Heat of the Everflame

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of Heat of the Everflame. Which were your favorite and least favorite aspects of the novel, and why?

2. How did your experience reading Heat of the Everflame compare to your experience reading the other Kindred’s Curse Saga titles? How did this third installment in the series satisfy or disappoint your expectations, and why?

3. Compare and contrast Heat of the Everflame with other romantasy titles you’ve read. What narrative and thematic parallels do you notice between Cole’s novel and novels like Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s Accomplice to the Villain or Kate Golden’s A Dawn of Onyx?

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

1. How did you respond to the plot twist that Luther Corbois had a godstone wound? Would you have responded to this discovery in the same way as Diem Bellator? What would you have done differently, and why?

2. Diem struggles to claim her autonomy over the course of the novel. How does her ongoing self-discovery journey compare or contrast with your own coming-of-age experience?

3. Diem’s feelings for Luther vacillate throughout Heat of the Everflame. How does her conflicted regard for Luther resonate with your own romantic experiences? Which aspects of Diem’s love story are most and/or least relatable, and why?

4. Diem finds herself torn between her childhood attachment to Mortal City and her new life at the Lumnos palace. How do her questions about home and belonging resonate with your own experience? Have you ever been torn between your attachments to more than one place or community?

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

1. The battle between the Descended and the mortals is an allegory for political injustice. Explore connections between Emarion’s societal divisions and fraught history and those of the United States. How does Cole use Diem’s fantastical world to create commentary on American culture?

2. Diem is a strong-minded woman but is deeply in love with Luther. Explore how Diem’s romantic relationship complements or conflicts with her independent, feminist spirit. How does Cole use Diem’s character, experiences, and relationship to subvert stereotypes about both heterosexual love and/or female empowerment?

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

1. The novel is written from Diem’s first-person point of view. Discuss the relevance and narrative effect of this formal choice. How would the novel’s thematic explorations differ if written from an alternate point of view?

2. Identify three key symbols in the novel and discuss their significance to the novel’s themes. For example, what do images of godstone, of Sorae, or the Forgotten Lands represent and how do they deepen the novel’s subtextual commentaries?

3. Diem and her companions travel from realm to realm throughout the novel. Explore how each new setting initiates a shift in the narrative tone, mood, and/or atmosphere. How does Diem respond to each setting, and what do her interactions with these places imply about her personal evolution?

4. Heat of the Everflame explores the possible complexities of Navigating Loyalty and Betrayal During Wartime. Analyze how Emarion’s political upheaval impacts Diem’s ability to trust and relate to her friends and enemies alike. How does the novel explore the nature of trust, and how does Diem’s understanding of trust change over the narrative?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The novel ends with the Ignios King stabbing Diem. Imagine what happens next. How would you guess the subsequent title Burn of the Everflame begins? If Diem lives, how do you imagine the rest of her story unfolding? If she dies, what happens to Emarion?

2. Create a playlist that captures the evolution of Diem’s identity over the course of the novel. Choose songs that reflect significant challenges and changes Diem faces. Share your playlists and discuss your reasoning behind each chosen song.