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To what audience would you recommend All Her Beautiful Deaths? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
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6
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55
|
September 27, 2026
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Did the book have an overriding "message"? If so, what was it?
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5
|
48
|
September 27, 2026
|
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How has James changed by the end of the book? How has Allison changed?
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5
|
44
|
September 26, 2026
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Prisons are often depicted in movies and novels with savagely violent inmates, abusive guards, and corrupt prison officials. The two prisons depicted in this novel are much less dysfunctional. Do you feel this book painted a more truthful depiction?
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6
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39
|
September 26, 2026
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Princess Tullia has one brown eye and the other blue. Why do you suppose the author chose to depict her this way? Why do you think Anatole attributes different emotions or feelings to Tullia's brown eye versus her blue eye?
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9
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69
|
September 26, 2026
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Does Anatole's experimentation on a prisoner seem ethical? If not, why do you think we root for him anyway? Does it make a difference that Pito agreed to them if it will help Tullia? How do these actions make us feel about him as a character?
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5
|
41
|
September 26, 2026
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Anatole drank a potion that enabled him to live forever. If offered such a potion, would you drink it? Why or why not?
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21
|
151
|
September 26, 2026
|
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When Pito is facing impending execution and Anatole tells Pito he's there to help him, why do you think Pito cuts him off, rejecting "false hope" (p. 32)?
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7
|
58
|
September 26, 2026
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When Anatole first asks Pito if he's in love with Tullia, his answer is, "How could I be?" The second time he's asked, he says, "How could I not be?” (p. 33). Are these answers contradictory? What does Pito mean?
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11
|
70
|
September 26, 2026
|
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What scene(s) will remain the longest and the most vivid in your memory?
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8
|
61
|
September 26, 2026
|
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Allison plans a prison escape which would seem out of character to most who knows her. James acts out of character when he shoots Black Snake. Do you feel these actions are uncharacteristic, or do they align with what you know about Allison & James?
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6
|
44
|
September 25, 2026
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Our inborn character starts us on a path that is evident when we are young, but outside forces can divert us from our inborn destiny. What are the crucial moments at which external forces alter the course of the lives of Allison and James?
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3
|
28
|
September 25, 2026
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Did any of the scenes move you to tears? To outrage?
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|
12
|
77
|
September 25, 2026
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Overall, what did you think of The Magician of Tiger Castle? (No spoilers in this topic, please.)
|
|
30
|
218
|
September 21, 2026
|
|
Anatole sees himself as a dignified, brilliant, and much underappreciated magician/physician/scientist. How much of that is true, and how much is self-delusion and boastfulness?
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6
|
53
|
September 19, 2026
|
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When Effie first arrives back at the hut, what did you guess happened there?
|
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9
|
83
|
September 18, 2026
|
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What does Anya do that surprised you or that, by adult standards, felt illogical?
|
|
10
|
89
|
September 18, 2026
|
|
Do you think Effie will stay in New Zealand or return to Scotland? Why?
|
|
21
|
156
|
September 18, 2026
|
|
Did your feelings toward Effie's father change over the course of the book, and if so, how?
|
|
11
|
90
|
September 18, 2026
|
|
Overall, what did you think of The Vanishing Place? (No spoilers in this topic, please.)
|
|
35
|
280
|
September 18, 2026
|
|
Why do you think the author chose to begin adult Effie’s story stranded on a Scottish mountain? What does this scene illustrate about her character?
|
|
14
|
109
|
September 18, 2026
|
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Effie and Lewis are still drawn to each other after years apart. In your own experience, is first love stronger than more mature love?
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|
17
|
142
|
September 18, 2026
|
|
Did the descriptions of the bush make you want to go there or scare you off?
|
|
28
|
199
|
September 17, 2026
|
|
What did you think of the book’s ending? What do you think the future holds for Tullia and Pito?
|
|
9
|
65
|
September 15, 2026
|
|
Overall, what did you think of The Cloak and Dagger Club? (No spoilers in this topic, please.)
|
|
38
|
262
|
September 17, 2026
|
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The book opens with Anatole in the present day, but most of the book takes place five hundred years in the past. Why do you think the author included the first chapter? What does it convey that would be lost if the novel just began with chapter 2?
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|
8
|
56
|
September 12, 2026
|
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Anatole, Tullia, and Pito spend some time in a monastery. What do you think of the abbot's assertion that it is only through an ordinary and dull routine that true enlightenment can be achieved?
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9
|
73
|
September 12, 2026
|
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At one point in the monastery, Tullia tells Anatole that she fears Pito has fallen in love with her (p. 227). Has he? Or is it wishful thinking on her part? When do you think Pito and Tullia truly developed feelings again for each other?
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|
5
|
39
|
September 12, 2026
|
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After escaping the castle, Pito and Tullia ask Anatole what his experiments were about. He lies to them, saying he was working on a treatment for the Blue Death. Why doesn’t he tell them the truth? What would have occurred if he’d been honest with them?
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|
4
|
29
|
September 11, 2026
|
|
Why couldn't Anatole tell Tullia about the memory potion? If he could have told her, do you think she would have agreed to it?
|
|
3
|
36
|
September 11, 2026
|