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* IllGirl: One of Chris' students is this. Eight-year-old Fiona has cancer and must be tutored at the hospital. [[spoiler: She dies mid-book, though it's a minor event.]]
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Dewicked trope
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* AdultFear: Grace fears she will lose custody of Jacob to her abusive ex. Also, Chris has experienced this Imagine being an elementary teacher and [[spoiler: having three of your students gunned down in a school shooting.]]
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* YourCheatingHeart: This is the stated reason Grace filed for divorce, because in the Christian circle McCall writes for, adultery is considered one of the only Scriptural grounds for this action. Abuse is the other.
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* TheBible: Read in church; verses are quoted at pertinent points during the novel.
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* TheBible: Literature/TheBible: Read in church; verses are quoted at pertinent points during the novel.
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* ShutUpHannibal: Initially, Chris tries to get Kyle to see the error of his ways; [[ShutUpKirk it doesn't work.]] Later, he goes into this, largely because [[BerserkButton Kyle physically harmed his own son Jacob, and Chris' little niece.]]
* ShutUpKirk: Kyle seems fond of this trope.
* ShutUpKirk: Kyle seems fond of this trope.
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* MasterSwordsman: Chris; he was a fencing team star in high school and has kept it up. His best friend Walker is implied to be one; they're shown fencing together in at least two scenes.
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* Can'tKillYouStillNeedYou: Kyle gets to the point that he wants to kill Chris for moving in on his turf, and also for [[spoiler: exposing him when he tries to kidnap Jacob.]] But when given the opportunity, Kyle realizes he can use Chris and Grace as leverage against each other.
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* Can'tKillYouStillNeedYou: CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Kyle gets to the point that he wants to kill Chris for moving in on his turf, and also for [[spoiler: exposing him when he tries to kidnap Jacob.]] But when given the opportunity, Kyle realizes he can use Chris and Grace as leverage against each other.
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* Chekhov'sSkill: Chris' fencing talent and MMA moves.
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* Chekhov'sSkill: ChekhovsSkill: Chris' fencing talent and MMA moves.
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* IfICan'tHaveYou: Grace's ex Kyle has this attitude. To a lesser degree, so does Chris' ex-fiancée Natalie Crenshaw.
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* IfICan'tHaveYou: IfICantHaveYou: Grace's ex Kyle has this attitude. To a lesser degree, so does Chris' ex-fiancée Natalie Crenshaw.
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* MamaDidn'tRaiseNoCriminal: Averted with Grace; her family wholly accepted that her [[spoiler: alcoholism]] was her fault, and helped her get through it. Subverted with Chris; his [[spoiler: prescription drug addiction]] was justly blamed on [[spoiler: the attending physician using him as a guinea pig.]] But the Andersons were willing to accept that the consequences were devastating, and went along with it when Chris voluntarily got help.
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* MamaDidn'tRaiseNoCriminal: MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: Averted with Grace; her family wholly accepted that her [[spoiler: alcoholism]] was her fault, and helped her get through it. Subverted with Chris; his [[spoiler: prescription drug addiction]] was justly blamed on [[spoiler: the attending physician using him as a guinea pig.]] But the Andersons were willing to accept that the consequences were devastating, and went along with it when Chris voluntarily got help.
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**The actual trope is used with [[spoiler: Natalie, who averts it. She got pregnant by another guy after she and Chris broke up, then aborted the baby.]]
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* OohMeAccent'sSlipping: Chris has a kind of inversion, in that whenever he's upset, his light Southern accent actually gets thicker and harder to understand. This carries shades of PoirotSpeak too, because even during an accent-heavy moment, Chris never has trouble saying complicated words or otherwise speaking like an educated adult. However, he does indulge in a lot of "ain't," dropping the "g's" off gerunds, double negatives, and things of that ilk.
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* OohMeAccent'sSlipping: OohMeAccentsSlipping: Chris has a kind of inversion, in that whenever he's upset, his light Southern accent actually gets thicker and harder to understand. This carries shades of PoirotSpeak too, because even during an accent-heavy moment, Chris never has trouble saying complicated words or otherwise speaking like an educated adult. However, he does indulge in a lot of "ain't," dropping the "g's" off gerunds, double negatives, and things of that ilk.
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* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Grace, of course. You could argue this for Natalie as well.
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* SecondLove: Chris for Grace, who's a divorcee. You might say it's mutual, since Chris was originally engaged to marry Natalie Crenshaw, but got unceremoniously dumped before the book begins, only for Natalie to use blackmail to get him back.
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* TeachHimAnger: Chris' older brother Micah enacts this on him. At first it comes across as Micah being a BigBrotherBully, but it actually works quite well, as Kyle finds out the hard way.
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* GoodIsNotNice: Chris once had a teacher, Mr. Landry, who'd sometimes fall into this. His friend/[[spoiler: halfway house counselor]] Paul Marcello also fits this trope. Paul's a good guy, but he does not hesitate to tell Chris when he's out of line, or to man up, when necessary.
**A lot of Grace's colleagues see her this way. Justified since she can be pretty blunt and hard-charging, more so with patients' families than the kids themselves.
**A lot of Grace's colleagues see her this way. Justified since she can be pretty blunt and hard-charging, more so with patients' families than the kids themselves.
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* AcademicAthlete: Chris eventually became one, having embraced cross country and fencing in high school. Jacob shows shades of this as well.
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* SickeninglySweethearts: Grace's son Jacob and Chris' nephew Aaron think their mom/uncle are this. Justified in that they're prepubescent boys.
