The Inmate

Brooke Sullivan is the first-person protagonist of the novel. As a 17-year-old, Brooke is characterized as naïve and inexperienced, though hardly an angel. Brooke lies to her parents about dating Shane and resents their overprotectiveness, especially after they give her a curfew after the murder of a local girl. Teenage Brooke thinks she knows what’s best for her and does what she wants despite her parents’ concerns. These choices backfire when Brooke finds herself in a horrific situation. In the aftermath of the murders, the traumatized Brooke’s personality shifts. Rather than rejecting her parents’ concerns, she is now filled with doubts about her ability to raise her son, so she allows them to send her away and submits to their demands that she stay off social media. Yet Brooke fails to understand that her parents are attempting to protect her when they refuse to allow her to come home.

Adult Brooke is characterized as trusting and still naïve. Although Brooke has survived a terrible ordeal and been forced to grow up quickly to take care of her child, she is somewhat stuck inside her 17-year-old self, often replaying the murders in her mind and seeing the world through the eyes of a rebellious teenager.