesting when you don’t know who the good guys and the bad guys are because everyone’s a little good and a little bad” (p. 44). Do you agree? What characters in the novel does this apply to, and in what ways?

3. How did Ramona’s, Grace’s and Ivy’s early lives inform their decisions to become performers?

4. Interspersed with Ramona’s first-person narration are excerpts from Ivy’s diary. What is the effect of reading Ivy’s story in her own words? Do you think Ivy should have told her story sooner, especially to Ramona?

5. Who did you suspect was sending Ramona the anonymous notes and why? Were you surprised by the reveal?

6. How does Ramona’s experience at the Dollhouse echo Ivy’s early years, and how does it differ? Why do you think Ramona is so drawn to Ivy’s story long before meeting her at the Dollhouse?

7. Discuss the following quote and how it relates to the story: “A granted wish doesn’t always look like you expect it will” (p. 259).

8. How do the live-action movie trailers Grace and Ramona perform (The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs, Jaws, Taxi Driver, The Shining) serve to foreshadow or echo themes in the story?

9. Do you think Genevieve truly has the trainees’ best intentions at heart? Why or why not? In what ways are Genevieve and the Dollhouse Academy/Dahlen Entertainment progressive?

10. Which Wizard of Oz references did you pick up on? Discuss the significance of the other Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli references throughout the book.

11. How does the novel’s theme of replacing people extend from Project Understudy to other aspects of Ramona’s life?

12. Discuss the varying opinions in the story around plastic surgery. Whose stance do you agree with the most and why?

13. What do you believe actually happened to Timothy? What about Ivy?

14. What do you think the future holds for Tia, Jude and Dion? Why do you think they decided to stay at the Dollhouse knowing what they do about the Dollhouse’s darker side?

15. Do you think Ramona and Grace will be able to get Ivy’s story out to the wider world? How?