A good zoo," Stella said, "is a large domain. A wild cage. A safe place to be. It has room to roam and humans who don't hurt." She pauses, considering her words. "A good zoo is how humans make amends.

But hunger, like food, comes in many shapes and colors.

Right now I would give all the yogurt raisins in all the world for a heart made of ice.

I always tell the truth, Stella replies. Although I sometimes confuse the facts.

Mosquitoes are the greatest mass murderers on planet Earth.

You can't have real pain without real love. You can't feel grief and loss and hurt without real love. Love is the only way you can ever be really hurt deep down.

And oh, god, how could so much regret and so much sweetness and so much sadness all be present in that single moment. I was already dead and missing my unlived life. I was already dead and Tobias was mourning. I tried to smile. For him.