The Unicorn Ankle Charm in Can’t Get Enough
Introduction
The unicorn ankle charm that Maverick Bell gifts Hendrix Barry in Can’t Get Enough is both a lavish piece of jewelry and a concentrated symbol of the novel’s central tensions around ambition, recognition, and the scarcity of success for marginalized founders. The charm is made of gold and diamonds, with sapphire eyes, and features a unicorn head and horn. It first appears when Maverick fastens it around Hendrix’s ankle during an intimate moonlit dance on his super-yacht. Its literal presence on her body thereafter transforms it from a single romantic gesture into a recurring motif that tracks Hendrix’s self-perception, Maverick’s deepening understanding of her, and the professional dreams that define her.
What the Unicorn Ankle Charm Literally Is
The charm is a delicate piece of jewelry: a gold chain interspersed with diamonds and centered on a unicorn pendant set with diamonds and sapphires. Maverick presents it in a velvet bag, kneeling not to propose but to adorn Hendrix’s bare foot. The scene is suffused with sensory detail—the ocean breeze, the jazz track “Blue in Green” playing, the moonlight glinting off the diamonds—and the physicality of the gift underscores its intimacy. Unlike the other luxurious items Maverick showers on Hendrix (a diamond-and-platinum grill, a Bentley-sized gesture), the anklet is tied directly to her identity, not her taste.
The Gift as Recognition of Rare Ambition
The charm’s significance is made explicit in the giving. Maverick tells Hendrix, “I know you have to find your own billion-dollar company, but this is just keeping the dream in front of you.” In venture capital, a “unicorn” is a privately held startup valued at over $1 billion—a term Hendrix herself uses earlier when discussing her fund Aspire’s first potential unicorn. By choosing a unicorn, Maverick signals that he sees not just Hendrix the woman but Hendrix the founder, the hustle-driven partner who relentlessly works to elevate Black women entrepreneurs. The charm becomes a wearable reminder of the career-defining goal she chases.
This isn’t a vague compliment. Maverick has witnessed her dedication at the Aspire showcase and later learns about her legal battle to defend the fund against a lawsuit that mirrors real-world attacks on equity-focused programs. The unicorn thus embodies the tension between Hendrix’s soaring ambition and the structural barriers described in the novel’s Author’s Note: Black women receive a fraction of venture capital funding, and systemic inequities make the unicorn dream even more elusive. The charm crystallizes both the rarity of such success and Hendrix’s refusal to accept the status quo.
Where the Charm Recurs and How Its Meaning Evolves
After the yacht scene, the anklet does not fade into the background. In a later chapter, Hendrix notes, “Maverick’s hand reaches down to caress the unicorn ankle bracelet I can’t seem to make myself remove even if I’m lounging at home in cutoffs and a ratty T-shirt.” She wears it constantly, stripping it of its status as a mere occasion piece. The charm’s persistence on her ankle mirrors how Maverick’s belief in her has become internalized. Initially a gift that links her ambition to his gaze, it transforms into a private talisman she keeps even when no one is watching. It represents a self-image no longer dependent on external validation yet rooted in the moment someone truly saw her.
The charm also threads through glimpses of their domestic intimacy. When Maverick later kneels to propose, he reaches for her ankle again, and the unicorn is still there. The symbolic continuity between the first gift and the commitment of marriage underscores that the partnership he offers is built on the same foundation: he loved the woman who hunts unicorns, not a softened version of her. The charm thus evolves from an emblem of a singular dream to a marker of a shared life that does not require Hendrix to diminish her professional fire.
Character and Theme Connections
Hendrix’s Professional Identity
Hendrix co-founded Aspire to invest in Black women, and her drive permeates every conversation about work. The unicorn charm externalizes that internal engine. None of her friends or colleagues miss the meaning: the term “unicorn” appears repeatedly in her venture capital lexicon. The charm is not just Maverick’s gift but a distillation of the language Hendrix already speaks, making it one of the most precise emotional gestures in the novel.
