Ask for Andrea

Skye is one of the three protagonists; she is the last and the youngest of James’s victims. She is only 18 years old when she is tragically murdered; she had been eagerly looking forward to starting college. Skye is quite sheltered and shy, and she has an innocent crush on James when he regularly comes to the café where she works but is too shy to approach him. She identifies as “the quiet Latina girl” and does not like to draw attention to herself (18). She is very close to her family, especially her mother; in the aftermath of her death, Skye stays close to her family. The close bond between Skye and her parents is part of why her parents advocate for her so fiercely; they know her well enough to know that her disappearance doesn’t make sense. This advocacy from her parents is also necessary because the police are somewhat passive; since Skye is “a poor brown girl from a poor neighborhood” (140), they are less committed to solving her case.

Skye is notable because of her hesitation to cross over into the spirit world; while Brecia and Meghan are eager to do so, Skye expresses concern because “[she] do[es]n’t really know anybody else who’s died. [She] doubt[s] anyone’s anxiously waiting to show [her] around the other side” (196). Because Skye has had the least amount of time to experience being alive, she finds it the hardest to let go of the world of the living. As a young character, Skye experiences the most growth and development by gradually coming to terms with her fate and what lies ahead for her in the spirit world. By the end of the novel, she can be at peace and even happy about being welcomed by her ancestors. Skye’s character development is complete when she reunites with a deceased family member who calls her “[her] birth name: Estela. Stars in the sky” (267). Skye has made peace with her identity and found a sense of belonging despite the terrible violence that she has experienced.

Meghan is one of the three protagonists and narrates parts of the novel. Meghan is killed by James after meeting him on an online dating app and going on a date with him. There is a long stretch of time before Meghan’s body is discovered, and she spends that time alone in the woods, waiting. Meghan responds very differently to her death than the other two protagonists: She does not try to reunite with important people from her life, pursue James, or try to achieve justice. She becomes very isolated and introspective. Because Meghan spends such a long stretch of time alone, she is the first to discover that she can watch memories from her life and that she can also communicate with family members who have already passed away. However, as much as Meghan is drawn to being with her extended family in the spirit world, she also feels a connection to staying in the world of the living. She tells her grandmother, “I think I need to go back for a while” (94). Meghan is the most eager to pass into the spirit world, but she still feels compelled to ensure that her body is found and potentially have James brought to justice.

Meghan spends the least amount of time around James after her death, and so she is the most uncomfortable with him when the three women travel to the cabin. Meghan repeatedly expresses her fears of witnessing James kill his wife and children and makes it clear that she would prefer to pass into the spirit world rather than being forced to helplessly watch these events unfold. Meghan does want to help others if she can, but of the three protagonists, she has the lowest sense of self-efficacy and belief that she can intervene. She is the most impacted by encountering the two other women because they give her the strength to believe that she can help others in some way, even with her limited agency in spirit form. Meghan also contributes to the trio because she is the one who knows about crossing into the spirit world. She gives Brecia and Skye the gift of agency by telling them that they can cross over into another realm and be at peace. Meghan’s character develops as she becomes braver due to the influence of the two other women; at one point, Skye tells her, “I’m with you. Stay with us, okay?” (203). At the end of the novel, Meghan achieves her goal, and she can “finally wra[p] herself into the memory of her grandmother like a warm blanket” (267), finding peace and a sense of connection in the spirit world.

James is the antagonist and villain of the novel. He is a serial killer who callously and sadistically lures women into meeting him (often by using an online dating app) and then drugs and assaults or murders them. Readers only have access to the point of view of the three narrators, so they have limited access to James’s thoughts or feelings. However, because the protagonists (especially Brecia) observe James at times when he thinks that he is alone, they gain insight into some of his motivations. For example, James reacts with anger and hatred whenever a woman stands up for herself or is not perfectly compliant with his plans: After Nicole abruptly leaves their date, he rationalizes that “she was a bitch” (84). James sees other people merely as objects who either support or obstruct his desires. This lack of empathy is best highlighted in his murder of the three women and when he begins preparing to kill his own wife and children to protect himself.

Although James is violent, he is good at concealing his true nature. He is handsome, charismatic, and well-spoken; over and over, James is able to get away with his crimes because people do not register him as someone who could be capable of violence. James is so good at deception that even April does not fully understand his true nature until it is almost too late. Some nuance is added to his character when it is revealed that he was likely abused by his stepmother as a young child: “[T]he constellation of faint scars on his arms, back, and legs […] came from her” (258). James eventually suffers some consequences for his crimes when he is charged with all three murders and then brutally beaten (and potentially killed) by his cellmate. Because of the nature of James’s character, he cannot be redeemed and can only be contained so that no more women suffer at his hands.