Character Clues
Character Analysis
Types of Being
We have angels, humans, and Nephilim trouncing around this story. While pretty much any time this happens, types of being end up being characterization tools, in this case, that doesn't always pan out.
Fallen Angel
Fallen angel turned guardian angel, Patch isn't all bad. It's more like he's complex. Patch fell because of lust (one of the seven deadly sins), but by end of the novel when Patch gives up what he's wanted most—a human body—in order to save Nora's life, it seems he's changed. He then morphs into a guardian angel, the opposite of an angel of death.
Patch's character shows that you may not always be what you want to be, but you still have a choice in how you act, and you can change and redeem yourself. This quality doesn't just make him a more dynamic character than those who stick to their type-of-being stereotypes; it shows that type of being doesn't reveal as much about characters in this book as we might expect.
Angel of Death
Not everyone defies their type-of-being stereotypes, however. Enter Dabria. When a character is introduced as an angel of death, it seems quite likely to mean trouble, and when it comes to Dabria, it most definitely does. After all, Dabria tries to kill Nora, even going so far as to start a fire in her home.
In this way, Dabria is a counter to Patch: He undermines our ability as readers to make assumptions about characters, while she reinforces our sense that we should be able to make said assumptions. Go team?
Nephilim
Jules is a Nephil, and Nora's research on Nephilim reveals that "The Nephilim race is an evil and unnatural race and was never meant to inhabit Earth" (19.49). Okay, so it seems like biology might not be on Jules's side, but does that mean he has no choice in being bad?
Fallen angels are also described as "evil spirits," but Patch comes around. Chauncey, on the other hand, comes off in the prologue as a self-entitled, whiny womanizer, and he only gets worse from there. In other words, he doesn't pull a Patch and resist or rise above the basic definition of his type of being. Because Patch does rise above the stereotypes stacked against him, instead of reading Chauncey's bad behavior as inevitable due to the type of being he is, it seems possible that free will is at play, making him seem all the badder.
Human-ish
Nora's a human… or, she's human-ish, since she is Chauncey's descendant on her dad's side, meaning she has some Nephil blood. Does that make her Nephil-like? We don't know—she doesn't demonstrate any of that inherently evil Nephil personality that Chauncey does. Nora asks shockingly few questions about her family's history and what it means for her identity. Of course, this is only the first book in the series, so there's plenty of time for her part-Nephil status to become more of an issue.
Physical Appearance and Clothing
We cover Nora's hair on her page in the "Characters" section, pointing out how those curls are often used to represent smart and spunky girls. In addition to the hair, there are also descriptions of Nora's outfits and makeup, or lack thereof, throughout the book.
For instance, when Nora and Vee are getting ready to go to Delphic to meet Jules and Elliot, Nora throws on jeans, a sweater, and moccasins, and she runs her fingers through her hair. Vee shows up with her blond hair "pulled up in a high ponytail, big fat curls spilling down. Gold hoops dangled from her ears. Cherry red lipstick. Black, lengthening mascara" (7.34). Vee deems Nora's outfit good, but she also says it looks like Nora "stepped out of the shower and decided that alone was enough to pass as presentable" (7.43). Uh, thanks?
Vee is tall and curvy, and she isn't afraid of bold fashion choices. She has a big personality and adorns herself accordingly, wearing make-up and accessories to match her boisterous and flirty personality. Nora, on the other hand, is more reserved, which is represented in her plainer dress.
It isn't just Nora's reserved personality that we're clued into by her more modest dress. The fact that Nora isn't dressed up and hidden behind layers of fancy clothes, makeup, and jewelry shows that we're getting to Nora straight up, not some manicured version of her.
Physical appearance, clothing, and accessories tip us off to other characters as well. We know immediately that whoever is in the ski mask is a bad guy because, let's face it, most upstanding citizens don't wander around in ski masks when they're not skiing. Nora's mom always wears a perfume called Love, an indication that though she is not around a lot, she has been a caring and affection parent. Patch wears dark tops, dark jeans, and dark steel-toed boots, and with that kind of getup, we hardly expect him to be an innocent and transparent kind of guy. And guess what? He's not that kind of guy.
Names
There are definitely some unusual names going on here—Vee, Patch, Jules, Dabria—all kind of out there. We look at Patch's and Dabria's names on their "Character" pages, but let's consider some of the others here.
Nora Grey
In an early draft of the book, Nora's name was Ellie Fairchild (source). The change suggests that Fitzpatrick put some thought into selecting a name that better suits the protagonist.
"Nora" means honor or light (source). Nora definitely displays honor when she sacrifices herself for Patch (even if you're in the camp that thinks this is a dumb move on her part), and she proves to be the "light" that prompts Patch to change from dark fallen angel to guardian angel.
As for her last name, "Grey," well, grey is a blended color—the product of black and white, which are often stand ins for evil and good in their own right—which makes perfect sense once we understand that she's a descendent of Chauncey's. Nora herself is a blend of human and Nephil, and perhaps even good and evil.
Blythe Grey
Speaking of the Greys, Nora's mom's name, "Blythe," means joyous (source). Nora's mom is absent in most of the book, necessitated by her husband's death and her subsequent need to take a job that requires travel in order to support herself and her daughter. In the few scenes that we do get between Nora and her mom, there is obvious love and tenderness, though, and by naming her Blythe, we are reassured that this goodness is the real deal.
Miss Greene
Miss Greene is Dabria's alias when she poses as the school psychologist. We won't repeat our discussion of the name Dabria from her character analysis (check out her page in the "Characters" section to dig into it), but we thought it was worth discussing Greene a little bit here.
When used positively, green often symbolizes life or wealth. When used negatively, it can evoke the idea of jealousy. Ever heard the phrase "green with envy" or "green-eyed monster"? That fits Dabria to a T.
Also, we'll just point out that the novel doesn't make an absolute correlation between the color green and bad characters. In fact, both Vee and Nora's mom have green eyes, but that doesn't take away from how well the moniker fits Dabria.
Sex and Love
Because flirting, chemistry, innuendo, and talk of romance are such major parts of the book, it's no surprise that sex and love is a big tool of characterization. All of the guys in the book—Patch, Jules, and Elliot—are willing to use girls to get what they want by making girls think they're interested in them. Ugh.
Patch and Jules in particular have the playboy act down pat, and they prey on girls who are in less powerful positions than they are. That's not exactly the behavior of fine, upstanding gentlemen. Positioning the male characters as sexually experienced, and especially as guys who use sex as a tool for manipulation and/or submission, takes them out of the realm of innocence and casts them in a more powerful light.
In keeping with her loud and flirty personality, Vee is not shy in talking about sex, and she indicates that she's open to experimentation. Vee falls for the manipulations of Jules and Elliot. Nora, however, has "never been seriously interested in anyone" (3.106) and has no desire to make-out with guys just for the fun of it—she's looking for love. In their perspectives on sex and love, we see key differences in these two besties' personalities: While Vee is gregarious, Nora is much more reserved.