The novel is narrated by Rita, who provides an intensely emotional yet often wry narrative voice. There is an intimacy about the way Rita shares her story—which includes some fairly personal details—directly with the reader, whom she often addresses in the second person; throughout the novel she says things like "you have to realize" and "if you were to ask me" and "I'm not going to bore you here with descriptions."

Although this technique inspires a closeness between character and reader, there are times when Rita's casual, conversational style depends too heavily on cliches. Phrases such as "You could have knocked me over with a feather," "the silence in the room was so tangible you could have cut it with a knife" and "a cold day in hell" draw the reader's attention as examples of lazy writing—particularly glaring because Rita...