# data[].attributes.body
Rafe raised his eyebrows. "Don't you want to hear this? I'm telling you a tender tale of father-son bonding, and all you can talk about is red tape. Once my father found out I could shoot, he used to pull me out of school for a week, every time the season came around. Those are the only times in my life when he's treated me like something other than a living ad for contraception. For my sixteenth birthday, he got me-"

"I'm fairly sure we do need a license officially," Daniel said, "but I think we should leave it, at least for now. I 've had enough of the police for a while..." (182)

# data[].attributes.body
"Rafe swung one leg over the piano stool and swept a finger up to the keys in a great expert flourish...Abby laughed. She gave the bow of my sas another tug, tightening it; then she went to the piano and started to sing.

"I had heard Abby sing before, but only to herself when she thought no one was listening, never like this. That voice: it was the kind you don't hear these days, a magnificent, full-blown contralto straight out of an old war film, a voice for smoky nightclubs and marcel-waved hair, red lipstick and a blue saxophone." (Pg. 174)

In this scene, it perfectly conveys Frank's goal for Lexie in her first week with these other characters: earning their trust. In this scenario, Abby is letting her whole self come out, with her usually singing to herself, she is allowing herself to shine, revealing her true nature. Which strengths Lexie's bond with Abby, and additionally, Rafe and Justin.

# data[].attributes.body
(Rafe)

"Hello," he said, giving me the finger. Then his chair came down, and his face changed; it froze over, into that haughty, unreadable mask he wore in college and around outsiders. "Dad," he said.

Without an eyeblink, the others drew closer around him; you could feel it in the air, a tightening, a solidifying as they ranged themselves at his shoulders. (162)

# data[].attributes.body
"She gave me a quizzical look when I headed for my bedroom to change: it was obviously out of character, but I couldn't do much about that, except hope she would put it down to self-consciousness about the bandage or something." (310)

This moment is when Cassie leaves the room rather than change in front of Abby. Maybe this fits more in cracks, but I perceived this as Cassie breaking one of the rules of what it means to be Lexie. Normally, as a rule Lexie would be used to changing in front of Abby but because Cassie has to hide her mic, she breaks the rule to change in a different room. This confuses Abby, but doesn't raise enough suspicion to lead to consequences as Cassie could explain it away if questioned. Regardless, this moment exists in the story to add tension to the overall piece.

# data[].attributes.body
"Dammit to hell and blast and buggeration," I said. "That's a highly illogical thing to say," said Justin lazily, from the swing seat. "What's wrong with buggeration?"

My antennae went up." (334 ebook)

# data[].attributes.body
"Abby cut her eyes at me, like a cue. ... his was Lexie's job, breaking tension, coming in with some cheeky comment so everyone could roll their eyes and laugh and move on."

(336, Ebook)

# data[].attributes.body
"'Did you tell him about the graffiti?' Daniel asked Abby. 'Or the break-ins?' Abby shook her head. 'He didn't ask, I didn't volunteer. You think...? I could phone and tell him.' Nobody mentioned anything about graffiti or break-ins."

(Daniel and Abby on Page 189)

"...For now, on the whole, I think the best plan is to leave it. If detective O'Neill picked up on the tension, he'll find out about the rest on his own, as well; there's no need to nudge him."

(Daniel on Page 190)

# data[].attributes.body
"I don't know how to put this...Is the baby ok?... If you ever want to talk about it or anything, you know where I am" (171)

Abby is being really considerate in this moment with Cassie. We can tell their bond is strong enough that she knows something is up just from them not getting chocolate like their normal routine. She knows to keep this information confidential and wants to be supportive right off the bat.

# data[].attributes.body
Daniel and Abby's late night conversation on the porch shows that they may have a separate/more unique bond than the other members or pairs that branch off from the group. There is an additional element of secrecy that is demonstrated through this conversation, and it shows some tension as well as trust in the bond between Daniel and Abby. Whatever they are talking about is more hidden, and they even mention sacrifices as well. The fact that they talk abut the possibility of leaving as well is quite interesting and shows that they have a different type of bond or trust.

# data[].attributes.body
Rules Broken: Cassie has a tendency to fall out of the undercover "rules" across the book in regard to Lexi. A big example of this is when she states that she doesn't really have to do detective work that Frank and Sam are doing in the background. At this moment she really only has to "Live Lexi's life." She states that this makes her feel certain feelings, such as lazy, which seems like this is a feeling she never got in other cases.

# data[].attributes.body
While Lexie is going on her walk she and Frank are talking and she has a moment where she forgets the point of the operation and forgets that someone could still be after her since she is so caught up with the housemates.

# data[].attributes.body
"After Frank hung up I spent a long time leaning against that tree, watching the broken outline of the cottage slowly fade and reappear as clouds moved across the moon, thinking about May-Ruth Thibodeux. Somehow giving her back her own name, her own hometown, her own story, brought it home to me: she had been real, not just a shadow cast by my mind and Franks; she had been alive." (162)

# data[].attributes.body
"The real-world thing. . . Our entire society's based on discontent: people wanting more and more and more, being constantly dissatisfied with their homes, their bodies, their decor, everything. Taking it for granted that that's the whole point of life, never to be satisfied. . . [Y]ou're dangerous. You're breaking all the rules, you're undermining the sacred economy, you're challenging every assumption that society's built on. . . The way he sees it, we're all subversives. We're traitors" (165)

Each housemate has broken the rules of society in some way, shape, or form:

Rafe does not want to get a "real job" (i.e., being a rich CEO his father wants him to be).

