Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the novel’s misrepresentation of mental health conditions and its depiction of mental health crises, psychological manipulation, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide.

The distortion of reality and imagination plays a major role in the novel. Charlie’s stress-related hallucinations contribute to her role as an unreliable narrator and make her question whether she can trust Josh or even herself. Charlie’s disconnect from reality also limits her ability to overcome her grief and guilt. Charlie developed an obsession with movies shortly after her parents’ death; watching movies with her grandmother was important to Charlie’s immediate coping, but her movie-style hallucinations started at her parents’ funeral. Charlie calls these hallucinations “movies in her mind” (36), and she explains to Josh that they are like life but “more manageable” (37).

The effect of these hallucinations on Charlie’s life in the long term marks how the imagination can be detrimental as well as healing. Charlie’s hallucinations, which initially served as coping mechanisms, began to undermine her hold on reality as her friendship with Maddy suffered and, in particular, after Maddy’s murder. Maintaining balance with imagination is important; otherwise, reality may slip past unnoticed, leaving a person uninvolved in their own life and vulnerable to others.