The Missing Half

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use, addiction, and death.

This phrase is a motif that is repeated throughout the novel and emphasizes the theme of The Loyalty and Burden of Family. It is first introduced when Nic checks Kasey’s car for evidence, as it is written on her bumper sticker. Then, when Jenna sees it written on a CD in Kasey’s collection, it reminds her that she saw the bumper sticker on the night of Jules’s disappearance.

The line is a quote from the 1970 rock song “Strangers,” by the Kinks. The song was written by Dave Davies as a tribute to his friend, George Harris, who died of a drug overdose. He explains, “He was young. I always felt it was going to be me and him. [I] wrote it to him, ‘Strangers on this road we are on, we are not two we are one’. It was like, what might have been if he hadn’t died so tragically” (Ingate, Matthew. “The Sad Story Behind One of The Kinks’ Most Loved Songs.” Far Out, 14 Jan. 2025). The song reflects the events of the novel, as Nic loses her sister at a young age and is forced to grow up without her.