49 pages • 1 hour read
Meghan QuinnSo This Is War
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “Levi”
Levi is tired during his meeting with Wood. He felt so guilty about being unkind to Wylie that he didn’t sleep. Wood reminds him to keep Wylie busy so she’ll regret taking the position. Levi silently wonders why Wood would want Wylie to be unhappy but doesn’t ask. Afterward, Levi meets up with Wylie so she can give him his smoothie. They spend a while talking more openly until they run into Wood in the hall.
Afterward, Levi’s teammates tease him about making Wylie do unnecessary tasks for him. He feels guilty but can’t explain the arrangement. During the game afterward, Levi is tense and plays poorly. He also gets into a fight with another player. After the loss, Eli texts Levi asking if he wants to talk. Levi insists he’s fine.
Back at home, Levi is surprised to find Wylie sitting on his counter. She explains she was doing some work and lost track of time. She’s still working on the placemat stain but bought him a plant. He’s disappointed the Ficus is so small. The conversation becomes intimate, and Levi can’t help thinking about what he wants to do to Wylie sexually. To control himself, he dismisses himself to the bathroom. On the way, he notices one of Wylie’s sticky notes that says the name Patty Ford. She apologizes and retreats to her apartment. Levi closes himself in his room and Googles Patty Ford, surprised to find an X-rated site. He starts masturbating while watching Patty’s videos. A text from Wood interrupts him. He wants Levi to make Wylie get more bagels. Annoyed, Levi agrees.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Wylie”
Sandie comes over, and Wylie tells her about her frustrations with Levi. She shares the bagel anecdotes and reveals that he found her Patty Ford note. They wonder if he looked her up. They talk about the Patty Wood logo contest, wherein artists can submit their own logo designs. Sandie encourages Wylie to enter, insisting Patty supports women entrepreneurs. The conversation shifts back to Levi when Sandie notices the Vermont book. When she flips through it, a printout of Wood’s email to Levi falls out. The friends exclaim at the discovery, shocked that Wood is using Levi. Wylie feels hurt that Wood set her up and wonders if Levi is in on the scheme. The friends decide that Wylie should mess with Levi as payback. Sandie encourages her to sexually arouse him so that he becomes uncomfortable.
Wylie and Levi communicate through text throughout the day. Wylie finds shortcuts for his tasks and responds happily to every assignment. When he returns home, she greets him in a skimpy outfit, wearing no bra. She leads him through the apartment showing him the work she’s done and delighting in his obvious discomfort. Levi hops in the shower to escape the situation, but per Sandie’s suggestion, Wylie barges in to grab his dirty laundry. When he emerges, she stays close, complimenting his smell and appearance. She remarks upon Levi’s jittery behavior before returning to her apartment.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Levi”
Levi lies in his room feeling tense. He wants to masturbate but doesn’t want to do so to the image of Wylie, worried he’d be unable to control himself thereafter. He plays games on his phone to distract himself. In the days following, he tries to “take out some of [his] pent-up aggression on the ice” (150). However, one night when he gets home, Wylie comes into his house in a towel. She asks to finish showering in his bathroom because she’s out of soap. He goes to his room and watches meditation videos to calm down. However, when Wylie emerges in one of his tees, he’s quickly aroused again. She sits close to him and touches his thigh, and the sexual tension overcomes Levi. Wylie admits she was the one eating his bologna sandwich at the beginning of the novel. Levi is shocked, suddenly convinced she’s the perfect girl for him.
Levi closes himself in his room, buries his face in his pillow, and screams. He then texts his friends about needing help with an emergency. He dresses to meet them at the café. He runs into Wylie in the hall and pushes past her to avoid acting on his feelings.
Levi meets with his teammates’ girlfriends, Penny, Ollie, Blakely, and Winnie. He wants their help because he’s afraid of telling his teammates about Wylie. He explains how they met, his and Wood’s setup, and his intensifying feelings for Wylie. They suggest he watch porn and masturbate to relieve the tension. They also suggest he confront Wylie about how her clothes and behavior are affecting him.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Wylie”
Levi confronts Wylie about feeling aroused in her presence. Wylie agrees to start wearing a bra when she’s around him. They make plans to ride to the arena together. Afterward, Wylie and Sandie text and agree that Wylie should start wearing a push-up bra.
Wylie meets Levi in the kitchen. Levi is immediately aroused by Wylie’s push-up bra. He texts the girlfriends about the issue, and they promise to brainstorm some ideas to help him deal with his feelings.
On the way to the arena, Wylie and Levi talk openly in the car. Wylie admits that having Wood as her dad is difficult. Levi shares stories about his upbringing and adolescence too, admitting that he didn’t lose his virginity until he was 20 and has never had a committed relationship.
After the drive, Wylie texts the girlfriends about having feelings for Wylie. In the locker room, his teammates tease him about who he’s texting. Before the game, Wylie approaches Levi about getting his suits dry-cleaned. Wood notices Wylie touching Levi’s chest. He confronts Levi afterward, demanding to know if something is going on between them. Levi promises their relationship is professional.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Wylie”
Wylie and Sandie watch the game on Levi’s television. They chat about the logo contest and Wylie’s artistic future. Wylie feels upset when the conversation shifts to her dad. She wishes he supported her and loved her unconditionally.
