Love on the Brain

Dr. Bee Königswasser is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. She is a neuroscientist working for NIH when she receives an opportunity to co-lead a project at NASA at the beginning of the book. Bee’s only immediate family is her twin sister, Reike; their parents passed away in a car accident when the girls were young, leading to their being raised by different relatives spread across countries and continents. While the constant travel as children led Reike to develop perpetual wanderlust, it instilled in Bee the desire for security and stability. Their difference also comes through in their appearance: Although identical, Bee is easily distinguishable from Reike owing to Bee’s purple hair and piercings. Bee idolizes Marie Curie, and alongside her real life as a neuroscientist, Bee secretly runs a highly popular Twitter account called @WhatWouldMarieDo, inspired by the Nobel-winning Polish physicist.

From the outset, it is clear that Bee is a brilliant scientist. The opportunity to work at NASA is described as one of a lifetime, and not something easily achievable, hinting at Bee’s brilliance. This is further supported by Levi’s assertion that there is no other neuroscientist with whom he would rather be working on BLINK.