Your hands are love.
– BELOW, Sophie Johannis
Your hands are blinding fear.
Aiden has survived Chance’s vault. But back home in Kirkwood, new violence blurs the tenuous line between past and present, pressing Cole to hunt an enemy his wounded mind barely allows him to remember.
Meanwhile, Aiden chafes at the rules of the Agency’s underground fortress. Trapped, weak, and dependent on reluctant allies, she can’t afford to drown in the nightmares flash-flooding her mind. With a betrayal forcing her hand, Aiden can only save Cole if she finally learns to trust her own strength. As she faces Cole’s deepest fear, can she bear the cost of protecting him?
In this heart-searing sequel to Traces, Aiden and Cole have to choose between their dearest needs: keeping each other close — or keeping each other safe.
Content warnings for Below
In addition to the content warnings listed in Traces, Below addresses the following subjects:
• Trauma caused by sustained childhood sexual abuse and rape
• Opioid addiction
• Disordered eating
• Medical abuse
• Anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination and violence
• Traumatic brain injury
• War, war crimes, and torture
• Character death
Character web
ATHENA HQ: Aiden’s map
Book club questions for Below
- What expectations did you have before you started reading Below? If your expectations weren’t met, how does that change the way you perceive the Traces trilogy as a whole?
- How does Aiden evolve over the course of the story? Who or what contributes to her growth?
- In addition to being coerced into joining the Agency, Cole is forced to face horrendously painful memories. Who or what is the greatest threat to his safety? When did you notice him reaching his breaking point?
- In this story, what does it mean to be strong? Do you see Cole’s (seeming) fearlessness as heroic, or is it something else?
- Katz and Donovan, Aiden and Cole — what parallels can you see between these two relationships?
- How do the themes of Traces — memory, identity, and trust — reappear and echo throughout Below?
- Many of the supporting characters have their own struggles. Whose story affected you the most?
- Oliver Lengler-Chance remains a fairly nebulous antagonist. Do you understand the choice of not giving him any more “page time”?
- How do Aiden and Cole (but also Donovan, Katz, Estelle, Kei, Lawrence, Ivanson, and others) defy stereotypes and expectations? Think of gender roles and gender expression, sexual orientation, gender identity, social status, and mental as well as physical health. Why are some characters written as more (stereo)typical?
- How do the different settings of Below add to the story? How do you see the characters reflected in them?
- How do you feel about the Agency and its policies (emphasis on secrecy, recruitment tactics et c.)? Do you think that having the gift of telepathy ought to come with the obligation to serve?
- Aiden doesn’t allow herself to think about her grandfather’s death. To what extent is her inability to cope with this enormous loss relatable?
- At the end of Below, Aiden ends her relationship with Cole. Do you understand her choice? Would you have preferred a different ending? Why (not)?
- Did certain elements of Below make you uncomfortable? If so, why? Did your discomfort give you a new perspective on an event, experience, or relationship in your life, or did it cement your attitude about one of these things instead?
Below playlist
Astronautalis – Forest Fire
- Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box
- Nine Inch Nails – Every Day Is Exactly The Same
- Blink-182 – I Miss You
- Coheed & Cambria – Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant
- The Fray – How to Save a Life
- Hozier – Take Me to Church
- Ed Sheeran – Bloodstream
- Linkin Park – Lying from You
- Scala – Enjoy the Silence
- Philipp Poisel – Eiserner Steg (piano version)
- Zoe Keating – Night
- Rise Against – Wait for Me
- Sleeping at Last – Chasing Cars
- Placebo – Follow the Cops Back Home
- Placebo – Song to Say Goodbye
- Three Days Grace – Let You Down
- Zoe Keating – Tetrishead
- Alt-J – Taro
- In Flames – Evil in a Closet
- Metallica – One
- Johnny Cash – Hurt
- Bright Eyes – Poison Oak
- Astronautalis – Forest Fire