Who are the Rusties? What happened to them? How has what happened to them shaped the world in which Tally lives in? How does what happened to them impact the use of the pretty surgery in Tally's world? What does Tally think of the Rusties? How was this opinion shaped? What do the people of the Smoke think of the Rusties? How were their opinions formed? What mistakes did the Rusties make? What could the new civilization learn from them?

Who is Tally? Why did she have the pretty surgery? What did the surgery do to Tally's personality? For what reason? What is Tally's biggest concern at the beginning of the novel? What is her biggest concern at the end of the novel? Why the difference? How did Tally heal her brain? How does Tally know she is healed? Why would Tally want to...