NCantonLibrary Chat discussion

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1. Why do you think the author chose five characters to narrate, rather than other characters such as Atlas, Cord, or Mariel?

2. Thinking about her history with Atlas, Leda says that the longer she kept the secret to herself more of a secret it became. Do you think this is a universal truth of secrets, that they become more powerful the longer you keep them?

3. When we first meet Eris, she’s stealing her mom’s earrings and running late to a party where she kisses Cord in a closet. Three months later, she’s “not in the mood” for a party, and running after Rylin on Cord’s behalf. How does Eris change over the course of the novel?

4. Rylin and Cord come from very different backgrounds, but they both lost their parents. What do you think caused them to fall for each other in spite of their differences?

5. Hyperloop trains, hoverboards, and computerized contact lenses. What do you think the author is trying to say about society’s reliance on technology?

6. Watt guesses a girl’s drink at the bar and is accused of cheating somehow. Later, Nadia helps him fill in the answers to a history test at school. Do you think that the way Watt uses Nadia qualifies as cheating? If you could install a quantum computer in your head, would you?

7. Dreams recur throughout the novel. Eris uses a machine called the Dreamweaver to choose precisely what she will dream about. If you could select your dreams, what would you choose to dream about?

8. Do you think Leda is to blame for the events at the end of the novel, or is she the victim of terrible circumstances?

9. What do you think will happen to all of the characters in the next book (The Dazzling Heights) ?