We Could've Been Themes

by Aubree Pynn

This analysis draws on moments from across the whole book and may contain spoilers.

Underneath its plot, We Could've Been is really about silence and the costly timing of love. Cyanna and Karys have loved each other since childhood, but neither says it, so life pulls them toward marriage, distance, and choices shaped by parents who wanted a pretty, perfect princess. The novel wrestles with hollow perfection, hidden grief, infidelity, and whether home can be reclaimed.

Here you'll find each major theme with concrete moments: Cyanna's miscarriage and retreat into work, Damari's affair with Jackie and the prenup, Karys's move to reclaim her, and the parents' control. Recurring symbols include the beaded bracelet, wedding and diamond rings, Karys's sapphire hooped earrings, father's pendant, blue clover bracelets, and the pretty, perfect, princess motif.

Major Themes in We Could've Been

Unspoken love and missed timing

Cyanna and Karys have loved each other since childhood, but neither speaks it aloud, so their lives diverge into marriage and other relationships. The story keeps returning to moments where a single word could have changed everything, culminating in Cyanna's admission that she waited for Karys to choose her.

At Cyanna's wedding, walking the hallway, "their eyes were locked on one another — each heart begging for the mouth to speak," and only she and Karys know the wedding "should've been them."
Karys reflects that things could have turned out differently if he had told Cyanna years ago that she was his and that he loved her far more than friends.
Cyanna returns the beaded bracelet from their college days and tearfully says, "I waited on you to choose me," while Karys says he watched and waited.

Emotional emptiness versus outward perfection

Cyanna achieves the wedding and life she and her parents wanted, but privately feels hollow and performs composure while her marriage collapses. The gap between her polished exterior and inner grief and betrayal drives her avoidance and eventual breaking point.

She looks "like the happiest woman in the world" with "not a layer of makeup out of place," yet feels empty and like she's made her parents proud "but for herself...nothing."
Cyanna is "plastering that face like all was well. Performative at best," then later drops "that pretty, perfect princess shield for a moment" in front of Luther.
She returns to her cold, loveless house after sleeping with Karys and wakes to evidence that Damari has been with Jackie.

Parental expectation and control

Cyanna's parents' standards shape her choices, from the man she marries to the prenup that still binds her. Their approval is tied to a "pretty, perfect princess" ideal and a transactional view of marriage and provision.

Her father's constant words "Pretty, perfect, princess" are recited back by Karys, and her mother preached finding a man who will "work hard, provide, and won't leave you alone" — which Damari is said to be.
The prenup her father drafted entitles Damari to half in the event of alienation of affection after three years — "Even from his grave, he controlled her."
Mr. Luther, her late father's oldest friend and legal confidant, tells Cyanna she can't live for the dead and should live for herself, then promises to do the honors of giving her away.

Grief, silence, and self-soothing through work

Cyanna's miscarriage is a central loss that she hides and manages by retreating into work and silence, while Damari's callousness and Karys's distance deepen her isolation. The notes repeatedly connect her avoidance to unresolved grief.

Karys realizes Cyanna is buried in building contracts and blueprints, "a horrible habit she picked up when loss and grief held her captive in a vice grip."
Karys learns of the miscarriage from Damari rather than Cyanna, and Cyanna keeps insisting "I'm fine" before hanging up.
She remembers being alone at three in the morning with hospital paperwork soaked in tears, and Jackie's near-seven-month pregnancy is a stark reminder that life had left Cyanna's body.

Betrayal, infidelity, and transactional marriage

Damari's affair with Jackie, his plan to divorce Cyanna and "leave with something," and the prenup turn the marriage into a long con. Infidelity also spreads through Yanieca's betrayal of Karys, making deception a pervasive force.

Damari says he has another year before he can divorce Cyanna and leave with something, ordering the person on the phone not to tell her.
Luther sends attachments of Damari and Jackie at lunch, prenatal appointments, baby shopping, and boarding a flight; Cyanna realizes "They were in this for the long game."
Karys reveals that when they were off, Yanieca and her friend Jackie were fucking each other and Damari, and that Damari had snaked him before.
Damari barges into Cyanna's office with divorce papers, refuses to divorce her, and argues about the miscarriage and his affair.

Reclaiming love, home, and belonging

After years of waiting and concealment, Karys moves to reclaim Cyanna and the shared future he believes was stolen, while Cyanna ends her marriage and chooses him. The notes frame their reunion through possession, home, and a righting of missed timing.

Karys thinks "treasure stolen was treasure to be repossessed" and tells Cyanna, "You've always been mine."
Karys insists this is Cyanna's house and that Yanieca should have stayed at her own house; later he tells Cyanna he moved her things into the house they were supposed to share.
Karys declares his lifelong love and asks to marry Cyanna again the right way, and Cyanna reveals she is pregnant with his baby; they commit to marriage and forever.

Symbols and Motifs

Beaded bracelet from their college days

A token of Cyanna and Karys's shared past and the love they waited too long to act on; returning it forces the truth of their missed timing into the open.

Cyanna returns the beaded bracelet from their college days at Karys's thirtieth birthday party.
She tearfully says, "I waited on you to choose me," while Karys says he watched and waited.

Wedding ring / diamond ring

Represents the marriage and outward perfection Cyanna tries to sustain, then the moment she accepts it is over and chooses liberation.

Cyanna watches Karys play from her desk "twirling her diamond ring."
After seeing Luther's evidence of Damari and Jackie, she removes her wedding ring, saying "It's really over."
Vows and rings are exchanged with Damari in the wedding chapter.

Sapphire hooped earrings, father's pendant, and blue clover bracelets

Markers of Karys's Azul Heart affiliation and his hidden identity and heritage; they symbolize the self he masked for brand safety and denied at his core.

Chapter 8 notes state Karys's sapphire hooped earrings, his father's pendant, and blue clover bracelets mark his Azul Heart affiliation.
The notes say he had been masking who he was for brand safety and denying who he was at the core.

"Pretty, perfect, princess" / "Pretty Princess"

A verbal motif of parental conditioning and performed perfection, later used by Karys as an intimate name that ties him to both her family's standards and their history.

Her father's constant words "Pretty, perfect, princess" are recited back by Karys.
Karys calls Cyanna "Pretty Princess" at his thirtieth birthday party.
Cyanna drops "that pretty, perfect princess shield for a moment" in front of Luther.