“She wanted to believe her mother. She wanted to believe that, one day, she’d bloom. She imagined a dull flower suddenly opening its petals, and they were dazzling, and everyone would look up from their phones and whip out their earbuds and gasp and say, Where did that come from! and I’ve never seen anything so beautiful!”

In this use of the concept of blooming, Anaya envisions herself becoming beautiful through the metaphor of a flower first opening its petals. The physical transformations she undergoes as a result of the cryptogenic invasion do make her feel pretty. Then they reverse the effect as she grows thick body hair and claws. Once she recognizes the strength and power these changes give her, however, she experiences a different kind of blooming.

“He hadn’t been convinced there was much point in making an effort, or getting used to anything. He tended to get moved around.”

Seth’s experiences in foster care shaped the initial state of his character arc. He’s been abandoned by so many foster families that he fears getting close to people. Not making an effort to form meaningful relationships protects him from disappointment. The relationships he forms with Anaya, Petra, and Dr. Weber help him overcome this detachment and demonstrate the importance of Friendship and Loyalty as a Source of Strength.

“He knew what it was like to feel different, to want to hide away some part of yourself.”

Seth recognizes in Anaya and Petra the same sense of alienation he feels himself. The author’s portrayal of their vulnerabilities helps normalize such feelings. This quote separates the feeling from Seth’s specific situation, getting at the heart of a universal conflict between Alienation From One Group as Belonging to Another.