Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child sexual abuse, child abuse, antigay bias, substance use, addiction, illness, death, and graphic violence.

Eden is one of the five main narrators of Tricks. She is a dynamic character, as she changes throughout the text. At the novel’s onset, she lives in a sheltered, extremely controlling environment. Her father is a Pentecostal pastor, while her mother is dogmatic about controlling Eden’s body and sexuality. Eden has a younger sister named Eve. Eden falls in love with Andrew, and their love drives her storyline because she wants to deny her parents’ religion to be with him. Eden’s decision to date and have sex with Andrew causes her mother to believe that she is possessed by a demon, signaling the unraveling of her trust in her parents’ love for her and her increased ability to act on her desires.

Eden struggles with believing in the God that her parents constructed for her, which fuels The Struggle With Identity and Self-Worth. While she believes in a divine power, she does not think that a loving God would shame her for loving Andrew. Andrew’s love proves to be the only reliable factor in Eden’s life because her parents would rather send Eden away to a religious camp than listen to her.