This month’s FYA Book Club selection is Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Check out the discussion questions below! (Slight spoilers ahead.)
P.S. If you’ve already read the book, feel free to add any other discussion questions of your own in the comments!
Icebreaker
At the beginning of the book, Kady and Ezra are broken up, but through working together they grow close again. Have you ever experienced a similar relationship situation? Or is there someone you dated whom you would have liked to get back together with after you called it quits?
Questions
1. There are so many nail-biting moments in this book. What was the scariest or most intense part for you?
2. The characters use humor as a way to cope with the horrors around them. How did humor play a role in your enjoyment of the book? Did the tone work for you or did it feel like it took you out of the action?
3. We learn about Kady and Ezra through IM chats, debriefing recordings, transcripts of surveillance video, etc. Did this unique format make it easier to get into the story or harder? Which format (the chats, AIDEN’s perspective, surveillance feeds, etc.) ended up being your favorite? Least favorite?
4. Because of the format, we were rarely able to get into the characters’ heads unless it was a journal entry. Did you feel that you connected with the characters the same way you normally would reading straight prose?
5. Early on, UTA officers ask Ezra if he has a background in geology, and he replies, “I’m seventeen—of course I don’t.” But later we learn that Kady is very good with computers, so much so she’s hacking into the spaceship’s technology undetected by her government. Do you feel that Kady’s expert computer knowledge is believable?
6. After reading this book, and seeing other examples in pop culture, do you feel like artificial intelligence technology could ever be used for good? Or do you think it’ll always turn out bad, like with AIDEN?
7. We meet other side characters outside of Ezra and Kady that play significant roles on the ships. Which secondary story appealed to you the most?
8. Two authors (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff) worked together to write this book. Did you ever notice different writing styles?
9. Will you be continuing with the series when Gemina is released Oct. 18th? Do you have any predictions for the rest of the trilogy?
