Defend The Dawn: Book Club Questions on Loyalty and Trust

Jan 10
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Age: YA (14+)

Genre: Fantasy

Reading the series?

Don't miss the discussion guides for Defy The Night (book 1) and Destroy The Day (book 3).

Quick Review of Defend The Dawn

Middle books in a trilogy sometimes feel like filler content, but this YA fantasy upped all the stakes while giving me everything I loved about the first book: romance, impossible problems, and MORE ETHICAL DILEMMAS. Perfect for book clubs who want to take sides in a love triangle.

Book Club Questions

Corrick tells Tessa that Rian Blakemore is who Weston Lark would be if he were real. What does he mean? Do you agree?
Describe how Tessa saw Corrick vs. Rian at the start of the book. Was your opinion the same as hers? Did yours change by the end, as Tessa’s did?
Do you feel like Rian was justified in how he interacted with Kandala and treated Corrick, Tessa, Lochlan, and their guards, given his desire to help Ostiary?
What commonalities do you see between Rian and Tessa? What differences?
In this book, Harrison is injured in the Wilds and must reach out to Karri for help. Why do you think Karri helps him?
The ship’s locked room is a source of tension between Rian and Corrick. Do you think there’s a world in which the Kendalans would have agreed with Rian’s treatment of Bella if he had been honest with them from the start about her?
Tessa often feels frustrated about effecting change through bureaucracy, diplomacy, and coordination efforts. She longs for the days when she could see concrete results of trying to help. How does this sometimes make her shortsighted?
Doubts about Corrick are planted in Tessa’s mind by Rian, Lochlan, and Karri. In her position, do you think those doubts would have gotten to you, or would you have kept your confidence in Corrick?
For the majority of the book, it’s hard to determine whom Lochlan would back if violence erupted on the ship, but in the end, he’s loyal to Corrick. Why?
If you were Harrison, with insurrection and revolution around the corner but people also desperately needing medicine, would you have approved the voyage to Ostiary?
Bonus: Play a round of Blade and Brawl with your book club.