Genre
Young Adult
Setting and Context
Set in a housing project in the Bronx, New York
Narrator and Point of View
Told in first person from Aaron’s perspective.
Tone and Mood
Gritty, Profound, Pitiful, Honest
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Aaron Soto and the antagonist is grief, loss, and guilt.
Major Conflict
Following a tragic event involving suicide, Aaron wishes to suppress his memories to escape the pain and grief. The procedure backfires, as his tampered brain cannot retain new memories leading him to now unlearn and relearn about happiness.
Climax
When Thomas cannot retain any new memories and has to repeat things in his life onwards.
Foreshadowing
The opening line foreshadows the second-guessing of the procedure before and after its effects.
Understatement
“Happiness shouldn’t be this hard.”
Allusions
The protagonist frequently alludes to science fiction films and literature akin to the genre of the novel.
Imagery
“She shows me her hands, wet with yellow and black paint, and winks before ducking back in. I’d like to think she was drawing a cartoonish happy face, but her hyper-imagination is more likely to draw something magical, like a yellow-bellied hippogriff with pearl-black eyes lost in a mirrored forest with nothing but a golden star to guide it home. Or something. She comes down a couple minutes later, still in the ratty white shirt she wears to paint. She smiles before hugging me, and it’s not one of those half smiles I’ve grown used to.”
Paradox
The paradox exists in the pursuit of happiness through memory loss yet past memories give the ability to choose to be happy.
Parallelism
The parallel happens within Aaron as his former self before the procedure recurs in his present self despite the lack of memories.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“He tosses all his blunts into a Ziploc bag”
Personification
“His memories sucker punch my brother and me at every turn”
