Rock Paper Scissors

Chapters titled “Amelia” or “Adam” are in first person, present tense, so the narrator relates events as they occur. Few novels, all or in part, use present tense. Feeney does this for a couple of reasons. First, present tense best conveys the anxiety and immediacy of a crisis. This device invites a feeling of being part of what’s happening. Second, since Feeney switches narrators, writing in the present tense demands less need to provide context. In describing events, the narrative moves from one narrator’s point of view (POV) to another’s.

Feeney shifts from the present tense in chapters titled for annual love letters—such as “Rock” or “Paper.” In these chapters, Feeney uses the first person POV but in the past tense, a more common usage. Feeney breaks from the first person POV in chapters titled “Robin,” which she writes in third person, present tense. The last chapter, titled “Sam,” uses third person, past tense. This seemingly random jumble of viewpoints and tenses helps the author set up the surprising twist that is her hallmark.

Most authors who use a first person POV do so throughout the narrative. The narrator is either the