Through Cora and Quinn’s grief and guilt at the loss of Mabel and Parker, respectively, Jasmine Warga explores the devastation of losing a sibling. Cora’s grief often seems unmanageable in its intensity. The grief is isolating as well as overwhelming. Cora thinks, “[M]y missing sometimes makes me feel like the loneliest person in the world” (207). Quinn observes Cora’s grief when they meet in the woods for the first time and Cora is overcome by tears when they speak of Mabel.

Quinn’s familiarity with Cora’s tears illustrates her own grief at losing Parker. In numerous letters to her brother, Quinn remembers Parker’s frequent kindness through their childhood. At the beach when Quinn was scared of the waves, she remembers Parker in a positive light: “You were so patient with me” and “you held my hand and stayed with me. You showed me how to not be afraid of the water” (129). Her longing for her brother is evident in these letters. In another letter to Parker, Quinn tells him, “[Y]ou’re never going to know how much I loved you” (327). Quinn’s grief is complicated through feelings of guilt at the way Parker died. She reflects that she saw Parker opening their father’s gun safe but did not intervene.