Autumn in That's Not My Name: Character Analysis

Overview: The Sheriff's Daughter Who Switches Sides

Autumn is the sheriff's daughter and Lola's best friend, a character who begins the story as Drew's most vocal accuser and gradually becomes one of his most resourceful allies. Her arc is defined by a shift from blind trust in her father's authority to a willingness to break the rules when that authority fails. She uses her access to Sheriff Roane's office—his computer password, his tip-line recordings, and her knowledge of police procedure—to help Drew and Max investigate Lola's disappearance. Autumn is not a passive observer; she is the one who turns a vague plan into a concrete operation, impersonating a police secretary to arrange a witness meeting and pushing the group to follow the evidence even when it leads away from her father's jurisdiction.

Her role in the story raises a central question: what does loyalty mean when the people in power are wrong? Autumn's journey suggests that loyalty to the truth can require betraying the institutions and people you were raised to trust.

Plot Role: From Accuser to Investigator

Autumn's role in the narrative can be divided into three phases:

The Accuser (Chapters 4–11): Autumn confronts Drew outside Lola's house, accusing him of being responsible for her disappearance and defending her father's investigation. She writes the word “Murderer” on his locker and follows him around town, convinced he is hiding something. Her turning point comes when she breaks into Drew's room, finds his investigation board, and plays him a voicemail from Lola that she had given to her father weeks earlier. When Drew explains that he broke up with Lola that night, Autumn's certainty cracks, and she apologizes, offering to help.
The Insider (Chapters 12–19): Autumn becomes the group's access point to the police investigation. She provides her father's computer password, distracts him while Drew copies the tip-line recordings, and later keeps the USB drive hidden in her home. When Sheriff Roane dismisses the Waybrooke lead, Autumn is the one who insists they investigate anyway, joining Drew and Max on the drive to the coast.
The Investigator (Chapters 20–26): In Waybrooke, Autumn takes the lead. She impersonates the sheriff's secretary to convince witness Meredith Hoyt to meet them, and she reassures thrift store owner Eloise enough to get crucial details about Lola's visit. When the Alton police dismiss their evidence, Autumn copies Ben Hooper's address from an unlocked computer screen, giving Drew the location that leads to Lola's rescue.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Autumn's motivations are rooted in grief and guilt. She lost her best friend, and her initial aggression toward Drew is a way of channeling that grief into something actionable. Her actions reveal several key traits:

Resourceful: She knows how to navigate police bureaucracy because she has spent years doing homework in her father's office. She uses this knowledge to impersonate a police secretary, block her number, and arrange a witness meeting.
Decisive: When Drew hesitates at the Alton police precinct, Autumn steps forward and speaks for the group. She does not wait for permission to act.
Loyal: Her loyalty shifts from her father to the truth. She keeps the stolen USB drive, hangs up on her father when he calls, and chooses to help Drew even when it means defying the sheriff.
Impulsive: Her early accusations are based on emotion rather than evidence. She writes “Murderer” on Drew's locker without knowing the full story, and she later admits she was wrong.
Brave: She is willing to break into a police station, impersonate an officer, and drive to an unfamiliar town—all actions that carry real legal and personal risk.

Chronological Arc: A Shift in Allegiance

Autumn's arc is a gradual movement from certainty to doubt to action.

Chapter 4: She confronts Drew outside Lola's house, accusing him and defending her father.
Chapter 7: She glares at Drew in the art studio and is blamed for the “Murderer” graffiti on his locker.
Chapter 11: She breaks into Drew's room, finds his investigation board, and plays Lola's voicemail. When Drew explains the breakup, she apologizes and offers to help.
Chapter 12: She joins Max and Drew in planning the break-in, providing her father's password and agreeing to distract him.
Chapter 15: She listens to the stolen recordings with the group and keeps the USB drive.
Chapter 19: She hesitates when Drew proposes driving to Waybrooke, but agrees to join.
Chapter 20: She impersonates a police secretary to arrange a meeting with Meredith Hoyt.
Chapter 22: She reassures Eloise at Nana's Favorites, getting key details about Lola's visit.
Chapter 24: She helps present the evidence at the Alton precinct and later copies Ben Hooper's address from an unlocked computer.
Epilogue: She joins Drew and Max at the boat launch to share stories about Lola, and she is seen holding hands with Max, suggesting a new relationship.

Relationships: The People Who Shape Her Choices

With Lola: Lola was Autumn's best friend. The voicemail Lola left her—sobbing and calling someone a monster—is the evidence Autumn gives her father, and it becomes the basis for the investigation into Drew. Autumn's grief is personal; she lost someone she loved, and her anger at Drew is partly anger at herself for not being there when Lola needed her.

