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* NeverARunaway: When Ellie is missing, after being raped and murdered by Noah and she's assumed to have run away, which only [[ParentsKnowTheirChildren her father Alex doesn't believe.]] When the thaw comes months later, her body is finally found and the truth discovered.
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* MagicalRealism: After being raped and murdered, Ellie continues to observe and move around her home, her town, and her murder site, but it isn't clear what she is doing there, she can't communicate with anyone, and she never meets anyone else in her position.
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* MagicalRealism: MagicRealism: After being raped and murdered, Ellie continues to observe and move around her home, her town, and her murder site, but it isn't clear what she is doing there, she can't communicate with anyone, and she never meets anyone else in her position.
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* HelplessObserverProtagonist: Since her murder, Ellie has haunted her small town, but can't interact with anyone or anything. Nobody sees her and she repeatedly tries to catch the attention of others, whether it's Caleb and Noah's other victims or her father Alex, but never does.
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* MagicalRealism: After being raped and murdered, Ellie continues to observe and move around her home, her town, and her murder site, but it isn't clear what she is doing there, she can't communicate with anyone, and she never meets anyone else in her position.
* FreudianExcuse: Noah is a BigBrotherBully to his younger brother Caleb, and their father hits their mother. While Ellie doesn't quite say FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse, her ongoing sympathy with Caleb is presented as partly because of their relationship.
* NoWomansLand: The brothers border on being ChaoticEvil, from what we see of them. While we see them [[TheBluebeard abducting girls they know, or are in relationships with]] (Ellie is one, and it's possibly not a coincidence that she ends up dying), they also kidnap girls off the street or try to get as many as possible to come into the house with them.
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* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of attention is paid to the fact that Noah and Caleb are rapists, although they literally murdered Ellie. Partially justified, as it doesn't seem like they intended to kill her; rather, it escalated from her assault. (Whether this is any sort of use is very debatable.)
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* PrivilegeMakesYouEvil: Although it isn't the only thing that makes them evil, Caleb and Noah exploit their wealth constantly to hurt girls or women.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of attention is paid to the fact that Noah and Caleb are rapists, although they literally murdered Ellie. Partially justified, as it doesn't seem like they intended to kill her; rather, it escalated from her assault. (Whether this is any sort ofuse excuse is very debatable.)
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of attention is paid to the fact that Noah and Caleb are rapists, although they literally murdered Ellie. Partially justified, as it doesn't seem like they intended to kill her; rather, it escalated from her assault. (Whether this is any sort of
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* BittersweetEnding: Although leaning heavily towards the ''bitter''. [[spoiler:Caleb and Noah are acquitted of all the rapes they committed, meaning none of their living victims get justice. The rape victims are left to struggle with their trauma and the fact that they weren't believed. They do, at least, go to prison for murdering Ellie - which seemed in no way a certainty - which means they can't hurt anybody else. Ellie's father does end up dating, but only years after his daughter's death, and it's clear that he'll never be the same. Ellie herself ends up as a ghost who can't communicate with anyone, but at least she saw her rapists and murderers be recognized for what they were.]]
* DownerBeginning: Ellie is raped, murdered, and left to rot by her abusive boyfriend and his equally horrible brother in an abandoned house caused by the mortgage crisis.
* DownerBeginning: Ellie is raped, murdered, and left to rot by her abusive boyfriend and his equally horrible brother in an abandoned house caused by the mortgage crisis.
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* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Pointedly subverted, alongside TheNothingAfterDeath. [[spoiler:Ellie keeps expecting any of these things to happen, but they never do. It isn't clear if there ''is'' anywhere to go, or anything to transform into, or even to stop - but Ellie never meets any other "ghosts", which suggests that what happens to her is special in some way.]]
* BittersweetEnding: Although leaning heavily towards the ''bitter''. [[spoiler:Caleb and Noah are acquitted of all the rapes they committed, meaning none of their living victims get justice. The rape victims are left to struggle with their trauma and the fact that they weren't believed. They do, at least, go to prison for murdering Ellie - which seemed in no way a certainty - which means they can't hurt anybody else. Ellie's father does end up dating, but only years after his daughter's death, and it's clear that he'll never be the same. Ellie herself ends up as a ghost who can't communicate with anyone, it's not clear if she'll ever move on or if there's anywhere to go, but at least she saw her rapists and murderers be recognized for what they were.]]
