Point of View

The novel is written in the third-person limited point-of-view, with the narration split between the perspectives of two different main characters: Sam and Charlie. Sam and Charlie share the narrative almost equally, with the character of focus changing of focus after each "What Happened" section. The "What Happened" sections, with the exception of the final one, "What Happened to Sam," all take place in the novel's past on the night of March 16, 1989, when Sam was fifteen and Charlie was thirteen. So, while there are two point-of-view characters in the strict sense, there are technically four points of view. The four points of view can be helpfully labeled, "Samantha" for fifteen-year-old Sam, "Sam" for contemporary Sam, "Charlotte" for thirteen-year-old Charlie, and "Charlie" for contemporary Charlie.

These four narrative points of view and two separate timelines provide the reader with a powerful sense of perspective on the...