Why do you think Malinda Lo included flashbacks from the perspective of the adults in Lily’s life? How would we think about their actions in the novel differently without these?

How does the setting—1950s San Francisco—shape the novel? In what ways are the characters’ actions the result of their environment?

Joseph doesn’t get his citizenship papers back at the novel’s end. Why do you think Malinda Lo chose to leave this plot thread unresolved? How does it relate to the narrative’s historical context?