With Drew: Autumn's relationship with Drew moves from hostility to grudging partnership. She calls him an asshole and accuses him of murder, but she also listens when he tells the truth. Their partnership is built on a shared goal rather than trust, but by the end, they are able to sit together and remember Lola.

With Sheriff Roane: Autumn's relationship with her father is the most complicated. She initially believes he is doing his job, but as the investigation stalls, she begins to see his limitations. She hangs up on him when he calls, and she keeps the stolen USB drive hidden from him. Her choice to defy him is a rejection of his authority, not a rejection of him as a parent.

With Max: Max and Autumn are often paired in the narrative—he laughs at her jokes, she blushes when he compliments her, and they hold hands in the epilogue. Their relationship is a quiet counterpoint to the main investigation, suggesting that even in the midst of tragedy, connection is possible.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Giving the voicemail to her father: This decision makes Drew the primary suspect and leads to a warrant for his car. It is a decision based on loyalty to her father and grief for Lola, but it has the unintended consequence of derailing the investigation.
Apologizing to Drew and offering to help: This is the turning point of her arc. It requires her to admit she was wrong and to risk her relationship with her father.
Providing her father's password and distracting him: This is an act of active betrayal. It allows Drew to steal the tip-line recordings, which ultimately leads to the Waybrooke lead.
Impersonating a police secretary: This is a risky, illegal act that could have serious consequences. It works, but it shows how far Autumn is willing to go.
Copying Ben Hooper's address: This small act of theft gives Drew the location he needs to find Lola. It is the final step in her transformation from accuser to investigator.

Theme Connections

Autumn's arc connects to several of the book's central themes:

Identity and Self-Reclamation: Autumn's identity is initially defined by her role as the sheriff's daughter. As she begins to question her father, she reclaims her own identity as Lola's friend and as someone who acts on her own judgment.
Gaslighting and Psychological Control: Autumn's father dismisses the evidence the group brings him, telling Drew that the Waybrooke lead is a smoke screen. Autumn's decision to ignore her father and follow the evidence is a rejection of that gaslighting.
Grief and Survivor's Guilt: Autumn's anger at Drew is a manifestation of her grief. She lashes out because she cannot process the loss of her best friend.
Memory and Trauma: Autumn's memories of Lola—the voicemail, the jacket she made—are what drive her to act. The jacket becomes a key piece of evidence, connecting the past to the present.
Mistrust of Authority and Vigilante Justice: Autumn's arc is a direct challenge to the idea that authority figures are always right. She learns that her father's investigation is flawed, and she chooses to take justice into her own hands.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Autumn initially believe Drew is responsible for Lola's disappearance?

Autumn believes Drew is responsible because she has a voicemail from Lola, recorded the night she disappeared, in which Lola is sobbing and calling someone a monster. Autumn assumes that someone is Drew, and she gives the voicemail to her father, who uses it to build a case against him.

2. What makes Autumn change her mind about Drew?

Autumn changes her mind when she breaks into Drew's room and finds his investigation board. When she confronts him, he tells her the truth: he broke up with Lola that night at the boat launch. This explanation, combined with the evidence of Drew's genuine search efforts, makes Autumn realize she was wrong.

3. How does Autumn use her position as the sheriff's daughter to help the investigation?

Autumn uses her access to her father's office to provide Drew with the computer password, distract her father during the break-in, and later keep the stolen USB drive hidden. She also uses her knowledge of police procedure to impersonate a police secretary and arrange a meeting with a witness.

4. What is Autumn's most significant act of defiance?

Autumn's most significant act of defiance is hanging up on her father when he calls to confront her about the Waybrooke investigation. This moment marks her complete break from his authority and her commitment to the truth, even when it means opposing her own family.

5. How does Autumn's relationship with Max develop over the course of the story?

Autumn and Max are initially part of the same friend group, but their relationship becomes more personal as they work together. Max compliments her, she blushes, and in the epilogue, they are seen holding hands. Their relationship suggests that even in the aftermath of tragedy, there is room for new beginnings.

Conclusion

Autumn is a character who embodies the book's central tension between loyalty and truth. She begins as an accuser, certain of Drew's guilt, and ends as an investigator, willing to break the law to find the truth. Her arc is a reminder that grief can make people act irrationally, but it can also give them the courage to question everything they thought they knew. In the end, Autumn is not just the sheriff's daughter; she is Lola's friend, Drew's ally, and someone who chooses to do what is right, even when it costs her everything.

For more on the themes that shape Autumn's journey, see the analysis of identity and self-reclamation, gaslighting and psychological control, and mistrust of authority and vigilante justice. To understand how the story resolves, read the ending explained page.