Genre
Young adult fiction
Setting and Context
Australia in an unspecified time period
Narrator and Point of View
Marina narrates the novel through her first-person diary.
Tone and Mood
The tone is depressing; the mood is of hope and optimism.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Marina is the protagonist; her personal trauma is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel occurs when Marina is the subject of an acid attack from her own father, although it was intended to be thrown at her mother.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when Marina first begins her diary after Mr Lindell encourages his class to all make journals.
Foreshadowing
The healing of Marina is foreshadowed by the fact that she begins to talk about her emotions.
Understatement
The role that parents play on childhood development is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the ability for someone to overcome their past and any of their previous barriers.
Imagery
The imagery of Marina's traumatic suffering is present in the novel.
Paradox
The fact that Marina's father threw acid in her face, when he should be protecting her is an example of paradox in the story.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The acid is a metonym for the trauma experienced by every single reader.
Personification
N/A
