The Do-Over

Emilie Hornby is the female teenage protagonist of the novel. Though very little physical description is given to Emilie’s character aside from her watered-down coppery-brown hair, much of her character depth comes from the complexity of the internal conflicts she must face and overcome throughout the novel.

All the novel’s key themes revolve around Emilie’s character. She loves to live by a strict plan. She has a detailed planner which she fills with daily to-do lists that help manage her day-to-day life on a micro-level. However, she quickly learns The Futility of Excessive Planning when her Valentine’s Day continues to crash and burn regardless of what she does to prevent it. While planning for her future is good in moderation, Emilie learns that she cannot control all aspects of her life, especially love.

Emilie as a character must also cope with The Reality of Imperfection. Though she’s always believed absolute perfection is the key to obtaining happiness in her life, she learns that it’s often the opposite, causing undue stress and discontent in her life. Emilie tends to change herself to appeal to others’ expectations or force things in her life to meet her image of perfection. In the end, however, her idea of perfection is not always as enjoyable as she expected.

Most important to her character arc is Emilie’s recognition of The Importance of Authenticity. Emilie has a habit of people pleasing and desires to not rock the boat. As a result, she tells small lies to make people feel more at ease around her. She withholds truths that might cause tension, even if it has detrimental effects on herself. In engaging in these behaviors, Emilie is not being her authentic self. This exacerbates her existing feelings of loneliness. She feels as though she’s easily overlooked and forgotten about by her family because she’s always been the perfect kid they’ve never had to worry about. She feels alone in the world because no one knows her on a deep level. Through developing a relationship with Nick based on authentic truth, Emilie can connect to someone in a way she never has before, which puts an end to the stark loneliness she’s felt her entire life.