Genre
Narrative non-fiction
Setting and Context
Much of the novel is set in the Bronx, in a world in which impoverished people turn to desperate things thing drugs.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is told from LeBlanc's perspective as an outsider looking in.
Tone and Mood
The novel is desperate, solemn, bleak, and negative.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The two women profiled in the book is its protagonist; drugs and poverty is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The two women's struggle against bleak conditions, including poverty, abuse, and drugs. Throughout the novel, they must fight against their own demons to be successful in an increasingly difficult world.
Climax
When Jessica and Coco get out of prison.
Foreshadowing
Cesar becoming a fugitive and eventually getting caught is foreshadowed by his illegal activities and his friends getting caught.
Understatement
The traumatic experiences many of the women mentioned in the book go through is understated throughout the novel. It is often minimized because the women are raised up to believe what they are going through is normal and that they don't deserve any better.
Allusions
There are allusions to cultural touchstones of the era, including 9/11, as well as economics, drug culture, and popular culture more generally (particularly music).
Imagery
Throughout the novel, the author paints vivid images of drugs and their effect on people. She details the deleterious effects drugs have on the women and the extent they will go to get another fix.
Paradox
Not applicable.
Parallelism
Many of the women in the book have the same story. They grew up in poverty, stayed in poverty, and got hooked on drugs or bad people. The author uses parallelism to show how similar their stories are (and how similar the consequences they face are).
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The White House is used to refer to the U.S. Government as a whole.
Personification
Drugs, particularly Heroin, are personified throughout the book and given human-like characteristics.
