Plot Summary
Emma, a travel nurse, and Justin, a software programmer, agree to date temporarily in order to uncover their true love. Emma persuades her foster sister Maddy to move their job assignment from Hawaii to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Justin resides. They settle on an island, and Amber pays Emma a visit after two years of silence. Emma discusses her difficult childhood with Justin, who is shocked by her presence.
Emma and Justin get closer, but they don’t have real chats until Emma’s six-week job contract ends. Amber becomes obsessed with her landlord and coworker, Neil, while ignoring Emma. Emma meets Justin’s family, but she knows she’ll be leaving them shortly. Emma continues to date Justin after he gains care of his siblings.
Amber had an emotional outburst, killing Neil and vandalizing his car. Emma and Maddy work together to tidy Neil’s house and calm Amber. Emma’s DNA test results show that she has a half-brother called Daniel Grant and other aunts and relatives on Amber’s side of the family. Emma agrees to meet him in Wakan, Minnesota, where he resides.
When Emma returns to Minneapolis, she harbors hatred and severes ties with her mother. Amber burns down Neil’s house and escapes the town, shrinking even more. Maddy follows Emma to the airport using disguised AirTags, and Emma accepts Maddy’s assistance in dealing with her troubles.
Emma and Maddy will spend the next six months working in Wakan, Minnesota, where she will connect with the Grant family and attend treatment. Emma has complex PTSD, and therapy helps her acquire the ability to love while also eliminating her flight response to stress. When she is ready, Emma pays Justin a visit in Minneapolis, directly telling him she loves him and offering to stay forever if he accepts her offer. Two years later, Justin and Emma become engaged.
Chapters 1–9 Analysis
The first chapters emphasize the lighter humor that will be necessary when contrasted against the darker themes of the story and its characters. The inclusion of Justin’s AITA Reddit post, which introduces the book’s concept as well as the recurring joke of the Toilet King commercials, helps to solidify the narrative’s humor. Abby Jimenez also discreetly breaches the fourth wall by asking Maddy about the bakery franchise she created in real life: “Remember that cupcake shop you saw on Food Network? Nadia’s Cakes? They have two locations (51). These tiny moments bring lightness as the heroes’ terrible histories unravel.
These first chapters also introduce two of the primary themes, Unresolved Trauma’s Impact on Relationships and Always Choose Empathy, through the backgrounds and behaviors of the protagonists, Emma and Justin. The novel begins with Emma and Maddy moving to Minneapolis. An inciting incident is a plot moment that occurs near the beginning of a story and moves the narrative away from the status quo depicted in the first chapter, propelling the characters into the novel’s primary concept. For Emma, the triggering occurrence is twofold: Moving to Minneapolis marks the beginning of her romance with Justin while also reuniting her with her mother, Amber. Emma’s initial point-of-view chapter describes her itinerant work as a travel nurse, which the narrative implies she selected as a result of her difficult connection with her absent and negligent mother. Emma is afraid of developing deep and permanent connections with others as a result of the pain of her childhood abandonment, therefore she uses her peripatetic work as an excuse to keep her relationships superficial and fleeting. When Emma sees Amber again on Neil’s yacht, it becomes clear that her childhood trauma has not been addressed as she claims. The portrayal of Amber explains why Emma is the way she is. Instead of caring about the daughter she hasn’t seen in years, Amber becomes obsessed with Neil, the wealthy landlord who also happens to be Emma’s boss. This behavior demonstrates Amber’s disregard for Emma’s personal well-being and profession. This early behavior foreshadows Amber’s path of devastation and the impact it will have on Emma’s life in Minneapolis. Nonetheless, Emma focuses on empathy rather than judgment against her mother, telling Maddy that Amber’s behavior can be explained as a reaction to grief or trauma. Though Emma’s empathy does not erase her trauma, thinking of her mother as a human being doing her best helps her feel less anguish.
Justin, like Emma, has conflicting sentiments toward his mother, who was just convicted of embezzlement and will be sentenced to prison. Unlike Emma, Justin fails to empathize with her. Justin’s early chapters express his rage at his mother for breaching the law and, more specifically, for the turmoil she has caused in him and his three younger siblings. He struggles to accept the new reality he will face in a few weeks when he becomes the sole caregiver for his brother and sisters. This alteration will have a significant impact on his independence and freedom. Justin, who was previously free to do anything he wanted, is now confined to his childhood home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While Justin’s sense of humor suits the lighter, brief affair Emma expects from her romantic relationships, his personal life is everything Emma deliberately avoids. A connection with Justin entails long-term residency in Minneapolis, effectively ending Emma’s wandering existence. Emma is likewise worried about caring for multiple children following her own difficult past. Emma and Justin’s family trauma, and their unique reactions to it, will pose the most significant hurdle to their budding love.
