The Golden Couple

“Avery cuts her off: ‘That’s an Instagram post. Give me something real.’”

Avery’s accusation that Marissa portrays her marriages as an “Instagram post” speaks to the book’s theme of The Deceptive Nature of Appearances. While Matthew and Marissa look like a perfect couple, this isn’t real—something that the authors compare to social media.

“Avery has cut to the core of what their marriage has become: curated moments served up in public, while in private the emptiness between them slowly expands.”

Marissa thinks these words after Avery accuses her of sharing a memory as if it’s an “Instagram post” (above). The line illuminates Marissa’s loneliness in her marriage; behind the woman who is trying to present a perfect life, there is someone aching for real human connection. The authors evoke sympathy for Marissa through these insights.

“Something unexpected is woven into Marissa’s shame and regret—a deep thread of warmth that comes from the sensation of feeling cherished. Of being truly seen.”

This is another moment where the authors evoke sympathy for Marissa. It becomes clear that Marissa feels lonely and undervalued in her marriage; seeing Marissa’s infidelity in this light is a vital part of the book’s narrative structure in which Matthew is eventually revealed as the antagonist.

“It was a partial confession, though. She hasn’t told Matthew everything. She can’t.”

These words spark the reader’s curiosity and set up the promise of future revelations to come. There is more to learn about Marissa’s affair—a tantalizing promise for the reader who wonders what it could be.

“She’s been dating this guy for a while now. I think he’s bad news.”

Skip says these words to Avery, pretending to speak about his sister. In fact, he’s talking about Marissa. This will only become apparent later, when the link between Skip and Marissa is revealed. It’s a subtle hint inserted by the authors and a testament to the fact that the thriller genre provides an entirely different experience on a second read.

“She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed that strong, solid arm around her. It steadied her at a time when the world seemed filled with dangerous, steeply pitched terrain. Earlier that summer, Marissa’s beloved best friend from childhood, Tina, had died.”

Throughout the book, the mystery of Tina’s death is slowly unraveled. This is an early introduction of the story, sparking the reader’s curiosity by withholding the full story. This backstory is included for some good reason—it matters; we just don’t yet know how.

“It had been Matthew who had pulled her out of the darkness after Tina died.”

These words position Matthew as Marissa’s savior, an image she seems to have upheld ever since. The attitude will prove painfully ironic once it’s revealed that Matthew is the one who killed Tina.

“All marriages contain secrets. […] Marissa has revealed one. Is Matthew hiding something equally explosive?”

Avery thinks this, unintentionally foreshadowing the book’s climactic revelation. Matthew is indeed hiding many explosive secrets (he killed Tina, he’s planning to kill Skip and Marissa), which Avery will slowly unearth.

“Polly is stepping ever deeper into Marissa’s world. […] Polly could become dangerous.”

This is a typical red herring seen in the book. Polly is in fact not a threat to Marissa but is painted as such to deter the reader from figuring out who the real antagonist is.

“Erasing the physical link to that night, but not her traitorous memories of the illicit hours she’d spent on it with the man she’d invited into their home.”

Marissa thinks this as she purposefully spills red wine on her and Matthew’s couch, with the intent of using the stain as an excuse to get rid of the couch. In fact, Marissa wants the couch out because it’s where she slept with Skip. The couch symbolizes the affair, and Marissa can’t stand to look at it.

“I’m not letting you go so easily.”

This is written on the note that’s slipped under the door of Coco, Marissa’s boutique. The note exemplifies Matthew’s carefully thought-out deception. Matthew buys a pair of blue leather gloves, exactly like the ones that he knows Marissa got Skip for Christmas, and then pays Ray, an unhoused man, $20 to slip the note under Coco’s door. Matthew also gives Ray the gloves. Matthew knows that Marissa will track the note to Ray, thanks to the store’s security footage, and then identify the gloves—and assume that Skip is the man behind the note.

“Just give us a name. […] You volunteered information. Who told you? […] We won’t stop. And it can get much worse.”

These words are spoken by an Acelia representative who accosts Avery. The words “it can get much worse” create an ominous sense of danger and foreboding. The Acelia subplot helps to heighten tension and create a sense of danger around Avery. Otherwise, the only person in danger would be Marissa.

“You told me the first time you kissed Marissa, it was like glimpsing the ocean for the first time. The next time you see her, tell her this.”

