Broken Bonds

The novel’s interest in class and socioeconomic status is primarily reflected in its depiction of clothing and décor. Oli laments, at different points in the novel, that she lacks money for attractive clothes and that her dorm room is under-furnished. Her personal appearance thus is presented as something that is important to her self-image: She describes spending time hunting through thrift stores while on the run, so her outward self-presentation remains important to her even in life-or-death situations. Oli uses style and fashion to bring herself happiness, something the novel suggests might be especially important when so much of the rest of her life is bleak. Even though Oli has the magical powers of the “chosen one,” everyday concerns demonstrate the limits of this power. Oli’s precarious financial situation does not allow her to fully express herself through conspicuous consumption; in the novel, the fact that North prevents her from getting a job and thus earning income is an important plot point.

Oli’s hair bridges magic and personal sense of style. The novel implies that Oli’s hair turned silver after her magical outburst when her parents died, though the text does not clarify what happened in that incident. Oli’s silver hair—which resists being dyed like hair that has grayed from age—is a symbol of her trauma, her fear about her inescapable and destructive Gift, and her anxieties over having little control over her life, body, and destiny.