Justin is gay.

Abby's mom is likely a prostitute.

Cassie jumps into the middle of relationships, not entering the different beginning phases of friendship. Also stood out growing up.

# data[].attributes.body
"'Got your gun?'

I hadn't. I 'd been so wrapped up in Lexie and the Fantastic Four; I'd completely forgotten that what I was supposed to be after was outside the Whitethorn House, not inside, and was very likely also after me." (185).

# data[].attributes.body
Cassie starts talking about her Little Women dolls, and the group immediately shuts her down, and doesn't want her to speak about it.

Cassie unknowingly breaks this rule, and even if it's something as small as dolls she used to play with, it shows how guarded the group keeps their pasts, their traumas, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
Cracks are the summation of all of the other prompts (bonds, broken rules) working together within the text. Considering cracks show weakness, we see the friend group have some instances and spaces where they do not see eye-to-eye, or are incredibly tense toward specific topics (their pasts). They find a great deal of control within their present situation, and the truth continually seeping out in different spaces is evidence of the cracks within their bond.

Further, they are not as trusted or respected by their community, leading to a crack in the friend group from the outside. They are removed from the rest of their society, being both ridiculed and isolated. This separation is also leading to a crack between them and their environment, and causing strife.

# data[].attributes.body
"And something else, deeper, said that this wasn't Frank's business, not really. He had stumbled into it by accident. This was between me and Lexie" (French 218). Cassie now feels this kinship and bond with Lexie that she did not quite feel this at first.

# data[].attributes.body
"There was a long, not-quite-comfortable silence. Abby had gone back to trying bits of fabric against her doll's dress..." (184)

# data[].attributes.body
"“What the-” Justin said, breathless. “What the hell? What was that?”

“They don’t like us,” Abby said evenly, reaching over to switch on the windscreen wipers. The street was long and deserted, little pastel houses closed down tight against the rain, dark blur of hills rising behind them. Nothing moved anywhere, only the old man’s slow mechanical shuffle and the flick of a lace curtain down the street. “Drive, hon.”

“That little fuck,” Rafe said. He was clutching his shoe like a weapon, knuckles white. “You should have floored it, Justin. You should have splattered whatever he’s got instead of a brain across this wretched street.” He started to roll down his window.

“Rafe,” Abby said sharply. “Roll that up. Now.”

“Why? Why should we let him get away with-”

“Because,” I said, in a small voice. “I want to go for my walk tonight.”

Excerpt From

The Likeness

Tana French

This material may be protected by copyright." (221)

# data[].attributes.body
"Again with that we." (183) Although Cassie is using this as a moment to gain information about the group, the way she frames the mentioning of "we" almost has a sense of destain for the lack of individualism.

# data[].attributes.body
"When you find a crack, you push on it and if you see something breaks. It had taken me about an hour and a half to work out that, if there was something the housemates weren't telling me, Justin was my best bet." Page 198

# data[].attributes.body
"A flicker of something strange went through me, at the thought of Frank hearing that conversation; something almost like outrage. I wanted to snap at him. That was private." (179).

# data[].attributes.body
Cassie (as Lexie) furthers the bond between her and Justin. She notes that she never gets one-on-one time with him, as the group always interrupts any of those moments. But Cassie goes out of her way to have a moment alone with Justin where she learns more about everyone's backgrounds and the "No Pasts" rule.

# data[].attributes.body
Cassie decides to push Justin because she determines that the rest of the group is "too impossible to distract" or too hard to get a direct answer out of. She says Justin wants to make people happy too much to not give her information (chapter 10)

# data[].attributes.body
The conversation between Abby and Daniel was a weird combination between cracks and bonds, but Daniel turning Abby down when she offered for her/them to run away shows that he still has a bond to the house and the group, but the fact that the conversation is happening at all is a sign that they are closer than others in that house.

# data[].attributes.body
"Abby was maybe five foot two, but I kept forgetting; it was hard to think of her as small..." (173)

# data[].attributes.body
Cassie's friendship and starting to become friends with the housemates, especially iny the dancing scene with Justin. "'May I have the honor of this dance?' he asked, and held out his hand to me." (174)

# data[].attributes.body
"I care very much, in fact. I thought you knew that. I just don't see what either of us can do about it."

"I could leave," Abby said. She was watching Daniel intently, her eyes round and very grave. "We could leave". (French 209)

# data[].attributes.body
“She gave me a quizzical look when I headed for my bedroom to change: it was obviously out of character, but I couldn’t do much about that, except hope she would put it down to self-consciousness about the bandage or something.” (chapter 8)

# data[].attributes.body
The Whitethorn is the representation of the friend group. The housemates put their walls up, covering up for traumatic pasts. The house itself is also physically damaged and reveals a weapons, such as a gun that may be fired.

# data[].attributes.body
"I realized something. Rafe's mobile had gone off two feet from my ear, and I hadn't even flinched." (165)

# data[].attributes.body
"'I told my father and my stepmother that I'm gay. On Christmas Eve... My stepmother's a dreadful woman.''' (French 201).

Justin breaks the rule of speaking about the past. Cassie is able to use this to gain information about Justin and his past that they bring her closer to finding out information about LExie.

# data[].attributes.body
“And another thing: Rafe had to know that. He had been nudging at the boundary on purpose. I wasn’t sure whose buttons he had been trying to push, exactly, or why—maybe everyone’s, maybe he was just in that kind of mood— but it was a tiny crack, in that perfect surface.” (chapter 9)