Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Foreboding
In case you missed it, there's a hanging at the end of this book, and since we find out about it right away, um, it kind of hangs over the whole story (terrible pun, we know). Right out of the gate we're told: "An hour after Jimmi wrote the poem the vigilantes hung him" (pre.9). Way to start us off, Griffin.
Even though we know Jimmi's fate right away, though, we're not sure why or how this hanging happens, and instead we spend the rest of the book trying to piece it together. This, Shmoopers, gives The Orange Houses its foreboding tone. We know something's about to go down; we're just waiting for it to take place.
As if that weren't enough, each chapter hints at what's to come. For instance, Chapter 10 opens with: "The Orange Houses, Wednesday, twenty-one days before the hanging, 7:00pm…" (10.1). Gulp. Set your watches, because Jimmi will be hanged in 5… 4… 3… 2…