Avery texts these words to Matthew—it’s a therapy homework assignment. Later, it will be revealed that Matthew’s romantic words about kissing Marissa were actually stolen from Skip. The romantic lines are a testament to Matthew’s deceptive nature and false persona.

“Marissa experiences a flash of shame. She felt abandoned by her husband—even ignored at times—but all the while, he was surrounding himself with images of their family while he worked. Maybe he felt as lonely as she did.”

Marissa thinks this to herself when she visits Matthew’s office and sees all the family photos he has hanging around. They reflect Marissa’s misplaced desire to believe in her husband. The images, nevertheless, reflect the image-obsessed nature of their relationship. They help Marissa to imagine a false identity for the man—one she wants to see, not what’s real.

“You can’t outsource everything in life, Chris had said. Though I guess you’re used to having other people clean up after your messes.”

These words are a memory of Marissa’s; she’s thinking about a time when Chris, Matthew’s father, got angry at Matthew. Although the reader doesn’t yet know it—nor does Marissa—Chris is referring to Matthew’s killing Tina. The fact that Chris was born to a “blue-collar” father makes his words to Matthew have a double meaning: He refers to the murder, but Pekkanen and Hendricks embed this clue in a class commentary on Matthew’s more privileged upbringing.

“Anger sweeps through me; she conned me. Again.”

Avery thinks these words when she believes that Marissa is being dishonest with her. This comment drives Avery’s character development. First, Avery gets very angry when people are disingenuous with her. However, Avery herself is often presented as a disingenuous person. Second, Avery here is convinced that Marissa is the con artist. In fact, it’s Matthew.

“Avery, this is one of our closest friends. Meet Skip.”

This sentence concludes Part 2 of the book and is a pivotal plot twist. This is where Avery’s and the Bishops’ words collide. Avery learns that Skip, the man she “happened” to date recently, is the man who Marissa slept with. The final short sentence drives this plot twist with a brisk pace.

“You were asking about the summer when Matthew said he fell in love with Marissa. But I loved her first. I was her first kiss—did she ever tell you that?”

Skip says these words to Avery after they cross paths at the Bishops’ home. These words help to paint Skip as a longtime obsessive lover, contributing to the (false and misleading) narrative that he’s a jilted lover and the book’s antagonist. The question to Avery is also presented to the reader: Marissa’s perspective is in third person, and the reader is kept at a distance from many of her thoughts and secrets.

“The mother-daughter dynamic gets a lot of coverage, but the father-son relationship is equally complicated. In my years as a therapist and now as a consultant, I’ve learned that if a son has a strained relationship in his present life, it’s not unusual for it to be traced to a past dysfunction with his father.”

Avery has this thought when reflecting on Matthew and Chris. It’s one of the first explicit hints that Matthew is the antagonist. The passage encourages readers to look for liminal clues surrounding minor characters such as Chris.

“Look, I’m not really sure. You know how people are—everyone had crazy theories about what happened to Tina. But the truth came out. And Marissa and I ended up together so…”

Matthew says these words to Avery, blatantly lying to her about the night that Tina was murdered. This egregious deceit speaks to his false appearances. The ellipsis prompts the reader to notice the unspoken and follow hints that Matthew is the murderer.

“I’ve done a lot of soul-searching, and one thing I know for sure is that I want to stay married to Marissa. I can’t help it. I love my wife.”

Matthew says these words to Avery, speaking to his duplicitous nature. At the same time, he’s actually scheming to kill Marissa and Skip. The term “soul-searching” hints at the duplicity, since he is using the language associate with therapy to appeal to Avery’s methods.

“Matthew has been creating fictional scene after fictional scene. And she believed every one of them. He was never the unaware, wronged husband. That was an illusion; a gifted con artist’s sleight of hand.”

Marissa has this thought when Matthew reveals his true motives and nature at the book’s end. Her reference to him as an “illusion” and a “con artist” speaks to the book’s themes of deception. This passage uses metafictional elements to draw in the reader, who is also a quasi-detective while reading the novel: they, too, have observed “fictional scene[s].”

“He tricked me before. He’s not going to do it again.”

Avery thinks this about Matthew when she’s double-checking to make sure he’s actually dead after shooting him. It’s not the first time the reader sees Avery become incensed by someone lying to her (see Quote 17). As is typical of the novel, major plot points are delivered with pithy sentences to drive the pace.