We Could've Been Book Club Questions
by Aubree Pynn
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
This novel gives book clubs plenty to untangle: a marriage that looks right from the outside, old love that never quite fades, grief, family pressure, and secrets that keep shifting who has power. The questions below are meant to spark honest conversation, not a quiz, so let people disagree and bring their own read on each choice.
Use them however your group works best. Pick a handful to start, or move through topics one at a time. You do not need to answer every question in order, and it is fine if the discussion wanders into character motives, trust, and what you would have done.
Characters and Choices
- 1.Cyanna stands alone in the bridal suite feeling empty even though her lifelong dream is coming true. How does this opening image shape the way you read her marriage to Damari, and what does it say about the gap between looking like 'the happiest woman in the world' and feeling nothing for herself?
- 2.Karys walks Cyanna down the aisle, gives her away with 'I do,' and later makes her promise to call him if things ever go wrong. Do you think he should have spoken up before the wedding instead of silently letting her marry Damari, or was supporting her the only thing he could do?
- 3.Damari tells Karys about Cyanna's miscarriage and says she should be over it by now. How does this moment shape your view of Damari, and why does it matter that Karys learns about the loss from Damari rather than from Cyanna herself?
- 4.Cyanna avoids Karys's calls and buries herself in building contracts and blueprints after the miscarriage. Is her avoidance self-protection or self-destruction, and how does it connect to her later admission to Karys that she doesn't want to break and can't break?
Control, Secrets, and Power
- 5.Cyanna overhears Damari on the phone saying he will attend 'the appointment,' that he has another year before he can divorce her and leave with something, and that he will tell her he has a business trip. Why does she stay silent instead of confronting him, and what does the prenup her father drafted reveal about control in her marriage?
- 6.Cyanna asks Mr. Luther to keep her trust and assets locked up rather than dissolved, and she later has him put a private investigator on Jackie. How do these choices show Cyanna reclaiming power, and did you agree with her decision to investigate Jackie rather than confront her directly?
- 7.After sleeping with Karys, Cyanna wakes beside him, slips out undetected, and later removes her wedding ring after seeing Luther's evidence of Damari and Jackie at lunch, prenatal appointments, baby shopping, and boarding a flight. What does removing the ring signify for her, and was leaving without waking Karys consistent with who she has been throughout the story?
- 8.Karys confronts Yanieca, breaks up with her, dismisses her pregnancy claim, reveals that she and Jackie were involved with each other and with Damari, and insists the house is Cyanna's. How does this confrontation resolve Karys's arc with Yanieca, and did you believe his explanation about always using condoms with Yanieca?
- 9.Damari barges into Cyanna's office with divorce papers and refuses to sign until Karys grabs him by the throat, slams him to the floor, and forces him. Was Karys's physical intervention justified within the story, or should Cyanna have handled Damari through legal pressure and exposure alone?
Love, Loyalty, and Timing
- 10.Karys arranges an in-person meeting as Hillcrest Holdings to see Cyanna, and Yanieca interrupts them after learning about the meeting from Karys's assistant. How does Yanieca's jealousy change the dynamic, and what does Karys telling her that Cyanna's name stays on the guest list signal about his intentions?
- 11.At Karys's thirtieth birthday party, Cyanna returns the beaded bracelet from their college days, tells him she is married, then admits she waited for him to choose her and has sex with him. How do you reconcile her moral conflict with her surrender, and did she betray herself or finally act on a long-held truth?
- 12.Karys thinks 'treasure stolen was treasure to be repossessed' and tells Cyanna, 'You've always been mine.' Is this romantic devotion, possessiveness, or both, and how does it affect the way you see Cyanna's agency in their relationship?
- 13.At the end, Karys tells Cyanna he has moved her things into the house they were supposed to share, declares his lifelong love, and they commit to marriage and forever. Does this ending feel earned after all the missed timing, silence, betrayal, and grief, or did it arrive too quickly?
Parenthood and Family Expectation
- 14.Cyanna's post-miscarriage yearly checkup becomes the confirmation of a new pregnancy, and she tells Dr. Shelby Yates that she and Damari are divorcing and the baby is not his. How does this pregnancy change the stakes for Cyanna, Karys, and the divorce from Damari?
- 15.Cyanna's father constantly called her 'Pretty, perfect, princess,' and her mother preached finding a man who would work hard, provide, and not leave her alone—which Damari seemed to fit. How did parental expectation shape Cyanna's choice of Damari, and did her father's prenup ultimately protect her or control her?