I walk down the steps of the verandah towards her and with shaking hands she holds my face between them, sobbing, "Look at my beautiful girl.

What if she's all I give you in this life of ours, my love?" she asked quietly. "Then I'll shout at the goddess in fury," he said fiercely. "I'll beg to know why I've been given so much when other men have so little.

I miss the Stella girls telling me what I am. That I'm sweet and placid and accommodating and loyal and nonthreatening and good to have around. And Mia. I want her to say, "Frankie, you're silly, you're lazy, you're talented, you're passionate, you're restrained, you're blossoming, you're contrary." I want to be an adjective again. But I'm a noun. A nothing. A nobody. A no one.

Are you an idiot, or an idiot?' Gargarin hissed. 'The first one. I really resent being called the second.

I’m scared I’m going to spend the rest of my life in a state of yearning, regardless of where I am.

Everyone had told him to be strong for her, but Finnikin didn't know how to be strong for himself.

Hold my hand because I might disappear.