Sounds Like Love

Joni’s ongoing conflicts back in Vienna Shores, North Carolina, further her self-development, thematically reflecting The Journey Toward Healing and Self-Reclamation. In particular, Joni’s inability to reconcile with her mom’s illness and her and Van’s breakup challenge her to confront her past. In the context of her maternal relationship, Joni lives in constant fear of losing Wynona. In addition, she feels guilty about abandoning her mom to pursue a music career in California. In the narrative present, she tries to engage with Wynona to overcome these emotions, but has yet to reconcile with her past choices and how they’ve affected her relationships and defined her character in the present. The same is true of her dynamic with Van. When he asks her out for ice cream, Joni silently acknowledges, “Van Erickson might’ve broken [her] heart when [she] was twenty-two,” but she tells herself that she “wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t” (198). She believes that this heartbreak is behind her and that spending time with Van in the present makes more sense than pursuing a new relationship with Sasha. Joni’s dates with Van convey her fear of confronting her heartbreak, guilt, and sorrow—and of claiming her experience in the present.

At the same time, the recurring images of Joni’s new green dress symbolically foreshadow the internal change she’ll undergo. The color green evokes new life, growth, and transformation. The new green dress is “deep and woodsy, and in the light a tangled ivy pattern shimmer[s] in the cloth” (158). The references to the woods and to plant life conjure images of the natural world, and nature is an archetype of growth. Joni buys the dress even though she can’t “imagine where [she’ll] wear it” (168). This decision implies that Joni wants to grow and change, although she’s yet unsure how to pursue self-reclamation and growth.

The more time that Joni spends with Sasha, the more she realizes that their relationship helps her feel happy and whole, thematically reflecting The Transformative Power of Love and Intimacy. The novel embraces the forced proximity romance trope to drive the romantic counterparts together and deepen their relationship over time. Because Joni and Sasha’s voices are lodged in one another’s heads, they can’t escape each other. Through their magical, telepathic connection, the novel reinvents the forced proximity trope. Even when Joni and Sasha aren’t sharing the same physical space, they’re communicating with one another. Sasha’s constant presence in Joni’s mind and her life challenges her to redefine what love means to her. The way she talks about him to Gigi reveals how Sasha has already begun to alter Joni’s perspective on life, love, and herself:

And he knows what I mean even when I don’t say it, and he has this weird faith in me that I don’t even have in myself, and it freaks me out, and even when I can get into his head, I can’t figure him out! And it’s not like I want to figure him out, because I don’t care, but I don’t not care, either, you know? (207).

Joni’s cryptic syntax enacts her harried state of mind and heart. She’s still processing Sasha’s effect on her, but her intense tone in this scene conveys her emotions toward Sasha. He’s teaching her that love can be caring and trusting. This is a new lesson for Joni, whose previous definition of romantic love was based on her disappointing relationship with Van. The more time she spends with Sasha, the more she learns about herself—a version of intimacy that empowers her and facilitates her growth journey.

The use of pop song titles in chapter titles continues. For instance, the title of Chapter 22 (which describes how Joni’s mom might have had a music career) refers to Halsey’s “Could Have Been Me.” Chapter 23 (in which Joni dates Van while also seeing Sasha) takes its title from Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” and the title of Chapter 24 (in which Gigi questions Joni’s decision to see Van instead of wholly pursuing her relationship with Sasha) refers to the Tina Turner hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”