Love and Desire

The author uses this theme to explore several different versions of romantic relationships, and in particular how love or desire can consume a person. There are few relationships one might define as “healthy” throughout the collection, though some are certainly more destructive than others. Desire is often depicted as a contributing factor to a character's poor choices, if not outright downfall.

In “Glow Hunter” the author explores a friendship between two teenage girls that is veering into a romantic fixation for one of them, highlighting the pain of unrequited love. Sara is in love with her friend Bo, and Bo reciprocates her interest sexually, but not romantically. Throughout the story, Sara narrates every minute movement and comment her friend makes, listing every fact she has gleaned about her life and personality in exhaustive detail, demonstrating the obsessive qualities of an adolescent crush. It is...