READERS GUIDE
Reader’s GuideThe Unraveling by Melanie Hamrick
Discussion Questions:
1. Jocelyn struggles with expressing and accepting her emotions, even though she is self-aware of how her denial and weaponizing of emotions negatively impacts her life and relationships. Why do you think that is?
2. Jocelyn feels like she must play the lead in Manon because she sees many parallels to her own life. When was a time that life imitated art for you?
3. Jocelyn’s flashbacks reveal the dynamics between three generations of women in her family: grandmother, mother, daughter. How do these relationships shape Jocelyn as an adult?
4. As a part of pursuing Jocelyn’s career as a ballerina, Jocelyn’s mother begins to control her daughter’s diet. How does this impact Jocelyn’s relationship with her mother? How do you think young girls’ role models shape their dreams, aspirations, and attitudes toward how they see
themselves?
5. Jocelyn has two primary love interests: Jordan Morales and Alistair Cavendish. Why do you think she was drawn to each of them? What do
you think the differences in her relationships with these two men say about Jocelyn throughout the story?
6. What do you think of the stark contrast between Jocelyn’s childhood in Louisiana and her penthouse life funded by Alistair?
7. What do you make of the donor culture in the ballet world as Jocelyn experiences it?
8. Arabella has many complex roles in Jocelyn’s life: savior, friend, lover, rival, enemy, threat. What do you think of her character?
9. Art is an essential part of life for Jocelyn as a dancer and for Jordan as a painter. What art form resonates the most with you, and how do you think art enhances life?
10. The feeling of home is important to Jocelyn—she finds home in her grandmother, in ballet, in Jordan. What does it mean to feel at home? Where is home for you?
