Nightbane

Throughout the novel, Isla struggles to reconcile the conflicting facets of her identity, and her arc is characterized by her repeated attempts to pick one side over the other. She is able to wield both Wildling and Nightshade powers, for instance, which give her “not just […] the power to give life…but also to take it away” (90). When she tries to use her powers for the first time, the narrative reveals the opposite yet complementary nature of her abilities:

Her left hand struck the ground, and darkness erupted from her fingers. It ate through the nature in its path; everything living became cinder. Trees fell and disappeared; the air went gray with swimming shadows.

 Her right hand landed, and from it a line of thousands of flowers billowed, rising from the ground in waves, blossoming in rapid succession. Roses, tulips, marigolds—they made a blanket across the forest, color streaming.

 […] One side of her was total desolation—the other the very definition of fertility (53-54).

In addition, Isla is also torn between her two love interests, Oro and Grim, who are symbolically framed as opposites in every way. While Grim brings out Isla’s darker, more self-destructive impulses, she also aspires to be worthy of Oro’s moral integrity.