Maverick’s Recognition of Her Singularity
Maverick consistently distinguishes between giving Hendrix what she might want as a woman and what she needs as a person. The ankle charm is preceded by the careful assurance, “I’m going down on my knee, but it’s not a proposal,” to avoid triggering a fear of premature commitment. By aligning the gift with her ambition rather than a romantic milestone, he demonstrates a rare attunement. The charm symbolizes that he sees Hendrix as irreplaceable—a “unicorn” in her own right—long before he directly says “I love you.”
The Themes of Ambition and Systemic Inequity
The unicorn metaphor bridges the personal and the political. The novel explicitly tackles the weaponization of civil rights law to dismantle equity initiatives, and Hendrix’s fund becomes a test case for resilience. Her unicorn charm thus carries the weight of a collective struggle: the billion-dollar valuation is not just a personal milestone but a reclamation of spaces Black women are often excluded from. The charm is a tiny diamond protest against narratives that question the qualifications of marginalized founders, echoing the Author’s Note reflection that Black people are “expecting a stake in something we helped build.”
Trust and Emotional Vulnerability
Maverick’s ability to give a gift that so precisely mirrors Hendrix’s inner life requires profound trust—he must have listened, remembered, and risked being misunderstood. For Hendrix, accepting and continuing to wear the charm signals a lowering of her defenses. The woman who meticulously curates her luxury wardrobe and rarely lets anyone behind her professional armor chooses to keep a tangible piece of Maverick’s faith literally attached to her body. The anklet becomes a visible sign of the emotional vulnerability she allows only with him.
Loyalty and Romantic Desire
While the charm is not a ring, its placement on her ankle—a part of the body often associated with grounding and movement—subtly reinforces that Maverick wants to walk alongside her journey, not to still it. The unicorn does not pin her down; it adorns her stride. Their relationship is repeatedly tested by bicoastal lives and competing obligations, but the anklet remains a quiet promise that his loyalty encompasses her full, ambitious self.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Maverick choose a unicorn specifically for the ankle charm, and how does it connect to Hendrix’s career vocabulary?
In venture capital, a “unicorn” denotes a startup valued at over $1 billion. Hendrix uses this term when discussing her fund Aspire’s goal of fostering such a company. Maverick’s choice of a unicorn directly references her professional world, signaling that he respects and understands her ambition. Rather than imposing a romantic symbol, he adopts her language and anchors it in a tangible, beautiful object she will see daily.
2. How does Hendrix’s relationship with the charm change from the yacht scene to later chapters, and what does this shift reveal about her emotional state?
Initially, the charm is a gift received in a heightened romantic moment, tied to Maverick’s gesture. Later, she wears it constantly even in casual, unguarded settings, calling it something she “can’t seem to make myself remove.” This shift from occasion piece to permanent adornment reflects her internalization of Maverick’s belief in her. The charm becomes less about his gaze and more about her own sense of being seen and validated as a whole person.
3. In what ways does the unicorn ankle charm embody the novel’s larger critique of systemic inequity?
The charm physically represents the rare “unicorn” success that is statistically even less attainable for Black women founders due to systemic funding gaps. By wearing it while battling a lawsuit aimed at dismantling her equity-focused fund, Hendrix carries a reminder of what is at stake. The charm is not just personal aspiration but a symbol of resilience against institutional barriers, aligning with the novel’s argument that love and activism coexist.
4. Contrast the unicorn anklet with another significant gift Maverick gives Hendrix later—the Yorkshire terrier. What does the evolution between these gifts tell us about their relationship’s development?
The terrier is a living, breathing responsibility that Maverick offers with the explicit recognition that Hendrix pours love into caretaking, whether for friends, family, or chosen dependents. While the unicorn charm celebrated her ambition and singularity, the puppy acknowledges her nurturing core. The progression shows Maverick’s deepening understanding: he first validated the public Hendrix (the founder) and later affirmed the private Hendrix (the caregiver). Together, they demonstrate that his love embraces her in full, not in fragments.
For a broader exploration of the novel’s ideas, visit the main book page or delve into related themes: Ambition, Sacrifice, and Professional Integrity, Trust and Emotional Vulnerability, and Systemic Inequity and Resilience. You can also examine the charm’s owners through their character profiles: Hendrix Barry and Maverick Bell.