Hermione Winters

Hermione is the book’s central character, its protagonist and narrator. She is in her late teens, a senior in high school, and co-captain of her cheerleading team, with ambitions to lead her crew into their best year ever. She comes across as intelligent and articulate, self-aware, a good friend, and committed to her goals without being entirely obsessed by them (although she does come close at times). That sense of commitment continues throughout the narrative, but in a very different context – specifically, in the aftermath of the traumatizing incident that closes the first part of the novel: Hermione’s experience of being raped while at cheerleading camp. Her determination to not let this incident define the rest of her life blends with her ongoing determination to have the best year ever with her cheerleading team to shape the narrative’s action and manifest several of its...