[aporetics]

That's a bit thick. The whole plot ends up being about the search for the true mother. The main contrivances of the story go to great lengths to spell this out: not even a technology as advanced as the primer can substitute functionally for human connection. If it is not already clear by the last handful of pages, it gets hammered in with by acts of courage which show what is worth risking one's life for.

[BirAdam]

Her adoptive parent in absentia is essentially part of the Primer for most of Nell’s pre-adult life with the two of them not meeting in any serious way until Nell is already a Monarch. Nell’s actual parent alternated between abusive and neglectful and she brought men into her home who abused Nell sexually. By any measure, even the Primer the mouse army had is better than that, and Nell’s copy also linked her to a human who actually gave a shit.