Pictures of You

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What were some of your favorite moments of the book? Who was your favorite character? What made you most like or identify with them?

2. What were the moments that made you most scared for Evie? Where did you really start to worry for her?

3. How do the themes of this book compare to those in Grey’s previous novel, The Last Love Note? Do you see any similarities between the central characters and their struggles?

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

1. What were the incidents or associations that made you Team Drew? How early did you start wanting Drew and Evie to get together?

2. Why do you think Evie stayed with Oliver? Have you had experience with someone gaslighting, manipulating, or trying to control you?

3. What did you think of the alternating timelines? Why do you think Grey chose this approach instead of a straightforward chronology?

4. Did you find Evie’s amnesia convincing? Are there experiences in your life that you wish you could forget? How might you live your life differently if you could, as Evie once says, draw a line in the sand and start fresh?

5. What did you think about the subplot with Anderson Roche and Evie’s foray into forensic linguistics? What professional, academic, or other interests contribute to making you who you are? How have these interests helped you in practical ways?

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

1. Grey suggests in the Author’s Note (407) that she has drawn on her daughter Hannah’s doctoral research into coercive control among romantic partners to inform the book. What about the portrayal of Oliver’s manipulation did you find most realistic or convincing?

2. What is your reaction to the use of period dramas and contemporary rom-coms to explain Evie’s personality and preferences? Do you think Grey is making a comment in any way on the power of literature and film to impact our perceptions and expectations of romantic love?

3. Grey’s book fits with a theme of “do-overs” in literature, where characters get to relive their lives or change events from their past. How would you compare this novel to “do-over” books with more philosophical overtones, like The Midnight Library by Matt Haig or Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, or those that take a more humorous approach, like The Do-Over by Lynn Painter or The Switch by Beth O’Leary?

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

1. How do the flashbacks help construct the dramatic arc? Where did you find the novel most effective in its use of flashback to solve a mystery or help an emotional moment to resonate?

2. Discuss how Drew and Oliver are not just rivals but foils or opposites of one another. In what key ways are they alike?

3. What do the settings of Sydney and Adelaide add to the book’s plot, tone, or atmosphere?

4. What do you make of the novel’s argument about the fundamental aspects of personality and identity? Do you see the novel upholding Evie’s suggestion that a life is the sum of our experiences?

5. What symbolism does the bioluminescence hold for Drew and Evie? Do you see this symbolism changing between timelines?

6. What role does Harriet play in the book? How does she, in some ways, become the linchpin (346), as Evie says?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Write an artist’s statement for a Pictures of You exhibit that Evie has compiled of Drew, based on your favorite scenes from the book.

2. Write a scene where 29-year-old Evie, knowing what she knows by the end of the book, is cast back into her 16-year-old body (the opposite of 13 Going on 30). How do you think she would handle her first meeting with Oliver?

3. Write a bonus epilogue in your genre of choice (horror, parody, Gothic, or the like) portraying Annie coming back as a ghost to haunt Anderson for his crimes.

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