1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• How did you feel about the author naming the novel’s pandemic as COVID-19, instead of creating a fictionalized pandemic?
• What did you think of the time travel mechanics in this novel? How does it compare to other fictional time travel mechanics you are familiar with in books, film, or television?
• Are you satisfied with the end of the novel, when Gaspery becomes Alan, triggers the anomaly, and perpetuates the time loop?
• How does this novel compare with Station Eleven, another of Mandel’s popular books that also features a future society beset by pandemic?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection

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

• What do you think about Gaspery’s interventions into people’s lives? For instance, he uses his knowledge of the 2203 pandemic to save Olive. Regardless of the rules of the Time Institute, do you think tinkering with fate is ethical? If you had the knowledge to prevent a tragedy, would you choose to tinker with fate?
• In this novel, the characters question reality and the nature of what is real. What do you think makes something “real”? Try to be as specific as possible.