The Forest of Vanishing Stars

Why does Jerusza keep Yona isolated in the forest, away from all human contact, until she reaches adulthood? How does this isolation prepare her for the role Jerusza believes she is destined to fill?

Jerusza tells Yona that she is who she was born to be, but Zus says that what matters is what we choose to do with our lives. The question of choice versus destiny looms large in The Forest of the Vanishing Stars. How does Yona reconcile this apparent contradiction? How does it affect her efforts to save lives?

The novel has many features of magical realism, a genre in which unexplained magical elements exist alongside the realities of the everyday world. How does magical realism contribute to the story’s impact? Would Yona’s story have been as powerful if it had been told in a purely realistic way?

The forest plays a crucial role in the story. What does it represent? Why does Yona feel at home there?

Jerusza is a mystical, mysterious figure who is both Yona’s kidnapper and her mentor. Who is she? Why does she follow Yona’s life from the time of her conception and ultimately abduct her into the forest?

Jerusza tells Yona that love is for fools, but it can be a powerful force for healing and transformation. How do Yona’s experiences of love change her and the course of her life?

Siegfried Juttner represents the Nazi regime, and he is the mouthpiece for the Reich’s most hateful attitudes toward the Jews. Is he a more complex character than that? What motivates him to try to “save” Yona in the closing chapters of the novel?

Holding Zus at gunpoint, Juttner reveals the final secret of Yona’s identity. How does this revelation affect Yona’s understanding of herself? How does it relate to Jerusza’s claims that Yona is a child of destiny?