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What did you all think about Margo's revenge? In the context of the story, I thought it was amazing and incredibly funny.

However, the more I think about it, I wonder if she took things too far with all of the vandalizing, and breaking and entering. What do you all think? Did the characters she took revenge on get what they deserved?

I have been thinking about Margo's final goodbye to her home town and how she handled it. I think everyone got what they deserved except Lacey who was an innocent victim. She didn't know about the cheating. Margo just assumed she did.

Margo had to, in a sense, burn her bridges as thoroughly as possible. Otherwise she would risk allowing herself to go back once she ran away.

I get why Margo wanted to get Jason and Becca. But Lacey? Yes, she lets Margo feel bad about herself sometimes. But we all have friends like these. And we don't go out of our way to teach them a few lessons. This is one of the reasons I didn't like Margo very much. She just came across too wicked and selfish for my taste.

I agree with Leon that Margo was incredibly selfish. I think some of that comes with being a teenager. You're at an age where you think you know what everyone else is thinking. You're experiencing a little bit of paranoia, and you tend to take things to the extreme. I liked Margo's revenge scheme in the sense that I would love to exact a fairly non-threatening but message-sending revenge on some people sometimes, but I didn't like it in that I realize life doesn't always go the way you want it, so sometimes you have to suck it up and deal with it.

I think Margo's actions are mostly childish. Instead of expressing her hurt feelings in constructive ways that might promote relationships and facilitate healing, she chose to take revenge. It's good that she chose a mostly harmless way to get her point across, but a more mature response might have been to write a letter along the lines of "I felt ___ when you ___." She assumes that she fully understands everyone else and that everyone else also understands her. One of the things I like best about this book is how it shows people taking themselves too seriously and getting so caught up in their own dramas that they forget everyone else.

I agree that Margo is selfish, but this does not make me hate her. I actually really enjoy her character. I think she has to demolish everything in order to leave the people and the place behind her.

Jesska6029 wrote:I agree that Margo is selfish, but this does not make me hate her. I actually really enjoy her character. I think she has to demolish everything in order to leave the people and the place behind her.

Jesska6029 that is exactly what I was saying. She needed to burn her relationship to her home town down to ashes. I did enjoy her character as well. She is selfish and flawed but that is what makes her a 3-D character and not just Quentin's obsession.

I can also relate to Margo. I was afraid of losing my friends my senior year of H.S. Instead of being an adult about it I rejected my friends, pushed them away and concentrated only on people I knew were going to the same college I was. I regret it. I know it was selfish and wrong but, it was the only way I could think at the time to navigate the hurt of leaving.

I understood Margot's revenge on all of the people she chose, except Lacey. Although at the time, she thought Lacey was aware of Jason's betrayal and didn't tell her. Instead of talking to her friend, she decided to include her in her as one of the people she wanted revenge on. Of course, she justified that by saying Lacey has made her feel bad about herself.

I really could not help but find Margot off-putting. I found her interaction with Quintin to be self-serving. She made it seems as if she was doing him a favor by including him, but I think it was an attempt to see him one last time in the way she'd imagined in her story.

@Deee I agree that it seemed like she was doing Quentin a favor by including him. Towards the end of the night it seemed like Quentin went from being a reluctant contributor to being initiated (spray painted blue fingers touching) and accepted into club Margo. He even surpassed her expectations and surprised her. I do think it was weak that she justified bringing him along by saying she was liberating him and thought he would thank her for it.

It's kind of a classic miscommunication. Margo thought Quentin understood her intent without explanation because it is so obvious to her. I found that part of the book extremely frustrating. Margo and Quentin could not figure each other out because they lacked the ability to see outside of themselves.

Deee wrote:I understood Margot's revenge on all of the people she chose, except Lacey. Although at the time, she thought Lacey was aware of Jason's betrayal and didn't tell her. Instead of talking to her friend, she decided to include her in her as one of the people she wanted revenge on. Of course, she justified that by saying Lacey has made her feel bad about herself.

I really could not help but find Margot off-putting. I found her interaction with Quintin to be self-serving. She made it seems as if she was doing him a favor by including him, but I think it was an attempt to see him one last time in the way she'd imagined in her story.

I agree with you that Margo acted like she was doing Quentin a favor, but it was really self-serving. I thought Margo was self-centered and childish.

I understood and enjoyed Margo's revenge on Jason. I thought that was really funny and clever; however, I think she went a bit too far with the whole spray painting thing...I thought that was unnecessary. Her putting the fish in the closet and cars was extreme enough. Not to mention, clubbing Jason's steering wheel, taking his clothes, putting the fish in the car and leaving him outside naked. I also liked that she woke up her friends parents so they were caught in the act. Clever!!!

Allowing Quentin to get revenge on Chuck Parsons was kind of sweet. I think Q deserved some vindication and Chuck got what was coming to him. I think that gained Q respect from Chuck because after that, they never had another incident. Also, Q was able to stand up to Jason when he sent that e-mail to repay those freshmen for what he'd done to them. Classic case of blackmail that actually worked. I think that also gave Q that last bit of confidence.

Although Margo was initially selfish, Q learned quite a bit from her. He learned how to stand up for himself, do things that weren't expected, explore and find himself and who he wanted to be as a person. Non-conformity has it's perks.

I find Margo's revenge fun to read but something I wouldn't do in real life. I think that Jase and Becca got what they deserve. I thin that the author was staying true to Margo's character of being harsh and impulsive when Lacey also got a taste of her wrath. Chuck deserves it as well, for Quentin's sake?

I thought is was too much at times and that whole revenge romp went on too long.

I definitely felt that Margo's revenge was just a tad bit excessive. While I do understand that she felt the need to burn bridges in order to stop herself from wanting to come back, I didn't see why she needed to do it in such an extreme way since she didn't really feel a true connection with anybody. That's what made her wan to leave town in the first place. I also didn't think that lacy really deserved what Margo did to her, she was the closest thing to a real friend that Margo had in town.

However, while it may have been excessive it was also very fun to read about. The outlandishness is what made it interesting, and it served its purpose in reconnecting Quentin and Margo before she left town.

I loved Margo's revenge. It was very well thought out. Maybe she was very vindictive and selfish but can anybody really say they've never had an experience where they wanted revenge. I've have several experiences in my life where I would have loved to get some revenge like that. Where I was too caution to do something like that, Margo wasn't! She went into it full force, with no doubt and no regret. She was a very selfish person but she was strong and showed everybody she wasn't one to be messed with. I was torn with the revenge on Lacey. She didn't know about the cheating but her constant comments that put Margo down were wrong. A real friend doesn't make you feel bad about yourself. So in the end I understand where Margo was coming from.