Expiration Dates

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

1. Have you ever found yourself compartmentalizing aspects of your life into “boxes” like Daphne does with her notes and medical records?

2. Daphne’s father tells her, “We are all dying. Every day. And at some point it becomes a choice. Which one are you going to do today? Are you living or are you dying?” (237). When have you faced moments that forced you to make this distinction in your own life?

3. When has being vulnerable led to deeper connections in your own relationships, despite the risks Daphne fears throughout much of the novel?

4. Irina says that “love is not enough” for a lasting relationship (196). How does this statement reflect your own point of view on the topic? What experiences have shaped your perspective?

5. Which character’s approach to love and relationships most closely resembles your own, and why?

6. In what situations have you found yourself choosing the safety of resignation over the uncertainty of choice, similar to Daphne’s reliance on the notes?

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

1. The novel portrays Daphne’s experience living with a chronic heart condition. What insights does this provide about the challenges faced by people with invisible disabilities in society?

2. In what ways does the Los Angeles setting, particularly the entertainment industry backdrop, shape the characters’ perspectives on love, relationships, and personal narrative?

3. Daphne compares her relationships to idealized romances portrayed in movies. What does this reflection on “movie love” versus reality reveal about broader cultural expectations surrounding romantic relationships?

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

1. What purpose does the alternating timeline structure serve in developing the novel’s themes and Daphne’s character?

2. The boxes Daphne keeps under her bed symbolize her compartmentalization. What other symbolic elements enhance the novel’s exploration of vulnerability and choice?

3. Compare and contrast Jake and Hugo as foil characters. What does each reveal about different aspects of love and relationship dynamics?

4. In what ways does the magical realism element of the notes function differently than in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude or Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore?

5. Analyze how Daphne’s understanding of truth versus story evolves from the beginning to the end of the novel. What moments mark significant shifts in her perspective?

6. What role does Daphne’s heart condition play symbolically, particularly in relation to the themes of vulnerability and mortality?