This month’s FYA Book Club selection is The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee. 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
Do you have a signature scent? What is it? If you don’t, what do you think it might be, and why?
Questions
1. Mim has to play matchmaker while assuming she’ll never get to experience love herself, which is the basis of a lot of teen rom coms, including classics like Some Kind of Wonderful. Did you feel it worked in this instance?
2. To fully immerse the reader in Mimosa’s world of scents, the book is peppered with references to and descriptions of smells. Did you find that these details enhanced or distracted from your reading experience?
3. What do you think about the ethics of aromateurs?
4. The family’s aromateur profession hinges on whether the women in the family can keep from falling in love. Have you—or anyone else you’ve met—been able to stop yourself from falling in love with someone else? Do you think this is a realistic conceit for a book, and if not, did you care?
5. A lot of people associate songs, sights, and smells with memories. Have you ever associated strong emotions with smells?
6. Mim’s mom is the definition of helicopter parent: she can’t date, or even take another year of math. Did you agree with Mim going along to get along, or did you want to see her rebel more? Was her rebellion, such as it was, satisfying?
7. Did you think Mim and her Mom would ever be able to have a respectful adult relationship, at least sometime in the future?
8. Aunt Bryony and Mim’s Mom Dahlia have been at odds since they were kids. Do you think Bryony’s insight into Dahlia was helpful in understanding her? Did you forgive her?
