- Here's where we get more info about Cadence: She's seventeen years old, and when she's not on Beechwood, her family's private island, she lives in a big, fancy house in Burlington, Vermont.
- Even though her house is big and fancy, she doesn't own much—just a library card.
- She's recently dyed her hair. It used to be blond, but now it's black.
- She's had an accident, which means she now she looks weak and sick, even though she used to be strong and pretty.
- When she was fifteen, her dad, a professor of military history, told her mom he couldn't deal with being a Sinclair anymore, and left them.
- It was so traumatic for Cadence that she fell to the ground in the front yard, feeling like she'd been shot.
- Her mom told her to get up and "be normal"—Sinclairs don't make scenes.
- After he drove off, they trashed every gift he'd given them, packed their bags, and went to Beechwood. You know, because that's normal. And not a scene at all.