Rape and sexual assault are never directly indicated in this book, but issues of consent and domestic abuse are integral to the themes of the story. The protagonists are women who are mostly in positions of power within their lives during most of the plot events. One of the main characters had a father (absent in the present day, shown in flashbacks) who was explicitly controlling and physically abusive, implied to be possibly more. The other main character is a clone custom-designed to want to be a subservient housewife and mother, who gradually becomes independent; questions her goals and desires. When she deviates from her programming, her "loving husband" / creator becomes physically violent.