Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What was your overall impression of the novel’s authenticity, knowing the author was a career CIA officer? Did the detailed descriptions of tradecraft, like surveillance detection routes and “spy dust,” enhance your reading experience or feel overwhelming?

2. Red Sparrow is often compared to classic espionage fiction, such as John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. How do you feel this book fits within the spy thriller genre? Are there ways in which you found it diverging from the genre?

3. The relationship between Dominika and Nate is a complex mix of professional manipulation, genuine attraction, and shared trauma. How did you react to their evolving dynamic? Did you find their connection believable?

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

1. Dominika’s synesthesia gives her an intuitive way of “reading” people through colored auras. Have you ever had a strong gut feeling about a person or situation that turned out to be correct? How does her special ability reflect the ways we all try to look past the surface to understand true intentions?

2. Nate Nash’s motivation for joining the CIA stems partly from a personal need to prove himself and forge his own identity. How do you see the characters’ personal ambitions intersecting with their professional duties? Have you ever felt a similar tension between what you want for yourself and what your job demands of you?

3. Marty Gable tells Nate that you can’t mature as an operative until you’ve failed in a big way. Do you agree with the idea that significant setbacks are essential for growth? How have moments of failure, in your own life or in the lives of the characters, shaped future success or perspective?

4. General Korchnoi becomes a mentor to Dominika, forming an alliance based on a shared, quiet disillusionment with the SVR. Think about a mentor who has been important in your life. What qualities made that relationship so powerful and effective?

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

1. The book is set against the backdrop of a “New Cold War” and a resurgent Russia under Putin. How does the novel’s portrayal of the SVR and Russian intelligence tactics reflect or shape your understanding of contemporary geopolitics?

2. Vanya Egorov manipulates Dominika by appealing to her loyalty to Russia. In what ways do you see modern institutions or governments use appeals to patriotism or duty to influence individuals’ choices?

3. The state-run Sparrow School trains agents to use seduction as a tool. What does this depiction suggest about the ways institutions, both in fiction and reality, can seek to control and commodify people’s bodies for political or strategic gain?

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

1. Discuss Dominika’s backstory—her father and mother’s lives and careers, her upbringing and career in ballet­—and how these elements of her personal history and development contributed to her development as a spy. What character traits serve her well as an agent? Which hold her back?

2. The book includes recipes at the end of many chapters, often after scenes of intense violence or suspense. What effect did this unique structural choice have on you as a reader? Did these moments of domesticity feel like a welcome relief, or did the contrast seem jarring?

3. Vanya Egorov is the story’s primary antagonist, embodying the SVR’s corruption. In what ways does his manipulation of his own niece serve as a metaphor for how the larger authoritarian state consumes and corrupts its citizens?

4. Discuss the novel’s depiction of the CIA. How is the leadership of Forsyth and Gable contrasted with that of Gordon Gondorf or Simon Benford? What conclusions does the novel draw about the efficacy and ethics of these different leadership styles?

5. By the end of the novel, Dominika has transformed from a coerced pawn into a master of the game. What key moments or decisions do you feel were most crucial to her evolution? Was there a single turning point where she fully reclaimed her agency?

6. Red Sparrow is the first book in a trilogy. If you haven’t read the sequels, what future do you predict for Dominika as she returns to Russia? If you have read Palace of Treason or The Kremlin’s Candidate, how does this first installment effectively set the stage for her long-term journey?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Dominika’s synesthesia is presented as a key to her survival. If you could assign a color to the auras of other characters in the book, like Marty Gable, Simon Benford, or Marta Yelenova, what would they be and why?

2. Imagine you have to write the scene of the spy swap on the Narva River bridge from General Korchnoi’s perspective. What is going through his mind as he walks toward freedom, offers his coat to Dominika, and faces his final moments?

3. You’ve been tasked with designing a memorial for General Korchnoi, also known as MARBLE. What would it look like, what would it say, and where would it be located to honor his sacrifice without compromising ongoing intelligence operations?