When you first read the book, you care about what Acheron has to say about fate and free will. But thinking back on this quote, you realize that Nick is calling Acheron his "best bud." We're not sure when exactly they'll become friends, because they only hang out once in this book. It looks like they reach BFF status eventually, even though many people warn Nick to say away from Acheron.

These are the first lines of the book, which lead you to believe that fate and free will will be a more important theme than it actually turns out to be. Although there's a lot of talk about it early on—and maybe it will come back in a future book—it's a fairly minor theme in this installment.

Nick is required to say this, because a protagonist who thinks that has no control over his life would be pretty hopeless to read about. But what's the reality? How much control does Nick really have, if you think about it?