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* DistressedDude: Like Grace, Chris tries to hide this tendency, but because of his PTSD and [[spoiler: brief drug addiction]], he shows shades of this at times.
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* DistressedDude: Like Grace, Chris tries to hide this tendency, but because of his PTSD and [[spoiler: brief drug addiction]], he shows shades of this at times. When challenged to [[spoiler: save those he loves]], he more or less becomes a [[BadAssInDistress Bad Butt In Distress.]]
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* DamselInDistress: Grace downplays it, but considering her divorce and fight to regain permanent custody of Jacob, she does fall into the category at times. Chris sees her as such, though he also openly admires her strength and intelligence.
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* DistressedDude: Like Grace, Chris tries to hide this tendency, but because of his PTSD and [[spoiler: brief drug addiction]], he shows shades of this at times.
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* AdultsAreUseless: Averted. Jacob initially believes this because of his parents' divorce; in his view, grown-ups don't care what kids think and do whatever they want with and to said kids. Grace, Chris, and his grandma all help him see that adults can be quite attentive.
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* BerserkButton: Chris Anderson comes off as a nerdy NonActionGuy who wouldn't hurt a fly. Mess with a child, however, and you'll see he's really a force to be reckoned with.
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* GentlemanAndAScholar: Chris. He's very smart, but never stuck-up about it, and unfailingly genial. Hit his BerserkButton however...
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* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: All over the book:
** Chris to Grace and vice versa
**Chris to Jacob
**Grandma to Grace
**Paul Marcello, Chris' friend and [[spoiler: halfway house counselor]] to him and to the other men he works with
**Chris' dad to him
** Chris to Grace and vice versa
**Chris to Jacob
**Grandma to Grace
**Paul Marcello, Chris' friend and [[spoiler: halfway house counselor]] to him and to the other men he works with
**Chris' dad to him
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* SafetyInIndifference: Both romantic protagonists start the story here to some degree, because HopeIsScary. They help each other out of it.
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**One of the things that separates Chris from Kyle is that he regularly uses these with Jacob (stuff like "buddy" or "sport") which Jacob outright says he appreciates.
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* OohMeAccent'sSlipping: Chris has a kind of inversion, in that whenever he's upset, his light Southern accent actually gets thicker and harder to understand. This carries shades of PoirotSpeak too, because even during an accent-heavy moment, Chris never has trouble saying complicated words or otherwise speaking like an educated adult. However, he does indulge in a lot of "ain't," dropping the "g's" off gerunds, double negatives, and things of that ilk.
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* Can'tKillYouStillNeedYou: Kyle gets to the point that he wants to kill Chris for moving in on his turf, and also for [[spoiler: exposing him when he tries to kidnap Jacob.]] But when given the opportunity, Kyle realizes he can use Chris and Grace as leverage against each other.
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* IfIWantedYouDead: Inverted when [[spoiler: Kyle tries to kill Chris.]] He's already attempted it a couple times, and Chris' response is, "If you really wanted to, you'd have done it already."
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**Overlaps with HotTeacher, although Chris [[CluelessChickMagnet doesn't think he's hot.]]
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* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Jacob is like this sometimes. Justified because he grew up as an only child, and with a parent that caused a lot of turmoil in the home. Chris lampshades it once by telling him he's too smart for his own good.
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* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Some brief examples. Although Grace was born in Tennessee and her mother spent many years there, the family moved to Boston when she was little because of her dad's job. Thus, when Grace returns to the South, she sometimes finds Southern terms confusing. For example, Chris once offers to buy her a Coke and asks what kind she wants. Grace thinks Coke automatically = Coca-Cola Classic, so Chris has to explain that to Southerners, everything carbonated is a Coke regardless of brand or flavor. Jacob also has a bit of this; for example, he doesn't recognize the somewhat Southern word "salve," which means "ointment."
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* RightManInTheWrongPlace: Chris became this when [[spoiler: two of his school's older students decided to commit a shooting, using a fire to lure everyone out.]] Rather than cowering in fear, his first instinct was to [[spoiler: run up to the students and try to wrestle away the guns.]] He got injured in the process and sustained a healthy case of PTSD, but man!
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* WouldHitAGirl: It's not Kyle's usual M.O., but Grace mentions he has hit her on occasion. He also grabs her, pinches her hard enough to leave bruises, and in the climactic scene [[spoiler: slashes her skin with a switchblade multiple times to get Chris to do what he wants.]]
**Because of Kyle, Grace initially thinks Chris is capable of hurting women, especially when she sees his martial arts talent. He has to win her trust to prove he would not hurt her.
* WouldHurtAChild: Kyle pulls this with Jacob and with Chris' little niece. The results are [[NoHoldsBarredBeatDown not pretty.]]
**Because of Kyle, Grace initially thinks Chris is capable of hurting women, especially when she sees his martial arts talent. He has to win her trust to prove he would not hurt her.
* WouldHurtAChild: Kyle pulls this with Jacob and with Chris' little niece. The results are [[NoHoldsBarredBeatDown not pretty.]]
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* ManlyMenCanHunt: Discussed. Chris tells Grace he can do it, but prefers not to--he used to go on hunting trips with his brothers and dad and pretend to like it. Somewhat subverted in that he's an excellent fisherman.
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* RealMenCook: Discussed. Chris' parents are well-rounded folks who are fairly modern when it comes to gender roles. His mother insisted all three of her sons learn to cook before leaving for college because, "No way are you living on frozen dinners." Elsewhere, we learn Chris' best friend Walker Bentley wants to open a restaurant.