This first portion introduces the novel’s key importance for smell and flowers. Amber’s character is inextricably linked with flowers, which come to represent her impermanence and volatility. Her rose perfume is always fading, the flowers she uses to decorate Neil’s home wither and die, and the rose painting she starts swiftly becomes abandoned. When the roses are fresh, Emma sees them as a symbol of permanency and stability, but Amber believes these things never last. When Justin initially hugs Emma, he mentions that her hair “smelled like flowers” (80). Given that this fragrance represents periods of impermanence and permanence, stability and instability, this observation could signify two completely different things. It’s either a hint that Emma, like her mother, is transient and fleeting, or that she’ll establish roots and thrive in Minneapolis with Justin.
The narrative’s attention on smell extends beyond roses. Before meeting Justin, Emma expresses anxiety to Maddy about his scent: “What if he smells strange? […] Have you ever had that happen? You meet someone and everything about them is ideal, except for how they smell. “They don’t smell bad, but they don’t smell attractive.” (65). Emma refers to the science of pheromones, which are chemicals or odors generated by humans and animals through sweat or other bodily fluids to attract mates. When Emma and Justin first meet, they are drawn to one other’s smells, which suggests their love compatibility.
Chapters 10–21 Analysis
In this section, Emma and Justin’s relationship develops in a variety of ways. They do not intend to stay together, therefore their dating contract is a reworking of the phony dating cliche. Officially, they are only dating to break their “curse” and find The One after their previous relationship ended. As their fictitious relationship progresses, Emma and Justin get closer emotionally and physically, laying the groundwork for a genuine romance. Justin’s meticulously prepared dates provide Emma with the attention and love she has always desired. From Justin’s point of view, spending time with Emma is a much-needed distraction from the chaos that is raging in all other aspects of his life.
Amber’s participation in this section not only offers external issues for Emma, but also allows for a direct comparison between Emma’s connection with her and her burgeoning friendship with Justin. Despite the fact that Justin is a newcomer to Emma’s life, he is more concerned about her well-being than her mother is. When Amber focuses her attention on Neil rather than the daughter she hasn’t seen in two years, Justin becomes enraged on Emma’s behalf. Unlike Amber, who only understands how to maintain superficial, short-term connections with others, Justin favors committed, long-term relationships and is vocal about his beliefs. This confronts Emma’s penchant for casual romantic entanglements, which she shares with him early on, as well as the non-negotiable nomadic lifestyle she plans to maintain. Though Emma and Justin prefer to disregard this conflict of interest in the early phases of their whirlwind romance, it is an obvious time bomb that must be addressed once Emma’s six-week work assignment is completed.
These chapters also speak directly to the concept of Always Choose Empathy. While Emma had demonstrated this in previous chapters, it is not until her chat with Justin about his mother that she expresses this attitude explicitly. Justin is unable to overcome his animosity of his mother and refuses to spend time with her before she is sent away. He doesn’t think he can forgive her for her behavior, and “didn’t want to spend more time with her or pretend like any of this is okay” (123). However, as Justin’s time with his mother runs away, he must choose empathy. Emma shifts his perspective by reframing the scenario.
If you don’t believe your life would be better without them, acknowledge that they have flaws. Try to figure out how they acquired them and fill them with anything other than ice. […] Justin, if you have to pick between rage and empathy, always go with empathy. It’s far healthier than rage (157).
Through Emma’s guidance, Justin is able to consider the notion that his mother was dealing with issues he was unaware of, which led to irresponsible behavior that resulted in serious consequences. While it does not excuse her crimes, it does allow him to vent his frustration and forgive her. This makes the transition easier when she goes to prison and the kids are on their own.
Emma’s metaphor, which compares a person’s trauma to cracks filled with water that freezes and expands to create larger, more widespread cracks, becomes a recurring element in the narrative and plays an important role in developing the novel’s two other key themes, Unresolved Trauma’s Impact on Relationships and Destigmatizing Mental Health. As Emma informs Justin, “Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior; you must still make good decisions and do the right thing.” But it could be the cause. And sometimes realizing the reason is what allows you to recover (156). Emma sees her mother’s choices, including probable mental health difficulties like PTSD and post-partum depression, as components of shared human experience rather than character defects. At the same time, Emma’s personal “cracks,” caused by Amber’s neglect and desertion and now increasing with her return, are to blame for the decisions she makes that harms herself and others. This is seen in Emma’s reluctance to meet his family or plant the rosebush Justin gave her. Unlike the flowers Amber buys, which will wither and die, Justin gives Emma a rosebush with roots that may be planted to grow. This represents Justin’s desire for Emma to establish roots with him in Minneapolis. Emma, on the other hand, is not yet ready for this degree of commitment or such a major change in her comfortable existence, so she resolves to “leave it behind.” So it could live even without [her]” (173). Emma’s refusal to plant the rosebush represents how her lasting trauma drives her to abandon long-term relationships.
