While Olive begins the novel certain she knows that fate has dictated the shape of her life, her relationship with Ethan and their time in Hawaii shows her that she has more agency and ability to make changes for the better. Olive reflects that Ami has paid for most of her wedding with contest winnings, noting that, “if re-engagement Ami thought of contests as the Olympics, engaged Ami thought of them as an Olympic sport” (3). While Olive feels guilty for taking Amy’s honeymoon trip, the opportunity is accompanied by a satisfying job offer in the airport. This confluence of happy circumstances leads her to declare, “I want to check my call history and redial just to be sure Kasey had the right Olive Torres” (54). Even Ethan seems surprised by the unexpected exuberance he sees in her face.

Olive’s relationship with Ethan helps her realize that her obsession with luck may be negatively affecting her life and her views of other people. When she realizes that Ethan never disliked her, and that she inadvertently proved Dane right about her sour disposition, she begins to re-evaluate her outlook. Ethan pushes her to do this more once they are a couple, reminding her that her story of being bitten by a rattlesnake had a happy ending.