Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of One & Only. What were your favorite and least favorite aspects of the novel, and why?

2. Compare One & Only to Goo’s previous titles. How does her adult debut diverge from or converse with past titles like I Believe in a Thing Called Love or Somewhere Only We Know?

3. Compare and contrast Goo’s take on contemporary romance to other works of contemporary romantic fiction. What stylistic, narrative, or thematic parallels do you notice between One & Only and titles like Anabel Monaghan’s Dolly all the Time or Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts?

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

1. How did you respond to Cassia Park’s decision to dump Ellis for Daniel Nam? Have you ever had to make a similarly difficult choice between two love interests? How did you handle the conflict, and how did it end?

2. Discuss Cassia’s concept of destiny and fate. How do your own ideas about destiny compare with hers, and why?

3. Cassia is a member of a tight-knit family. How do her experiences of family align with or diverge from your own? Have you ever found yourself making decisions that conflicted with your family’s priorities? How did you handle the situation?

4. Discuss how Cassia’s relationship with Marcella impacts her story and evolution. How does their relationship resonate with your own close friendships? Which aspects were least or most believable?

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

1. Goo’s novel both embraces and challenges the parameters of the romantic fiction genre. How does Cassia’s ultimate stance on fate relate to norms or ideas disseminated in contemporary romance? How might Cassia’s evolved concept of destiny reflect Goo’s subversive approach to the romance genre?

2. Examine Cassia’s cultural origins and how they relate to her sense of self. How does Goo represent the Korean diaspora, and how much of this experience relates to Cassia’s story? Is Cassia’s resistance to her fated also a resistance to her ancestral roots? Why or why not?

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

1. Analyze the novel’s point of view. How does Cassia’s first-person narration provide insight into her character and emotional experience? How would her character arc resonate differently if written from the third-person limited point of view?

2. Compare and contrast Ellis’s and Daniel Nam’s characters. Is one man categorically “better” than the other? Why or why not? How do they impact Cassia differently, and what is the significance of these differences?

3. Explore how micro and macro settings impact the overarching narrative mood. What is the atmosphere of places like Los Angeles, One & Only Matchmaking, Cassia’s home, or Frogtown River Park? How do these settings influence the characters in different ways, and why?

4. Had you encountered red thread as a symbol of fate prior to reading this novel? How does Goo tweak the symbolism to suit her particular depiction of destiny?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you are adapting One & Only into a film. Whom would you cast in the leading roles? Which artists would you include on the soundtrack? Which scenes would you add, alter, or omit to make the adaptation your own?

2. Imagine that, like Cassia, you have the power to read people’s faces and enter their past lives. Would you use this power despite your promise not to, and in what contexts? How would face-reading help you navigate the world differently than you do now?