This month’s FYA Book Club selection is The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum. 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!
Content Warning
There’s a scene of attempted sexual assault and mentions of the deaths of family members and stints in rehab in The Weight of Stars.
Icebreaker
Ryan has been obsessed with space since she was a kid, and Alexandria’s obsessed with searching for transmissions from her mother’s spacecraft. What was your childhood obsession?
Questions
1. The book’s epigraph suggests that Ryann and Alexandria were going to be romantically involved. Did knowing this affect how you viewed their interactions? Did their eventual romance feel earned?
2. What did you think of Ryann? Was her “bitch” personality realistic, given her life?
3. What about Alexandria? Would you have given up hope before she did? Was it believable for her to have continued making her recordings for as long as she did?
4. Ryann has collected a real motley crew of friends, who are all very different from each other. Did their chemistry as friends feel believable to you? Why or why not?
5. What did you think of Alexandria’s dad?
6. Roland Mark’s decision to coerce Effie into keeping her pregnancy a secret is obviously unethical. But what do you think about Effie’s role in that decision?
7. Effie’s recordings become quite bleak and dark during a portion of her journey through space, yet Ryann accepts a spot on the ship with almost no hesitation. Did that seem realistic to you, given her passion for space, or no?
8. The book brings up the topic of public vs. private space travel, which is a conversation happening right now. How are you feeling about either after reading about the “possibilities” as laid out in this book?
9. At the start, this book doesn’t seem like it’s going to veer into science fiction territory. Did the slow reveal of the book’s near-future setting affect how you felt about it?
10. The book’s format is a bit unusual. Were the short chapters and varying lengths of time effective in ushering you through the story, or did they just cause confusion?
11. Do you think Ryann and Alexandria are eventually reunited? If so, what do you think happens when they are?
