SuitabookForbidden
Caroline B. Cooney
- Reading
- Before reading, mention the murder, kidnapping and family-conflict elements without revealing the resolution. During reading, track whose account of the family past is trusted, and pause if the revenge plot becomes emotionally intense.
- Themes
- Love versus family loyalty: Annabel and Daniel fall in love while learning that their families are linked by a violent secret. The book?s stance on this remains unclear.
- Truth, power and public reputation: Daniel searches for the truth about his father’s murder, while the families’ wealth and public standing shape the surrounding conflict. The plot gives truth-seeking a central role and contrasts it with powerful family interests, but it does not establish a consistent moral judgement about wealth, politics or reputation.
- Abandonment, resentment and revenge: Jade is described as poor and alone, angry about adoption and her relationship to Theodora, and intent on making the family pay. The book?s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Some readers may want to know that the story includes an assassination, an unsolved murder, a possible killer, kidnapping and revenge. Family rejection, adoption-related resentment and grief also feature in the described plot.