The Siren by KATHERINE JOHN (general ebook reader .txt) 📕

with Cole, Stella admits that she’s “transported by beauty.…It makes me feel alive.” Reflect on the positive effects of beauty in your personal life and in your community, whether that be through art, architecture, fashion, movies, or people.

The author plays with the structure in the novel, peppering the primary narrative with news articles, gossip bulletins, and more formal interviews. Why do you think she employed this holistic media approach, and how did it add to your experience of The Siren?

In an interview with HorrorFansOnline, Stella admits that channeling the pain of her characters often results in more believable, cathartic performances. Cole, similarly, is praised for his method-acting abilities. How was the umbrella of “method acting” used to disguise what was really going on, psychologically, between Stella and Cole? Based on their roles in The Siren, were the two even acting at all?

In the same interview, Stella says that “sometimes good people do bad things. And bad people do bad things too, of course. And sometimes a bad person or a bad moment can influence a good person to do a bad thing.” How does this statement make you feel? Do you agree or disagree with Stella?

Stella invests heavily in astrology, and often calls attention to mannerisms or behaviors that are associated with certain star signs. She describes Cole, for example, a Scorpio, as a person who “always has something up his sleeve.” How did the author use star signs to foreshadow the actions or dispositions of certain characters? When it comes to fate and horoscopes, are you a believer?

Taylor, in conversation with Rick, comments that in the age of social media, people are “more interested in capturing the moment than experiencing it.” Do you think social media has increased or decreased our ability to live in the moment? Why or why not? On the whole, do you think social media has been a positive or negative influence on society?

Rick gives up a lucrative career in New York to live a happier, less stressful life in the Caribbean. Taylor admires him for this, calling his decision brave: “To know what you want and give up the things society tells you you’re supposed to desire to live your best life—I wish I could do that.” Have you ever hesitated to do something that would make you happy because of the way it could be perceived by others? Why? Can you see yourself making brave decisions like Rick in the future?

Discuss the significance of names in the novel: Cole, meaning “swarthy” or “coal black”; Stella, meaning “star”; and Phoenix, referencing a mythological bird that rises from the ashes. Where is the irony in Phoenix’s chosen pseudonym of Felicity?

Most of the characters in The Siren have two sides: the one they show the world, and the one they keep to themselves. Secrets and artifice run rampant in the novel—no one ever presents as completely honest or completely duplicitous. Do you think it’s possible for secrets to stay secret? Or, as many of the characters come to realize, is honesty more compelling than deceit?

Also by Katherine St. John

The Lion’s Den