I’d like to explore the ways in which abuse functions in the novel. As previously stated by Nick, the novel makes it very clear that Ash had a much stronger relationship with her mother than with her father. She spends a great deal of time mourning her mother’s death and recalling fond memories that the two of them shared. Because of this, we learn a great deal more about her mother than we do about her father, despite the fact that he is a living character and she is not. Soon his actions make it very evident that he has fully recovered from the death of his once-beloved wife and that he intends to move forward with his life by remarrying. In doing so, he makes it very clear that he cares very little for the opinion of his daughter and thus their relationship is further developed as one that consists of little compassion or love. Thus, the novel has established Ash as a character who, since the death of her mother, does not receive love from anyone in her life, and in fact is abused by those who are supposed to be closest to her. She is a child who must grow up in a loveless, compassionless, toxic environment. Surely then, it makes sense why she puts herself into harmful situations with faeries just for the small possibility of seeing her mother again. It also makes sense why she falls so easily into an abusive relationship with Sidhean; it’s a relationship that she recognizes and one that, while not necessarily being ideal, is familiar.
What I’d really like to explore is how this representation of abuse effects/relates to young readers and, more specifically, young readers in the queer community. How might this abusive, possessive relationship between a young woman and a toxic, hypermasculine man resonate? What might this relationship teach? How might it affect perceptions of “normality”/heteronormativity/etc?
Reading Young Adult Literature 
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