City of Gods and Monsters

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Which of the protagonists do you connect with more, Loren or Darien? Why?

2. Did you feel that Loren and Darien are well-suited for one another? Why or why not?

3. How do you compare the world-building in City of Gods and Monsters with other urban fantasy romance titles like House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas or the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Loren and Darien both worry over how their births and origins affect them. Do you feel that your parentage determines your sense of self?

2. Have you ever, like Loren, been part of a community where you feel like an outsider? How did you manage that? Did you ever find your place in this community?

3. Darien seeks to banish his Surges by fighting or using substances. Have you ever felt that a vice helped you to manage emotional turmoil? How did that experience affect you?

4. Do you find the idea of living in a city like Angelthene exciting or foreboding? Would you live in a supernatural city if you could? Why or why not?

5. If you could turn back time, like Loren does at the end of the novel, what would you rewrite? What changes would you make?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Humans are lower-class citizens in Angelthene. Did you see the treatment of humans in the novel as commenting on any specific current social issue? Which issue? How do they overlap?

2. Do you feel that someone with high power in a society (like Darien) can truly connect with someone with lower power in a society (like Loren)? What fosters that understanding? What stands in the way of that understanding?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novel is organized into five parts. Did the distinct parts have a different feel or narrative purpose? Did you note the change in parts as something that felt important to your reading experience? Why or why not?

2. What did the non-protagonist Devils contribute to the novel? How do you feel that these characters reveal something about the protagonists or their romance?

3. How did the journey out of the city that Darien and Loren take affect the way you understand Angelthene as a setting? How does moving away from a setting help you understand that setting better?

4. What does Singer represent in the novel, and how does his relationship with Loren and Darien illuminate ideas of loyalty, sacrifice, and the boundary between mortality and immortality? Consider how Singer’s death and resurrection function symbolically within the novel’s moral framework.

5. How does the novel frame siblings as a source of support for one another? How is that presented as different than friendship? How does that support overlap with friendship?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you could be one of the supernatural creatures in City of Gods and Monsters, what kind of creature would you be? Why?

2. What do you think will happen in the sequel to the novel? What hints at the end of the book—specifically the Epilogue—lead you to these predictions?