Unfriended

The first section introduces the narrative structure, with the chapter title indicating the narrator for each chapter. Chapter 1 is “Truly” because it’s from Truly’s point of view, and Chapter 2 is “Hazel” since it captures Hazel’s perspective. The alternating narrators humanize the characters and give them agency and dimension. In Chapter 1, Truly leaves Hazel for Natasha and the popular crowd. Chapter 1 doesn’t feature Hazel’s reaction, but Chapter 2, Hazel’s chapter, does, and Hazel is upset. She feels like she’s “fallen through a trapdoor” and “never existed at all” (22), which highlights The Fluidity of Relationships. This shift in perspective also underscores the complexity of friendships and highlights the dangers of poor communication, as Truly’s excitement blinds her to Hazel’s hurt. As a collective, the characters create a third-person omniscient narrator. Though not every character is aware of the other characters’ motives and schemes, by having access to each central character, it is clear what the collective is feeling. As characters, some of the young people are deceptive: As narrators, all of the characters are reliable. They express their true feelings, even if it makes them look envious and unkind. Thus, in Chapter 3, Natasha openly divulges her plan to use Truly as a way to convince others that she broke up with Clay and not the other way around. Like Hazel, Natasha lies to those around her, but the narrative style reveals all. This transparency creates empathy with even the most antagonistic characters, creating a nuanced exploration of motives that feels truer to the actual lives of eighth graders.

The characters upend typical tropes about popular kids. Brooke is the most popular girl in school, but she is kind and open. Natasha describes her as “so chill and Zen and nice” (26). Clay, one of the most popular boys, isn’t a belligerent athlete, but a thoughtful person with many insecurities. Truly discusses the character traits of the popular students with her mother. Truly worried that Natasha’s friends would be mean, but she instead “explain[s] that the girls who sit at the Popular Table are actually the nicest girls in the whole eighth grade” (43). The book decouples popularity from meanness. In the novel, characters can be popular and kind, and they can be unpopular and venomous. This complexity challenges stereotypes perpetuated by media portrayals of school hierarchies by offering greater nuance and generosity to the young characters. This complicates the prevalent idea that popular cliques in school all operate with the same values and thoughts.

The characters’ trajectories further link to the theme of Demystifying Popularity. Though the term “perfect” appears often, none of the characters have flawless lives. Brooke’s family is struggling financially, and Brooke isn’t sure if she can ever tell Clay that she likes him. Clay feels like he’s living in the shadow of his older brother. Compared to JT, Clay believes he’s a disappointment to his family. Imagining his parents’ assessment of him, Clay thinks, “So they didn’t win the lottery twice” (70). This self-consciousness in Clay adds depth to his character, contrasting with the often-flat depiction of popular boys in similar narratives, who embrace the belief that they must be overly confident young men. However, popularity doesn’t guarantee a carefree life. Like everyone else, popular people have issues and setbacks, which are often masked by the illusion of perfection that being widely liked presents.

The theme of The Fluidity of Relationships centers on Truly in the first set of chapters. In Chapter 1, Truly introduces her current best friend, Hazel, and her former best friend Natasha. The shifting best friends suggest best friends aren’t a sturdy designation, perhaps especially in the eighth grade. As Truly leaves Hazel for Natasha and the popular group, she reinforces the malleability of friendships. Natasha and Truly were best friends, then they weren’t friends at all, and now they’re ostensibly friends again. This revolving door of relationships mirrors the developmental turbulence of adolescence, where identity and loyalty are often in flux, shifting over seemingly small instances of disappointment or disloyalty. The theme applies to adults, too, as Natasha’s and Truly’s mothers used to be friends until Natasha’s mother took the young people to get their ears pierced without telling Truly’s mother. The detail suggests that as people get older, their relationships remain mercurial, and trust plays a key role in whether they last.

The popular table symbolizes stardom. Truly explains, “The eighth graders who sit at the Popular Table are different. They’re practically celebrities” (18). Thus, people want to sit at the table because, if they do, they become stars. Natasha aims to “displace Brooke as the Queen of Nice” (27) because Natasha wants to be the biggest star or the most popular girl in school. This symbolism reflects broader societal themes, where visibility and status are conflated with personal worth, such as fame and social media. Later, Truly subverts the symbolism by describing the popular people simply as “some nice kids in our grade” (50). 

The book deals with fraught issues like bullying and cyberbullying, but Vail keeps the atmosphere lighthearted through the literary device of humor. Hazel is depicted as one of the funniest characters. She genuinely feels rejected, and she expresses her hurt in funny ways, making her endearing. In her unsent letters, Hazel tells Truly, “You dumped me, hard, and publicly, and so coldly I still have icicles in my hair” (54). The quote creates the cartoony image of a girl with icicles for hair, and cartoons often produce laughs. This use of humor does not diminish the emotional weight of Hazel’s pain but instead makes it more accessible through its vividness.