* DaddysGirl: Ellie loves her father Alex (and him her) more than she can ever say, but she finds it impossible to communicate with him...even ''before'' she died.
* DownerBeginning: Ellie is raped, murdered, and left to rot by her abusive boyfriend and his equally horrible brother in an abandoned house caused by the mortgagecrisis.crisis.
* GoryDiscretionShot: While it's clear that Ellie was raped and murdered, exactly how she died is thankfully never made clear, and the rapes are portrayed on-screen but very discreetly.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The only thing that takes Ellie out of the LivingMemory category is that she is able to watch the current present (so, her future) unravelling in front of her.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of attention is paid to the fact that Noah and Caleb are rapists, although they literally murdered Ellie. Partially justified, as it doesn't seem like they intended to kill her; rather, it escalated from her assault. (Whether this is any sort of use is very debatable.)
* SlutShaming: Ellie is on the receiving end of it in life (often doled out by her "boyfriend", Caleb), and she and their other victims are degraded like this after her death.
* TyrannicalTownTycoon: Caleb and Noah's father, who beats his wife yet is wealthy and well-connected within their town as he makes money off the amount of abandoned houses, buying them up after foreclosure.
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* BittersweetEnding: Although leaning heavily towards the ''bitter''. [[spoiler:Caleb and Noah are acquitted of all the rapes they committed, meaning none of their living victims get justice. The rape victims are left to struggle with their trauma and the fact that they weren't believed. They do, at least, go to prison for murdering Ellie - which seemed in no way a certainty - which means they can't hurt anybody else. Ellie's father does end up dating, but only years after his daughter's death, and it's clear that he'll never be the same. Ellie herself ends up as a ghost who can't communicate with anyone, it's not clear if she'll ever move on or if there's anywhere to go, but at least she saw her rapists and murderers be recognized for what they were.]]
* DaddysGirl: Ellie loves her father Alex (and him her) more than she can ever say, but she finds it impossible to communicate with him...even ''before'' she died.
* DownerBeginning: Ellie is raped, murdered, and left to rot by her abusive boyfriend and his equally horrible brother in an abandoned house caused by the mortgage
* GoryDiscretionShot: While it's clear that Ellie was raped and murdered, exactly how she died is thankfully never made clear, and the rapes are portrayed on-screen but very discreetly.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The only thing that takes Ellie out of the LivingMemory category is that she is able to watch the current present (so, her future) unravelling in front of her.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of attention is paid to the fact that Noah and Caleb are rapists, although they literally murdered Ellie. Partially justified, as it doesn't seem like they intended to kill her; rather, it escalated from her assault. (Whether this is any sort of use is very debatable.)
* SlutShaming: Ellie is on the receiving end of it in life (often doled out by her "boyfriend", Caleb), and she and their other victims are degraded like this after her death.
* TyrannicalTownTycoon: Caleb and Noah's father, who beats his wife yet is wealthy and well-connected within their town as he makes money off the amount of abandoned houses, buying them up after foreclosure.
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* BittersweetEnding: Although leaning heavily towards the ''bitter''. [[spoiler:Caleb and Noah are acquitted of all the rapes they committed, meaning none of their living victims get justice. The rape victims are left to struggle with their trauma and the fact that they weren't believed. They do, at least, go to prison for murdering Ellie - which seemed in no way a certainty - which means they can't hurt anybody else. Ellie's father does end up dating, but only years after his daughter's death, and it's clear that he'll never be the same. Ellie herself ends up as a ghost who can't communicate with anyone, but at least she saw her rapists and murderers be recognized for what they were.]]
* DownerBeginning: Ellie is raped, murdered, and left to rot by her abusive boyfriend and his equally horrible brother in an abandoned house caused by the mortgage crisis.
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A 2018 debut novel by T.E. Carter. Ellie Frietas has been tormented through middle school, so she tries to blend in when she goes to high school. This earns her the attention of popular jerk Caleb, who convinces her that they can be secretly boyfriend and girlfriend. Unknown to Ellie, though, Caleb is dangerously in the thrall of his older, sadistic brother, Noah, and together they abduct, rape, and murder Ellie. She, forgotten in their deprived, lost town, watches over her own murder trial and tries to reckon with her memories of what has happened to her, and what it means to get justice.
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