Sounds Like Love

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of Sounds Like Love. What were your favorite and/or least favorite aspects of the novel and why?

2. How did your experience reading Sounds Like Love compare to your experience reading Poston’s other titles? What narrative and thematic overlaps did you notice between this title and titles like The Dead Romantics and/or A Novel Love Story?

3. What other contemporary romance novels have similarities to Sounds Like Love? Compare and contrast Poston’s title with titles like Elsie Silver’s Wild Eyes and/or Annabel Monaghan’s It’s a Love Story.

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

1. How did you respond to the narrative revelation that Sasha and Sebastian Fell are the same person? How did this plot twist confirm or subvert your expectations for Joni and Sasha’s relationship? Have you ever learned someone you liked was a different person? If so, how did you react?

2. Compare and contrast Joni’s love life with your own romantic experiences. How does Joni’s regard for love and romance resonate with your own and why?

3. How does Joni’s family culture relate to your familial dynamics? Which aspects of her parental and sibling relationships resonate most with your own?

4. Joni is compelled to think deeply about her past when she returns to her hometown in North Carolina. Which aspects of Joni’s relationship with Vienna Shores are similar to or different from your relationship with your hometown culture?

5. Joni relies on her friendship with Gigi to stabilize her emotionally. How do your platonic relationships compare and contrast with Joni and Gigi’s friendship? Which aspects of their dynamic are most relatable and/or believable?

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

1. Joni’s work in the music industry complicates her sense of self. Explore how her life in LA creates a commentary on contemporary notions of fame and success. Does Poston subvert or reinforce cultural stereotypes of Hollywood culture?

2. Examine Joni’s story through a feminist lens. Is Joni an empowered woman? Why or why not? Which aspects of her character reinforce or subvert cultural stereotypes of femininity, independence, and/or loneliness?

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

1. Analyze the novel’s point of view. How would Sounds Like Love resonate differently had Poston included Sasha’s first-person point of view on the page? What is the significance of Joni’s solo narrative voice?

2. Compare and contrast Sasha’s and Van Erickson’s characters. Are they foils for one another? How do they impact Joni differently?

3. Discuss the role of setting in the novel’s overarching mood. How do LA and Vienna Shores impact Joni differently and why?

4. Explore Joni’s evolving regard for love and romance. Which experiences and relationships contribute to her evolving concept of intimacy?

5. Identify three primary symbols in the novel and discuss their thematic resonance. For example, what do the beach, the Steinway piano, the photos at the Revelry, and/or Hurricane Darcy represent, and how do they help develop the novel’s themes?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine that you are adapting Sounds Like Love into a movie. Who might you cast in the leading roles? Which plot points might you omit, add, or alter to suit the medium? How would you incorporate the songs used in the chapter titles into the film’s soundtrack?

2. Imagine a continuation of Joni’s story. How do you envision Joni’s life has changed five years after the novel’s end? Are she and Sasha still together? Is the Rev still open? Is Joni still writing songs? Consider how her evolution might or might not extend beyond the margins of the page.