Reading Sisters of the Perilous Heart with a book club? Here are some questions to get your discussion started!

1.      Carina starts her adventure with a simple goal: steal a bottle of sassafras beer. How do her goals change by the end of the book?

2.      Vivian starts her adventure believing that she is about to take her last breath. How does the Immortality Virus affect her as the story unfolds?

3.      Both Carina and Vivian are traveling with family. Compare the relationship Carina has with her sister to the relationship Vivian has with her brothers. How do the families show affection? Love? Jealousy? Other emotions?

4.      Both Carina and Vivian have a love interest in this book. Who did you trust more: Max or Brandon? Which “ship” did you like better? Why? Did you ship either Carina or Vivian with someone else?

5.      Carina thinks her sister, Miguela, hates everything that makes her happy. Miguela says she only hates two things that make Carina happy: magic and Max. Why does Miguela feel this way? Are her feelings justified?

6.     Vivian initially describes her brother, Bast, as “brilliant, calculating, confident, cruel at times—the family prodigy without any doubt.” She says Nate is “hot-headed, clumsy, impulsive, dull. A general disappointment.” To what extent do you see these qualities in the brothers? Do they change throughout the book?

7.      Several characters in the book have thermodynamic magic. Suppose you had that kind of magic. Would you tend hot or cold? Why?

8.     The characters also have telekinesis and telesthesia abilities. If you could have magic like that, what kind would you want? Why?

9.     Carina and Vivian both have strong female role models. Compare Sister Agda to Queen Constance. How are they alike? How are they different? How have they influenced Carina and Vivian?

10.  Vivian can see connections between people as colors. Think of: (1) someone you’re close to; (2) someone you wish you knew better; and (3) someone you don’t like. What colors do you think your relationships would be if you could see those connections in color?

11.    Carina struggles to learn how to use her telekinetic magic, but Vivian teaches her a valuable magic lesson: you can’t control the object you’re trying to move. However, if you change yourself, you give the object something new to react to, and its behavior may change. How does this magic lesson apply to real life?

12.   Captain Thurlow tells Vivian that everyone keeps secrets from their family sometimes. Who was keeping a secret in this book? Who were they keeping it from? Was it a good secret to keep or a bad one?

13.   There are three times in this book when Vivian uses her magic to try to protect her brothers. Why does she do it? How do they feel about her doing it?

14.   There are several times in this book when Carina uses magic and it puts her or her sister in danger. What good choices does she make? Bad choices?

15.   Carina and Vivian go through low points and high points in this book. What are their lowest lows? Their highest highs? How do they handle the lows and highs differently?

16.  There are a lot of reasons for the characters in this book to be afraid. How do the various characters handle their fears and prevent fear from taking over their lives? When you’re afraid, how do you face your fears?

17.   The Mortal Commitments are a set of moral standards to which the Mortal Keplerians are committed. If you were migrating to a new planet with some other humans, what standards would you want your group to live by?

18.  Now that you’ve read this book, what do you think will happen to the characters in the next book?