Romantic

Character Role Analysis

Patch Cipriano

If there's a ripped, shirtless dude on the cover of a book, it's probably a romance. And if that ripped shirtless dude isn't the main character, he's probably the romantic interest. One look at that Patch's piercing black eyes and that "smile that spelled trouble" (1.31), and we know that Nora is, indeed, in trouble.

Patch hits on Nora the moment he sits down next to her in bio, and he doesn't let up. They're a classic case of opposites attract with his too-cool-for-school mojo contrasting her everyday girl vibe, and the will-they, won't-they tension between them carries on until Patch finally lets Nora in on his background, and she finally lets her guard down around him. By the end of the novel, Nora decides that Patch isn't just worth kissing; he's worth sacrificing her life for. Patch feels the same way.

The novel also flirts with a romantic triangle when Elliot Saunders puts the moves on Nora, but he's quickly snuffed out as a serious contender for Nora's heart when she reads an article linking him to the sudden death of another girl he'd been seeing.