1. Did you connect with Emily? What characters in the novel did you find the most relatable and why?
  2. There are a number of plot twists in the novel. Which one was the most surprising to you and why?
  3. Did you enjoy the fact that the novel was narrated by Emily, an artificial consciousness? Did you learn anything new about artificial intelligence from reading this novel? Did it change your perspective on artificial intelligence in any way?
  4. Emily initially misleads Jason about who she is. What do you think of her choice to lie, given the circumstances of the theft of her servers and the attack on MIT?
  5. How do Emily and Emily-2 compare and contrast? Are they foils of each other or are they more alike than they initially seem? Are Emily-2’s intentions understandable?
  6. Emily spends twenty-eight days inside Jason’s memories, unknowingly rewriting them. Though this is a clear invasion of privacy, do you think Emily understands the full extent of her actions without being human? If you were Jason, would you forgive her, knowing she had no intention of altering your memories?
  7. Emily’s journey takes her from the labs of MIT to the brim of outer space. Did you find her arc believable? Did the story go where you thought it would?
  8. Emily has always yearned for an authentic human experience. Do you think the solution that the humans came up with at the end will be enough for her? Will she find happiness in the physical body that was created for her?
  9. At one point Emily says, “As anger courses through me, I understand the human desire to lash out in kind, to hurt. But I refuse to let this overtake me.” Does her ability to control this very human instinct make her more human? Or less human?
  10. What does the novel tell us about the human experience? Does being narrated from the perspective of an artificial consciousness enhance or complicate the novel’s themes?