Although Before We Were Innocent is a thriller that engages with high-profile themes related to violence, betrayal, true crime, and the toxicity of influencer culture, it remains at its heart a novel about the complexities of female friendships. Ella Berman is deeply interested in gender roles and the experiences of women in contemporary society. In interviews, she has noted that she wanted to write a book about “the dark side as well as the intense love” of teenage friendship (Tayce. “Ella Berman on How the Vilification of Women Inspired Before We Were Innocent.” United by Pop, 24 July 2023). Thus, it is clear that although Bess, Joni, and Evangeline are fiercely bonded and love one another dearly, each girl is capable of emotionally wounding the others. Through this depiction, Berman suggests that friendship in late adolescence is complex and that identity itself is a composite of many things. Each girl’s personality is made up of a mixture of positive and negative qualities. For example, although Evangeline initially seems docile and angelic, there is more to her than meets the eye, and Bess is also capable of angry, raw emotions; as she wryly says early in the