I'm used to guts, stink, men who drink, boats, island gossip, and sudden darkness that fills the sky. I know that storms sometimes appear unexpectedly, and I know that there are times when we have predicted them for years. I know the maze of floating docks covered in a slimy layer of raspberry-colored insides, and I know which fishermen work with efficient, tenacious speed. There is never time to waste.
-- Evie (narration) ("Thursday")

Importance: This passage comes in the first chapter of the novel, as Evie narrates her experience walking down to the docks while awaiting news about Liam. This passage establishes that Evie has become accustomed to a tough and unpredictable lifestyle while living on Winter Island. Evie's description of the incoming "storms" is intended to be both literal and metaphorical. While Evie's life will be shaped by many of the literal incoming storms to Winter Island, her life is also shaped by...