Monument 14: Savage Drift: Book Club Questions to Discuss Savagery and Sympathy

Oct 29, 2025
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Girl in gray hoodie with hands in chainlink fence

Age: YA (14+)

Genre: Post-apocalyptic

Reading the series?

Circle back to the discussion guides for Monument 14 (book 1) and Monument 14: Sky on Fire (book 2).

Quick Book Review of Monument 14: Savage Drift

This conclusion to the YA post-apocalyptic Monument 14 trilogy is all about resilience and hope in the face of heart-breaking circumstances, and it gets me every time. The world may be falling apart, but people can be redeemed and find their way home again if they don’t give up on each other—or themselves.

Book Club Questions

Do you think Jake makes the right decision to finally leave Astrid for good?
Having seen Dean and Astrid’s relationship across three books, how do you feel like it has evolved? Do you feel like they’re a good fit? At the end, Dean indicates that they plan to marry—do you think they’ll make it in the long run?
Do you agree with Niko’s definition of love? What’s your definition?
Dean finally conquers his insecurity and stops comparing himself to Jake. When have you had a defining experience when you were able to let an insecurity go?
Venger, the vindictive guard, believes that publicly punishing 15-year-old Josie will make the rest of the prisoners think twice about crossing him. Is he right? When you’ve seen someone abuse power like this, how did you feel about them?
Other prisoners walk Josie and her kids back to their room to keep them safe from the Union Men. When have you seen someone stand up for what was right, even when it put them at personal risk or wasn’t a long-term solution? What would incite you to do this?
Why do you think the author chose to put Mario in this book? How would the story be different if Josie were in the containment camp without him?
Back at the Greenway, Josie was an instant mom to the little kids. In the containment camp, she holds her and Mario’s kids at arm’s distance. Discuss the evolution of Josie’s motherly nature from book 1 to book 3.
Throughout the book (and the series), Niko has a single-minded focus on his goals. How does this intensity serve him? Are there downsides to it?
While in the refugee camp in Quilchena, Astrid is worried that the military is taking pregnant women away against their will. Dean doesn’t believe her, but he backs her up anyway. Is it helpful to back a loved one up, even when you think they’re wrong? Why or why not?
The O containment camps treated O people terribly under the banner of protecting others from them. But O people can still be dangerous, as demonstrated when the O man kills Rinée’s mom. If you were the president of the USA, how would you handle the situation to protect the rights and safety of O people as well as everyone else?
Dr. Cutlass is so focused on getting Josie’s spinal fluid that he’s (in essence) willing to kill her to get it. How is he different or similar to other people in the book who were willing to kill, including Josie herself?