Comment on structure

The novel is divided into 29 chapters and an epilogue. The story proceeds mostly in a linear fashion. However, the characters occasionally recount important memories to each other. These memories generally have significance to the overall narrative and to particular character arcs. For example, two of the most significant events in Cassie’s life took place ten years before the start of the main narrative. When Cassie was 16 years old, she was raped by Heath Thompson, and her mother left her father to be with another man. Much of Cassie’s character arc revolves around her confronting these traumas. Similarly, Owen’s storyline revolves in part around him confronting his boyhood trauma.