After Sandie leaves, Wylie tells herself she needs to do everything in her power to prove herself. When he gets home, she sneaks back up to his apartment and hears a woman’s voice through his door. She realizes he’s watching Patty Ford videos and lets herself into his room. Embarrassed, Levi rushes to cover himself. She sits next to him and talks to him about her favorite videos while touching him. Aroused, Levi almost gives in. However, he tells her to leave before anything else happens.
After Wylie leaves, Levi masturbates while thinking about Wylie. He goes down to her apartment, lets himself in, and finds Wylie masturbating. She lets him watch as she orgasms. Levi tells her she crossed a line and needs to be more professional.
The next morning, Wylie tries to decide what to do. Wood’s call interrupts her thoughts. He accuses her of being too intimate with Levi and reminds her she’ll lose her job if she gets involved with his players. Wylie assures him she and Levi aren’t involved. Off the phone, Wylie stifles her tears. She fears she’s going to mess everything up and tells herself she needs to stop toying with Levi and focus on her goals. In the kitchen, she dismisses Levi’s comments about the night before and redirects the conversation to work.
On the flight to his away game, Levi takes out a typed copy of the Vermont book. He’s shocked to discover that she typed one paragraph and pasted it repeatedly throughout the bound pages. He texts his girlfriends about the issue. They suggest that Wylie is on to his and Wood’s setup and is messing with him. They urge him to mess with her as payback, suggesting that he try investing in her life and then seduce her.
Wylie tries to focus on her Patty Ford logo after Levi leaves. Meanwhile, she worries about going too far with Levi and upsetting her dad. Levi calls to say he emailed her a massage voucher as a thank you for her hard work. They talk openly, and Wylie realizes they might mutually care for each other. The conversation turns to sex. Wylie asks if Levi will see anyone while he’s away. He admits he usually likes meeting women at sex clubs, which excites Wylie.
Chapters 6-10 Analysis
The longer that Levi and Wylie work together, the more tense their dynamic becomes. Because of their mutual attraction, Levi and Wylie have difficulty maintaining a professional relationship while navigating their developing romantic and sexual feelings. The events of Chapters 6 through 10 raise the stakes of their working relationship because Wylie discovers the truth about why Levi has hired her as his assistant. The printout of Wood’s email to Levi acts as a narrative device that awakens Wylie to the truth of her circumstances and spurs her character toward action and change. Finding the email also introduces the theme of Identity and Self-Discovery Through Love.
At this juncture of the novel, Wylie is determined to establish herself as an artist and to prove herself a capable adult to her father. The email reveals that her dad isn’t “giving [her] a chance to prove to him that [she] can handle this” and is in fact “trying to make [her] fail” (131). This discovery makes Wylie feel disempowered and inspires her to manipulate Levi to get back at her dad. These dynamics complicate the balance of power between Wylie and Levi, as Wylie tries to seize back her agency to prove who she is personally and professionally.
Wylie’s desire to pursue her artistic aspirations provides background for her ongoing personal journey. In the narrative present, Wylie’s new job and living situation with Levi consume most of her time and focus. However, the arrangement gains new meaning when she learns that her father is using her as “his puppet” and the “leading player in his game” (133). Wylie is particularly upset because she wishes her dad would trust her “to make smart decisions for [her] life” and would take her artistic dreams seriously (133). While she does toy with Levi to get back at him and her father for using her, she also cultivates her artistic practice in the meantime. The repeated allusions to and descriptions of Wylie’s work on the Patty Ford logo competition are symbolic of her personal goals. Drawing is an extension of Wylie’s authentic self and thus the primary way that she expresses herself. Therefore, she tries to return her focus to the competition amid her complex dynamic with Levi because she doesn’t want to lose sight of who she is and what she wants.
In the latter sequences of Chapter 10, Wylie’s phone conversation with her dad ushers her toward change, as it inspires her to exercise her agency and prioritize her life needs. She understands that although her dad “may never be proud of [her],” she can still “be proud of [her]self” (209). She not only works more actively on her logo drawing but tries to prove herself to Levi by working hard at her job and exceeding his expectations. These actions prove that Wylie is a dynamic character eager for and capable of change. She still has feelings for Levi and is still upset with her father, but she wants to hold these relationships in balance with her aspirations and needs.
Meanwhile, Levi’s relationships with his female friends capture Levi’s desire to find a Balance Between Personal and Professional Life. Being around Wylie becomes especially difficult for him after Wylie starts sexually toying with him. However, Levi doesn’t want to cross the line in their relationship and offend her or upset his coach. He therefore goes to his teammates’ significant others for advice. Their texting conversations and in-person interactions throughout Chapters 6 through 10 develop Levi as a character. Quinn reveals his insecurities about trusting the women in his life to help him. Levi’s conversations with his friends reveal his emotional complexity and his attempts to navigate a strict interpersonal dynamic between him, Wylie, and Coach Wood.
Protecting his relationship with Wood and, by extension, his position on the team demonstrates how important the team is to him, but it also shows the intensity of Wylie’s sway over him, as his attraction to her threatens the most important activity in his life. Throughout the excerpt, his and Wylie’s boundaries become increasingly blurred, which captures the intense power dynamic and physical attraction between the characters. The sexually explicit scenes of the characters pleasuring themselves or thinking about one another’s bodies illustrate the raw magnetism between the protagonists and intensify the forbidden nature of their burgeoning romance.
