Rebecca claims that Tom and Jake are too similar. How do their similarities lead to conflict between them? Cite specific evidence from the text.

Tom serves as the novel’s primary narrator. How does his career as a novelist inform his voice and his approach to the investigation as a whole?

How does the significance of butterflies evolve over the course of the novel? How does North employ or subvert their traditional associations with joy and change?

How does the author’s decision to alternate between multiple perspectives inform the novel’s characterization and suspense? Cite specific examples.

How do the parallels between fathers and sons matter to the Kennedy family’s story? Do they embrace their similarities by the end, and if so, how does that change them?

Compare and contrast the novel to other popular psychological thrillers, such as Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train (2015) and Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island (2003). How do the different authors use perspective and the genre’s conventions to build intrigue?

What does the novel say about inheritance, whether genetic or behavioral, between fathers and sons?

How does the theme of A Child’s Understanding of Grief drive the plot forward?