Although they're the same age, Phil and Maddie react this way whenever they think Tina is threatened. It is not stated which triplet is the eldest, but justified since Tina is the smallest and weakest. To some extent, Jem towards Hetty in Emerald Star, as Hetty has realised that she's now lost any potential romantic feelings she might have had towards him. Family Relationship Switcheroo - In The Power of the Shade, May's "great-aunt" turns out to be her grandmother, who had an affair with her sister's husband.

Freudian Excuse: Selma from The Butterfly Club is a bully because her mother and stepfather abuse her. Always Identical Twins: Ruby and Garnet. Averted in The Butterfly Club where triplets Tina, Maddie and Phil are not identical because Tina is considerably smaller than the other two. In Little Darlings, Destiny does get to meet her father, but she's fully aware that the meeting is basically a cynical public relations exercise on his part - she doesn't mind because she at least gets a chance to sing.

Defied in The Illustrated Mum; Dolphin mostly tries to avoid being annoying, and while Star is certainly irritated, her anger throughout the book is directed more at Marigold than at Dolphin. In the Girls series, this is a source of tension between Ellie's father (in his 50s) and stepmother (late 20s/early 30s.)

In Clean Break Em is reunited with her stepfather but comes to an understanding that things cannot be the same between him and the family again. She even tells her mum that "wishes never come true the way you want."In Glubbslyme, Rebecca wishes her school bully would get a terrible illness, only to be horrified when said girl then gets ill. She just hurt her ankle when she was wearing heels, but Rebecca feels terrible about it anyway. The Longest Whale Song has Ella almost drown when trying to swim underwater and not coming up for air early enough because a whale wouldn't need to, apparently not understanding that humans have a different lung capacity. Even when she hears that she nearly drowned, she feels confused because she was only underwater for a minute. Naked First Impression: Although Kitty and Lucy briefly meet early in the story, their true first meeting is just after a woman has stolen all the clothes Lucy was wearing. Kitty finds it amusing, but she's also sympathetic.