“You are glowing like a Christmas lantern, even with this skin that is the color of driftwood ashes in the rain.” 

Sebastien intends this as compliment to Amabelle, but it also lets readers know that her skin color and her nationality may be an impediment or burden in the future. 

“When he’s not there, I’m afraid I know no one and no one knows me.” 

This is part of Amabelle’s internal dialogue. It reveals the dependent nature of her relationship to Sebastien, one in which she often takes on the role of a child.

“I had to calm her, to help her, as she had always counted on me to do, as her father had always counted on me to do.” 

Amabelle makes this comment about Señora Valencia and her father, Papi. In this comment, readers can sense both the subservient role she plays in these relationships, as well as the resentment she harbors towards them.