Chapter 23 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ 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 with Sloane and Naomi driving to Lee’s house in a quiet neighborhood, roughly a half-hour from the motel. Sloane keeps checking the rearview mirror for Ilie’s sports car and for police. A shady-looking van trails them for a few miles but turns off when they enter the neighborhood.
They park on the street and sit in silence, staring at the house. The unresolved problem of their thirst hangs over everything: if Naomi tries to break up with Lee in person, she might end up killing him instead. Sloane knows Naomi needs closure, and she also knows Lee would react badly if Naomi simply vanished—he’d come looking, start digging. There’s no right move.
Naomi insists she can do this. Sloane suggests rolling the window down as a buffer, but Naomi dismisses the idea and steps out to meet Lee halfway down the driveway. Before she goes, they have a brief exchange about certainty: Naomi says she used to always know what she wanted, but feels less sure as she gets older; Sloane admits she’s never been sure about anything, just careful about everything.
Naomi calls Lee, who comes outside in gray sweatpants, combat boots, and a Sherpa jacket, lighting a cigarette. The narrative offers background on Lee: he grew up in Pittsburgh, started playing guitar in seventh grade, attended SUNY Purchase, moved to Brooklyn, met Naomi at a show, and they were living together within a week. Sloane reflects that she trusted Naomi to pick her own partner, just as Naomi trusted her—and wonders if they both picked wrong, or if there is no picking right, only getting lucky.
Lee is confused and asks if someone died. Naomi says no—a lie—and tells him she’s done a lot of thinking. Lee misreads the situation, assuming she’s quitting the band. Naomi snaps back that she wasn’t quitting; she was breaking up with him. She tells him she’s leaving, that he won’t hear from her, and that she doesn’t want to hear from him. She makes a joking reference to Casablanca.
Lee dismisses her as crazy. Naomi points out that calling her crazy invalidates everything she says—no point she makes will be valid from here on out. She tells him any doubt she had that this was the right decision is now gone. Lee asks if it’s about something that happened in Budapest; Naomi says no, it’s about them.
As Naomi turns to get back in the car, Lee darts forward and blocks her, shoving his arm in front of the door. His jacket sleeves are too short, exposing his wrist. She bites him. He screams and tries to pull away, but her teeth are sunk in deep. Sloane shouts for her to stop, and eventually Naomi lets go.
Naomi climbs into the car, locks the doors, and shares blood with Sloane—pulling her in like a kiss, but feeding her. Lee bangs on the window, asking if Naomi is leaving him for Sloane, and they drive away as he chases the car down the street.
Naomi’s phone rings. It’s Lee, texting a barrage of messages: calling her crazy, a psycho, saying he might need the hospital, threatening that if she doesn’t come back now she shouldn’t bother at all—then shifting to pleas: “Please come back. please. just come back.” Naomi tosses the phone out the window.
She then offers Sloane her engagement and wedding rings, suggesting she throw them out the window as a symbolic gesture of freedom and letting go. Sloane hesitates, thinking about what she has left of Joel if she discards the rings. She slips them into her pocket, then changes her mind and tosses one ring out the window—not as a gesture of freedom or release, but of solidarity.
They notice the same black van with a distinctive dent behind them. At an intersection, the van hangs back about a car length, and they can’t see the driver. Naomi checks the news and finds nothing about the Waterfront incident or a missing man in the Finger Lakes. They make a quick turn, and the van goes straight. They stop at an ATM to withdraw cash—enough for gas, Naomi says, since nothing money can buy will help them now.
Key Events
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Sloane and Naomi drive to Lee’s house; a shady van trails them but turns off.
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Naomi breaks up with Lee in person, despite the risk of her thirst.
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Lee dismisses her as crazy; Naomi calls out the dismissal.
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Lee blocks Naomi from the car, and she bites his wrist.
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Naomi shares blood with Sloane in the car.
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Lee chases the car as they drive away.
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Naomi throws her phone out the window after Lee’s texts turn from insults to pleas.
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Naomi offers Sloane her rings; Sloane tosses one out as a gesture of solidarity.
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The black van with a dent reappears, then goes straight when they turn.
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They stop at an ATM to withdraw cash.
