Reader Discussion Questions

1. How might Kelsey and Jared’s intense relationship compare to relationships you've had in your own life?
   
   
2. Have you ever met someone who felt connected to you in a bigger way, as Jared and Kelsey experienced in both youth and adulthood? Perhaps as if you had met before, or had simply "clicked" on a much deeper level than you normally did with others?
   
   
3. Do you think you could have made the same sacrifice that Marco did for Kelsey and Jared? How would you have ultimately acted, especially if you confronted the deadly and destructive consequences your own actions had brought about?
   
   
4. How did the writing style contribute to the story overall? Did you feel the more descriptive narrative was an asset or would you have preferred a more spare style?
   
   
5. Talk about the setting: Is this a place in which you could envision yourself living? What would you like most about such a rugged climate?
   
   
6. How did the use of Refarian language amplify the story and its characters?
   
   
7. What meant more to you: the action plot or the two main characters, Kelsey and Jared?
   
   
8. What was your favorite scene? Why?
   
   
9. How would you react if you were in Kelsey’s situation, both in her teens and later as an adult? How would you explain Jared—and his war—to your closest family members?
   
   
10. Over the course of the book, did you find Thea Haven increasingly sympathetic as a character, even though she'd begun as something of antagonist? Did her memory of first meeting Jared as a young girl back on Refaria give you a different insight into her as a person?
    
    
11. After witnessing Thea’s behavior toward Jared and Kelsey, could you ever consider her a redeemable character? What insights into her emotions and history from this book could contribute to her likeability in future books?
    
    
12. Around the globe, many wars are currently waging. What about Jared's own war mirrors things we witness and experience in the real world?