Chapter 1 'Bite Me': Summary, Themes, and Study Notes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens at A Place of Yes, an S&M-themed restaurant in Times Square, where Eva Mercy is the guest of honor at a brunch hosted by a book club from Dayton, Ohio. The forty women—mostly white, upper-middle-class, and in their fifties—have traveled to Manhattan to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Eva’s bestselling erotica series, Cursed. Lacey, the club’s president, wears a purple witch hat and toasts Eva as a “sex goddess,” while the room is decorated with bondage ropes, riding crops, and goth candelabras.

Eva has chosen the “Cuffs + Cookies” menu option, leaving her handcuffed to a gothic throne while a waitress feeds her snickerdoodles. The chapter establishes Eva’s origin story: she accidentally became an erotica author when her college roommate submitted her writing to a contest, winning her a literary agent and a six-figure book deal. Despite her success, Eva hasn’t been intimate with anyone in a long time, channeling her energy into her writing and managing her chronic illness.

The celebration continues with Eva announcing that Cursed has been optioned for film rights by a Black female producer. The fans are ecstatic, discussing casting and the series’ themes. Eva delivers a monologue about the power of teen-girl passion, citing historical figures from Roxanne Shanté to Greta Thunberg. However, a fan’s comment about finding Black basketball players attractive makes Eva deeply uncomfortable, prompting her to reflect bitterly on her legacy.

Eva’s migraine begins to escalate. She’s been force-fed cookies, which trigger her condition. She tries to hide her pain, snapping a rubber band on her wrist as a distraction, but the episode worsens. She excuses herself, claiming she needs to call her daughter, and rushes to the bathroom where she vomits. She administers a painkiller injection and takes a medical marijuana gummy.

In the bathroom, Eva reflects on her invisible disability. She’s been hiding her chronic illness for years with white lies about canceled plans, fainting spells, and “writing retreats” that were actually hospital stays. She admits to herself that she wants to move beyond the Cursed series—she’s tired of writing “tortured romance” and hopes the movie deal will give her the financial freedom to write her dream book. The series provides stability for her daughter, Audre, which is why she continues.

Feeling somewhat better, Eva checks her phone and finds a flood of messages from Audre. She schedules an Uber and heads back to Brooklyn.

Key Events

Eva attends the fifteenth-anniversary brunch for Cursed at an S&M-themed restaurant in Times Square
She’s handcuffed to a chair as part of the “Cuffs + Cookies” menu option
She announces that Cursed has been optioned for film rights
She delivers a monologue about teen-girl passion, citing historical examples
A fan makes a racially charged comment about Black basketball players, unsettling Eva
She experiences a severe migraine episode triggered by the cookies
She excuses herself, vomits in the bathroom, and administers a painkiller injection and medical marijuana gummy
She reflects on hiding her illness and wanting to move beyond Cursed
She checks her phone and sees a flood of messages from Audre
She schedules an Uber and departs for Brooklyn

Character Development

Eva Mercy: The chapter establishes Eva as a woman performing normalcy. She’s “brilliant at faking things”—her public persona as a confident erotica author contrasts sharply with her private reality of chronic pain, exhaustion, and creative stagnation. Her internal conflict is clear: she loves her readers but resents the series that made her famous. She’s a devoted mother who endures her illness to provide for Audre, and she longs for creative reinvention, hoping the movie deal will fund her dream book.

Lacey: The book club president embodies devoted fandom. She’s enthusiastic, slightly drunk, and deeply invested in the Cursed world, wearing Gia’s signature purple witch hat and leading the toasts.

Audre: Though not physically present, Audre’s presence looms large. Eva’s reaction to her messages (“Jesus, Audre”) suggests a spirited, demanding tween who keeps her mother on her toes.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Invisible disability: Eva’s migraines are invisible to others. She hides her suffering behind white lies and carefully crafted excuses. The chapter explores the isolation of chronic illness and the exhausting labor of appearing “normal.”

Faking normalcy: Eva is “brilliant at faking things.” Her smudged eyeliner is intentional—she never knows when an episode will strike, so she styles her makeup to look deliberately messy. The chapter repeatedly shows her performing wellness for others.

The curse as love metaphor: In her books, Gia and Sebastian are cursed to wake up on opposite sides of the world after orgasm. Eva explains it as a metaphor for soul mates who endure any peril to be together—but privately, she finds the idea of “perilous love” nauseating, suggesting a wound from her own past.

Commercial vs. artistic writing: Eva wants to write her dream book but is trapped by the commercial success of Cursed. The series provides financial stability for Audre, creating a tension between artistic fulfillment and maternal responsibility.

Racial fetishization: The fan’s comment about Black basketball players being “Sebastian” highlights how Eva’s work has been consumed in ways that make her uncomfortable. She reflects on her legacy with bitterness, feeling her contribution to the world is inciting white women to sexually profile Black student athletes.

The cameo ring: Eva wears a vintage cameo ring on her left middle finger and inhales its scent for comfort—a small ritual that soothes her, hinting at a deeper personal history.

The S brand: Eva has Sebastian’s S branded on her forearm, a “regrettable decision” from her youth, symbolizing how her early choices continue to define her.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter establishes the central tension of Eva’s life: the gap between her public persona and her private reality. It introduces her chronic illness, her writer’s block, her complicated relationship with her own success, and her devotion to her daughter. The film option sets up a potential plot thread for the novel. The chapter also introduces themes of race, fandom, and the commodification of Black bodies that will likely resonate throughout the book.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Eva’s public performance at the brunch contrast with her private experience, and what does this reveal about her character?

Eva performs the role of the grateful, glamorous author—smiling, toasting, and delivering witty monologues—while privately battling a severe migraine and resenting the series that made her famous. This contrast reveals her as a woman deeply skilled at masking her true self, whether to protect her readers, her daughter, or herself. Her ability to “fake things” is both a survival mechanism and a source of exhaustion.

2. What role does the Cursed series play in Eva’s life, both practically and emotionally? Why does she want to move beyond it?

Practically, Cursed provides financial stability for Eva and her daughter Audre. Emotionally, the series is a burden—she’s tired of writing “tortured romance” and feels the characters no longer represent who she is. She wants to write her dream book and hopes the movie deal will give her the freedom to do so, but she’s trapped by the responsibility of providing for her daughter.

3. How does the chapter use the setting (the S&M-themed restaurant) to reinforce its themes?

The restaurant’s bondage imagery—the handcuffs, the ropes, the “Menu of Pain/Pleasure”—mirrors Eva’s own entrapment. She’s literally cuffed to a chair while being fed cookies that trigger her illness, symbolizing how her public role and her readers’ expectations constrain her. The pain/pleasure dichotomy also echoes her experience of chronic illness, where the celebration and the fans’ joy are inseparable from the migraine and the discomfort of the fan’s racial comment.