Genre
Young Adult Fiction
Setting and Context
Set in Florence and partly in Rome, Italy
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Optimistic and enlightening
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Lina.
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between Hadley and her daughter Lina. Lina gets even more confused after reading her journals. Lina goes to Italy to search for her biological father but fails in her mission even after reading her mother's journals thoughtfully.
Climax
The climax comes when Lina feels loved for the first time when she kisses Ren. Lina knows that she loves Ren, but she is scared to confess her love for him because he is dating Mimi. Later, Ren confesses that he loves her too.
Foreshadowing
Hadley's insistence that Lina must travel to Italy foreshowed her love for Ren. The Journey intends to help Lina meet Howard, but in the process, she meets Ren and falls in love with him.
Understatement
Lina underrated the possibility of Ren breaking up with Mimi for her sake. She was later shocked to learn that he had broken up with Mimi to be her boyfriend before Ren kissed her.
Allusions
The story alludes to the complexity of love. Hadley loves Howard and believes he is the one to take of Lina despite him not being her biological father. Lina falls in love with Ren, but she is confused because he is dating another girl.
Imagery
The meeting between Lina and Matteo in person depicts the sense of sight. The description of Matteo’s posture and confidence in denying that he is not Lina’s biological father is an interesting scene for readers to watch in the novel.
Paradox
The main paradox is that when Lina meets Howard, she is shocked to learn that he is not her biological father. Before leaving Seattle for Italy, Lina’s grandmother told her that her biological father was Howard. However, Howard truthfully told Lina that he was ready to take of her even if he was not her biological father. Hadley and Howard were lovers many years ago, and he still loves her. Therefore, he accepts to honor Hadley's wish and is ready to accept Lina as his biological father.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Hadley’s journal is personified because Lina talks to the journal and waits for answers concerning the whereabouts of her biological father.
