Hey there, Germ readers!
We’ve made it to our second check-in for Melissa Grey’s The Girl at Midnight.
Here are our discussion questions for chapters 21-40:
1) On the same night, both Echo and Caius have very vivid dreams or visions. What can we draw from these two perspectives?
2) Caius’ locket has an effect on Echo, helping her to find new clues. Why do you think it hasn’t done that for Caius?
You can answer these questions on any social media platform using #GERMreads, or you can join the discussion with our Goodreads group.
I also have an exciting announcement! Melissa Grey has agreed to do an interview for Germ, and I would love to use any questions that you might have for her as well. So, while you’re reading, if you come up with anything you want to know from Melissa, send your questions to me, and I’ll compile them all for our interview. You can send them to me via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram (@shelbilena on all 3), or email me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance!
In the video below, I share some of my thoughts on the chapters we read as well as my answers to our questions.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY3YX5bi5MY” width=”480″ height=”300″]video— [/su_youtube]
My answers:
1) I find it interesting to look at the parallels between Echo and Caius’ dreams. They both start with tragedy from their past — for Echo, her biological parents, for Caius, Rose. Then, it turns to the person who helped them move on. Echo talks to the Ala, and Cauis gets glimpses of Echo but doesn’t see her outright. I think that’s because Echo is helping him move on in a way. She has him confronting things and ideas that he’s tried to just sweep under the rug. But that’s not good enough for her. He’s only been harboring these bad feelings instead of being able to move past them, and I think Echo is the only way he’s going to do that.
Both dreams also end with either smoke or fire. In Caius’ dream, he’s told that if he fails, the result will be fire. Though that’s not said in Echo’s, it still ends with her choking on smoke. I think that’s kind of foreshadowing or prophesying that if and/or when they find the firebird, there will still be a struggle. Caius will want to take it back to his people, and Echo will want to take it to the Avicen. No matter what happens, the firebird will do something great — whether that’s good or bad, we don’t know.
2) I have a couple trains of thought on this. For one, Caius could be too close to the locket. It has sentimental value for him, so it has always represented Rose. When Echo is holding it, she wants to find the firebird, and that’s where it gets her. It could simply be about the possessor’s true desires.
I also have a theory that Rose is somehow still attached to the locket. Perhaps she didn’t want Caius to go alone, so she’s not revealing the clues to him. It’s hard to say because we’ve only seen it handled by Caius and Echo while searching for the firebird. It could be that if Dorian had gone with Caius, he would have felt that pulsing drawing him to clues, but I don’t know. Rose’s attachment to the locket might also explain the closeness that Echo and Caius are suddenly feeling toward one another.
That’s it for this check-in, but I will see you all again on Tuesday, June 30th, where we will discuss chapter 41 — the end!