Character Development
Naomi shows both resolve and fragility in this chapter. She insists on facing Lee in person, driven by a need for closure, and she holds her ground when he tries to dismiss her. Her anger at being called crazy is sharp and justified—she articulates exactly how the word shuts down any argument she might make. Yet her voice breaks when she says “I love you, but…,” and she’s crying as she gets back in the car. Her quick bounce-back after tossing the phone suggests a resilience that borders on manic, and her decision to share blood with Sloane deepens their bond in a visceral way.
Sloane continues to be the cautious counterweight to Naomi’s impulsiveness. She admits she’s never been sure about anything, only careful about everything. Her hesitation with the rings reveals her attachment to her old life with Joel—she wonders what she has left of him if she discards them. Her decision to toss one ring anyway, framed explicitly as solidarity rather than freedom, shows her commitment to Naomi and to their new shared path.
Lee is revealed as dismissive and controlling. He misreads the breakup as a band issue, calls Naomi crazy, and tries to frame her as irrational. His escalation from threats to desperate pleas shows his instability, and his final question—whether Naomi is leaving him for Sloane—hints that he senses something deeper is going on.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Closure and letting go. Naomi’s entire mission in this chapter is to achieve closure on her own terms. She wants a clean break, and she’s willing to risk her thirst to get it. The tossed phone and the tossed ring are physical acts of letting go.
Dismissal of women’s voices. Lee’s repeated use of “crazy” to invalidate Naomi’s decision is a pointed example of how women’s concerns are often dismissed. Naomi names it explicitly: once she’s labeled crazy, nothing she says can be taken seriously.
Solidarity. Sloane’s ring toss is framed not as personal liberation but as solidarity with Naomi. The blood sharing is another form of solidarity—a physical bond that ties them together.
Surveillance and paranoia. The recurring black van with the dent creates a sense of being watched. Sloane’s constant checking of the rearview mirror and Naomi’s news-checking reinforce the paranoia that now defines their lives.
Bloodlust and consequence. Naomi’s bite is a direct consequence of the thirst they’ve been struggling to control. It shows how close they are to losing control, and how their condition endangers everyone around them.
Shared memories. Sloane’s reflection on “cold good”—a private joke with Joel—highlights what’s lost in a breakup: the accumulated small moments that can’t be split or shared.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter marks a definitive break from Naomi’s old life. The breakup with Lee is not just a personal decision—it’s a commitment to her new existence as something other than human. The bite, the blood sharing, and the discarded phone all signal that there’s no going back.
The chapter also deepens the sense of danger and surveillance. The reappearing van suggests they are being followed, and the lack of news coverage about the Waterfront incident or the missing man in the Finger Lakes implies a cover-up that could work for or against them.
Finally, Sloane’s ring toss—one ring, not both—captures her ambivalence. She’s not ready to fully let go of Joel, but she’s willing to make a gesture of commitment to Naomi. It’s a small, human moment in a chapter full of violence and flight.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Naomi insist on breaking up with Lee in person, despite the risk of her thirst?
Naomi needs closure on her own terms. She’s thought about leaving him before, and she knows that disappearing would only make Lee suspicious and send him looking for her. Facing him directly is the only way to make a clean break. Her insistence also reflects her character: when she knows what she wants, she goes after it. The risk of her thirst is real, but the need for closure outweighs it.
2. What does Sloane’s decision to toss one ring out the window symbolize?
Sloane tosses one ring as a gesture of solidarity with Naomi, not as a personal statement of freedom. She’s not ready to fully let go of Joel—she wonders what she has left of him if she discards the rings. Keeping one ring preserves a connection to her old life, while tossing the other signals her commitment to Naomi and their new path. It’s an ambivalent act that captures her uncertainty.
3. How does Lee’s reaction to the breakup reinforce the chapter’s themes about how women’s voices are dismissed?
Lee immediately labels Naomi’s decision as crazy, which shuts down any possibility of a real conversation. Naomi explicitly calls this out: once she’s crazy, nothing she says can be valid. Lee also misreads the breakup as a band issue, refusing to take her words at face value. His escalation from insults to desperate pleas shows that he’s more concerned with controlling the situation than with listening to what Naomi is actually saying.
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