Love Unwritten Quiz – Test Your Knowledge

Explore the world of Ellie, Rafael, and Nico in this comprehensive quiz on Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher. Each question is based on the book’s plot, characters, themes, and symbols. After the quiz, check your answers with the key and explanations.

For a deeper dive, visit the book overview, the questions and answers page, or the ending explained.

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

1. What event directly leads to Rafael firing Ellie?
   A) Ellie secretly cowrote a pop star’s album
   B) She kept Nico’s vision loss hidden from Rafael
   C) She left the house without permission
   D) She broke a valuable item

2. After being fired, where does Ellie first go to stay? (Short answer)

3. What convinces Ellie to return to the Lopez household as nanny?
   A) Rafael doubles her salary
   B) Rafael apologises and admits he needs her trust
   C) Nico runs away from home
   D) Julian threatens to sue her

4. What accident forces Nico to reveal his worsening eyesight to the doctor? (Short answer)

5. How does Rafael initially react when he learns that Ellie knew about Nico’s vision but didn’t tell him?
   A) He thanks her for protecting Nico
   B) He fires her on the spot
   C) He asks for her side of the story
   D) He ignores the information

6. What physical change does Rafael make after the Hawaiian luau that symbolises letting go of grief? (Short answer)

7. Who offers Ellie a million dollars to become a fake fiancée?
   A) Cole Griffin
   B) Lorenzo Vittori
   C) Willow
   D) Julian

8. What song does Ava Rhodes release that publicly betrays Ellie’s past? (Short answer)

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

1. Why does Nico hide his worsening vision from his father for months?
   A) He is afraid of being punished
   B) He overheard Rafael crying at the doctor’s office in January
   C) He thinks his eyesight will improve on its own
   D) He wants to surprise Rafael with a sudden improvement

2. What is the main reason Rafael is afraid of marriage and commitment? (Short answer)

3. Why does Ellie eventually accept Cole Griffin’s offer to co-write an album in Europe?
   A) She needs the money to pay legal fees
   B) She wants to reclaim her songwriting career and her voice
   C) Rafael forces her to take the opportunity
   D) She wants to distance herself from Nico

4. Why does Rafael fire Ellie for a second time near the end of the book? (Short answer)

5. What prevents Ellie from admitting the full truth about her self-harm history until late in the story?
   A) She promised Ava never to tell anyone
   B) Shame and fear of judgment
   C) She does not trust Rafael
   D) She forgot the details

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

1. What does the “smile tracker” dry-erase board on the refrigerator represent?
   A) Ellie’s obsessive personality
   B) The gradual thawing of Rafael’s emotional walls
   C) A game that Nico invented
   D) Rafael’s anger management

2. What do hibiscus flowers symbolise in Ellie and Rafael’s relationship? (Short answer)

3. The song “Silver Scars” is a symbol of which of the following?
   A) Ellie’s hidden songwriting talent
   B) Her past self-harm and emotional pain
   C) Betrayal by her former friend Ava
   D) All of the above

4. What does the white box Rafael gives Ellie represent? (Short answer)

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

1. How does Ellie’s relationship with her own music change from the beginning of the novel to the end? (Short answer)

2. Which statement best describes the central conflict of the novel?
   A) Ellie must choose between love and a music career
   B) Both Ellie and Rafael struggle with trust issues and fear of abandonment
   C) Rafael’s wealth creates a barrier between him and Ellie
   D) Nico’s health crisis drives the entire plot

3. What is the significance of Nico choosing to call Ellie “Mom” in the extended epilogue? (Short answer)

Answer Key

1. B – Ellie hid Nico’s worsening retinitis pigmentosa at Nico’s request. Rafael felt betrayed and fired her (Chapter 6).
2. Willow’s bungalow – Ellie drove to her best friend’s lakeside home in the middle of the night (Chapter 7).
3. B – Rafael admitted he needed her back for Nico’s sake and apologised for firing her without a second chance (Chapter 15).
4. He falls and splits his chin open – During a late-night accident, Nico crashed and required stitches, exposing the secret (Chapter 5–6).
5. B – Rafael fired her immediately, refusing to let her say goodbye (Chapter 6).
6. He shaves his beard – This conscious act symbolised releasing two years of grief and sadness (Chapter 31).
7. B – Lorenzo Vittori, a billionaire running for mayor, offered her a fake engagement during the same night she was fired (Chapter 7).
8. “Silver Scars” – Ava released this song about self-harm that Ellie had written about herself (Chapter 30).
9. B – Nico did not want to upset his father, whom he had overheard crying after the diagnosis (Chapter 2).
10. Trust issues from his failed marriage to Hillary and a deep fear of abandonment – Rafael’s past with his ex-wife and his mother’s departure made him avoid commitment (Chapters 34, 36).
11. B – Ellie wanted to reclaim her voice and move past the trauma of having her songs stolen; the offer was a chance to heal (Chapter 43, 47).
12. To trigger a $100,000 severance payment and begin a romantic relationship with Ellie – By firing her as nanny, he freed them from the employer-employee boundary (Chapter 48–49).
13. B – Shame about her history of self-harm (starting at age eleven) kept her from being vulnerable until Rafael proved he could accept her scars (Chapter 30, 42, 44).
14. B – The twelve (later thirteen) tally marks track Rafael’s rare smiles, reflecting a slow opening of his emotional walls (Chapter 1).
15. Love, commitment, and the growing bond between Ellie and Rafael – Rafael picks hibiscus flowers for Ellie’s hair, and later he builds a greenhouse for them; the flowers appear at the proposal (Chapters 45, 67).
16. D – The song covers Ellie’s talent, her self-harm pain, and Ava’s theft (Chapter 30, 44).
17. Trust and vulnerability – Rafael used the box as a decoy to delay Ellie while he cared for kittens, but the moment deepened their intimacy (Chapter 56–57).
18. She moves from being an uncredited ghostwriter for a pop star, hiding her talent, to publicly cowriting with Cole Griffin and writing a personal love song she keeps for herself – Ellie reclaims her artistic identity and learns that some songs are private (Chapters 1, 60, 63).
19. B – Both characters must overcome deep-seated trust issues and fear of abandonment to build a lasting relationship (Chapters 36, 37).
20. It represents the formation of a chosen family, healing from Hillary’s abandonment, and Nico fully accepting Ellie as a mother figure – The epilogue shows their blended family living in unconditional love (Chapter 68).