Identity

Identity is a prominent theme throughout the novel as the main characters must figure out how their pasts have shaped their current selves and evaluate their motivations within the chaotic environment of Verity. Kate struggles with her identity from the beginning when she is processing her father’s death and who she is without the identity marker of being Callum Harker’s daughter. She has spent so much of her life attempting to please him and get his attention that when she realized she disagreed with the plans he had for Verity, she completely changed her intentions and sided with August. Six months later, she finds herself in Prosperity, reflecting on her fluctuating identity. Schwab states, “She’d spent five years trying to become the daughter her father wanted—strong, hard, monstrous—only to learn that her father didn’t want her at all. But he...