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Emily Bosworth

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp Pd. 5

18 December 2020

Kidnapping Personalities

Kidnapping, rape, and eating disorders are heavy topics all combined into one story in the

book Pointe. The main character Theo is put through hell when her best friend Donovan goes

missing. She deals with a great deal of heartache, believing Donovan had died and “heals”

through an eating disorder and dancing. After four years, Donovan returns back home, and Theo

must sort out if she can tell her side of the story to help Donovan or keep quiet to save herself. In

the midst of reading, the reader falls in love with the complex story, which is all pulled together

by the characters. Inside Brandy Colbert’s Pointe, she writes an amazingly engaging story by

depicting the believable personalities of two characters, Theo and Donovan.

First, the main character Theo shows an immense character growth throughout the book.

With flashbacks woven into the story, the reader is able to learn more about Theo when she was

younger. These flashbacks take place four years prior to Donovan’s kidnapping, and they

elaborate on Theo and her relationship to the man who kidnapped Donovan. Theo makes terrible

decisions for herself at this time in her life because she is still young and naïve. For example, on

page sixty-eight, it is explained that Theo was having an inappropriate and secret relation with an

older man who she believed was named Trent. She thought to herself that he loved her, and he

was the only person who she needed in her life. As this unravels, the reader feels uncomfortable

but understanding of Theo’s decisions because she is still young. Colbert does a great job
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provoking these emotions through Theo’s character which makes it such a legitimate read. As

the story continues, Theo learns more about herself, and her personality shifts because of her

trauma. Nearing the end of the book, on page 306, Theo testifies in court and talks about her

secret relationship with Trent (his real name is Chris Fenner) to the jury (Colbert). During this

moment, it states, “Now I look across the room to the defense side. I look right at Christopher

Fenner. Lock my eyes right on his face to let him know I’m not scared anymore.” (Colbert). This

pinpoints the exact moment when Theo has accepted her mistakes and a weight is lifted from the

readers shoulders. Theo becomes stronger, but is understandably still broken. Colbert does an

excellent job recreating this new personality of Theo because it just makes sense that she would

change after what happened to her. Overall, Colbert having Theo’s personality change

throughout the story makes her such a believable character because Theo is a learning and

growing person.

In addition, the character Donovan is another asset in making the characters remarkably

believable in the story Pointe. It is mentioned lots of times throughout the book that Donovan is

not talking to anyone, even his parents, about what happened to him after he has returned home.

On page eighty-six, Theo tries to call Donovan and speak to him a few times (Colbert). Each

time Donovan does not answer his former best friend. While reading through this, the reader

craves to know what happened to Donovan, and what his thoughts and feelings are. Colbert

doesn’t give the satisfaction of knowing this information though because she truly connects the

reader to what a real-life victim would act like if they were kidnapped for years, sexually abused,

and returned home. On the last few pages, Donovan finally speaks to Theo and thanks her for

testifying. On page 329 it says, “‘I, um.’ He pauses. Clears his throat again. I imagine his mother

touching his shoulder, encouraging him to go on. ‘I wanted to say thank you, for … Thank you,
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Theo.’” (Colbert). At this moment, the reader is excited that they can finally hear Donovan speak

for the first time in the book. It’s short and delivered on the last few pages but the reader gets a

sense of relief knowing Donovan is free from his abductor thanks to Theo testifying to put Chris

in jail. Colbert wrote Donovan as such a believable character because he draws out such

powerful emotions. Getting the reader to express strong emotions like craving for more

information and feeling relief shows how impactful Colberts writing is in Pointe.

Inside Brandy Colbert’s Pointe, she writes an amazingly engaging story by depicting the

believable personalities of two characters, Theo and Donovan. The book Pointe is an incredible

read because of the genius writing of Colbert. The main character Theo changes her personality

throughout the story because of her traumatizing past, and the character Donovan evokes lots of

emotions to the reader because he is written like a real-life kidnapping victim. She draws in the

reader by heavy topics such as kidnapping, rape, and eating disorders, but it’s the characters that

make this story enjoyable.

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Works Cited

Colbert, Brandy. Pointe. New York: Speak, 2014. Print.