Wrong Place Wrong Time

1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• Compare your reactions to the start of the novel with your reactions to its ending. How do you feel now about the mystery with which the story began? Were you surprised by the novel’s speculative approach to resolving that mystery?
• Did you find this novel’s explanation of the time loop confusing? Do you feel that the novel remained faithful to its internal logic? How much does consistency in worldbuilding matter to you when reading a novel?
• Jen references several films that use time loops as a narrative conceit, like Groundhog Day (1993), Palm Springs (2020), and Happy Death Day (2017). How would you rank this novel against those stories? Do you think that the author’s approach to the time loop is novel compared to its predecessors?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection

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

• Jen identifies her maternal instinct to save Todd as the factor that unsticks her from normal time. What are the primary forces or instincts that drive your life? What would qualify as the sufficient force that places you in a time loop?
• Early in the novel, Jen wrestles with the multitudes contained by Todd. How have you dealt with the complex and sometimes contradictory behaviors displayed by people you love? Do you accept their contradictions, or do you try to engage them to live more consistently?
• One of the things Jen learns through the time loop is how her work has prevented her from being present in her family life. Do you think it is necessary to sacrifice family time to provide materially for one’s family? How do you balance home life and work life?
• In a world without time travel, do you think it is possible to undo past sins? Why or why not?

3. Societal and Cultural Context

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

• Discuss whether the novel effectively grounds the reader in the history of each year Jen travels back to. How does the novel address, for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic when Jen reaches the years 2020 and 2021? Is it important for novels in this genre to observe historical realism?
• Just as Jen is forced to confront her absence from her family life, Ryan loses much of his life to the identity he forges within a criminal organization. How does the novel’s portrayal of time displacement, alienation within the family, and immersion into an adopted identity critique the modern work-life balance? What factors (if any) does it identify as contributing to that (im)balance, and what solutions does it propose? 

4. Literary Analysis

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

• How does the novel build your investment in Ryan’s storyline? Were you initially confused by its diversion from the main narrative? Or did it make you more intrigued about the novel’s overarching structure?
• Todd is the only major character whose life is presented fully in reverse order. Looking at his character’s arc in the correct order, comment on the way he developed into the Todd that appears in the very first chapter. Do you feel that the author succeeded in giving Todd complexity and depth? How so?
• Under what conditions can motherhood be rewarding, according to the novel? How does the novel use Jen’s second experience of Todd’s life to stress these conditions?
• The novel borrows terms from theoretical physics, such as “bootstrap paradox” and “Schrödinger’s Cat,” to sculpt its approach to time displacement. How do these concepts represent the emotional truths that the novel seeks to convey?

5. Creative Engagement

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

• Supposing you were to adapt this novel into film or television, what actors would you cast in the major roles in Ryan’s storyline? Restrict yourself to casting actors who were active during the year the storyline was set—2002—to ground the viewer in the time period. 
• Following the 20 years she spends living backward, how do you think Jen reintegrates herself into a life that moves forward? What would a sequel to her story look like?

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