This portion also introduces Emma’s metaphorical island, which arose from her realization that she could never rely on anyone other than herself. It is a figurative area where she isolates herself, and only Maddy and Amber have access. This symbolic island connects to the physical island where she and Maddy live. Emma is lured to the romantic image of living on a lake island in Minnesota, just as she feels at ease with her solitary, metaphorical island. However, she will quickly discover that both have numerous disadvantages.
Chapters 22–34 Analysis
In this portion, Justin gains custody of his siblings, which has a significant impact on his life and relationship with Emma. Emma first rejects the new reality, claiming that “it could never work out […]. [She] did not want to parent someone else’s children. She wasn’t even convinced she wanted her own children. [She] enjoyed [her] life—the traveling, the money, the spontaneity, and the constant anticipation of a new location” (189). Despite this, Emma continues to see Justin and does not maintain her distance from the children as anticipated. This only makes her more committed in the Dahl family. Simultaneously, Emma’s philosophy of Always Choose Empathy begins to assist the Dahl siblings cope with their mother’s death, contributing to the destigmatization of mental health. When Emma shares her grief and pain from Amber’s abandonment with Sarah, the understanding and camaraderie that results make Sarah feel less afraid and alone. Sarah can move forward knowing that someone else has suffered her pain and been able to persevere.
Scent plays an increasingly important role in Emma and Justin’s relationship throughout the narrative. In the first several chapters, she is concerned that his smell will be unpleasant, but after meeting him, she realizes that it is really enticing. Eventually, she admits that “He smelled so good, so familiar.” Like [she] was dating a boy [she] grew up with, [she] hadn’t seen him in a few years, and when [she] did, he’d transformed into someone attractive” (187). This passage is unusual because Emma knew no one from her childhood other than Maddy. Justin’s fragrance gives Emma with a sense of familiarity and comfort, as does the way he cares for her and his brothers. It lays the framework for Emma’s eventual recognition that Justin has become her home.
His aroma resurfaces when he visits her workplace to offer her lunch. Emma thinks: “It was the strangest feeling, like I wanted to leave with him, just walk out of my job and go.” Those cartoons in which the character smells something sweet and is taken into a trance, causing them to float around in a stupor (224). This analogy symbolizes Emma’s desire to quit her current no-strings-attached, wandering lifestyle in favor of a life with Justin. In response, Justin acknowledges that Emma’s “scent hypnotized [him].” He was completely taken in. Whatever pheromone was created for him, she had it. [He] felt drunk by his proximity to her.” (252). This not only demonstrates the intensity of his love for her, but also his willingness to continuously overlook their coming separation.
In this portion, Emma becomes critically ill while alone on her isolated metaphorical and actual islands, making the impact of unresolved trauma on relationships a matter of life and death. Emma grows ill, and the pontoon-ferry situation becomes unpleasant and complicated, so the real island becomes a metaphor for her own way of life. While the physical island appeared to be a good temporary solution, it is not sustainable and loses quality with time. Its inadequate maintenance and obsolete facilities reflect Emma’s mental state and personal life. She has spent so much time alone on her figurative island that it has become dilapidated, unpleasant, and even hazardous. She is alone, with no good strategies to deal with unpleasant situations or her own emotions.
As her illness progresses, Emma sobs because she is “alone.” “On this island…and no one was coming” (269). While this is literal, it is also figurative; when she calls her mother for comfort, it goes straight to voicemail, and Maddy is halfway across the country with her mother, leaving Emma stranded. While her mother’s abandonment is a continuation of her lifetime practice of neglecting her daughter, Maddy’s absence is a direct outcome of the trauma of Amber’s abandonment on Emma’s adult relationships: She could have joined Maddy at the anniversary party for the mothers who wanted to adopt her, but she chose to separate herself. During her illness, Emma fantasizes about a life with Justin—”being with him at a cafe on a date, walking his dog, going back to his house” (281). When she wakes, she is sad to find herself back on the lonely island she has learned to despise. Emma doesn’t open up to Justin until he arrives on a unicorn floatie to help her recover. Not the actual one. “The one in [her] soul,” (283). The unicorn floatie represents Emma’s treasured unicorn doll, which she had lost as a child. Justin is helping to heal the wounds left by her mother’s abandonment by coming to her aid when she needs it.