Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of drug addiction and death by suicide.

Throughout the novel, Nicole’s addiction symbolizes her unresolved trauma. This link is made explicit when the roots of her drug use are revealed: Nicole was in a car crash while searching for her missing father, and she became addicted to the painkillers prescribed to her afterward. Beth opines Nicole’s attempts at getting sober, and the link between Nicole’s drug use and her father’s disappearance hint that sobriety will evade Nicole until she resolves her trauma.

With this, Nicole’s drug cravings symbolize her craving for the truth. Throughout the novel, she is equally motivated by her desire to solve the mystery of Emma’s death and managing her addiction. Despite her siblings’ stigmatizing behavior, Nicole’s drug use or cravings coincide with new revelations in the case. When she is receiving methadone treatment and Beth suspects that she’s buying drugs, she is actually receiving Emma’s case file from Casey. While she steals Beth’s lockbox key hoping to find valuables to use to buy drugs, she finds Laura’s confession instead. Armed with this vital information, she saves her sister’s life. With the truth out in the open, Nicole finally resolves her trauma surrounding her father’s disappearance and, in the process, is finally able to overcome her drug addiction.