Quotes from Holly Black

Hazel began to list what she knew. She liked lists. They were comfortingly straightforward, even when they were full of crazy stuff.

Mortals are liars,' the Unseelie queen says with a snort. 'That doesn't mean everything they say is a lie,' I return.

If he were going to put regular people to death, he'd probably use some kind of cheap, regular person poison.

Power,' he said. 'Power is the ability to get what you want. Power is the ability to be the one making the decisions.

Sweet Jude. You are my dearest punishment.

His grin broadens, that charming smile, with which he could coax ducks to bring their own eggs to him for his breakfast. With which he could make delicate negotiations over a prisoner seem like nothing more than a game.

I would say that you lost yourself along the way, but you lost yourself far before that,' the storm hag tells me as I pass her. 'Wake up, little bird.

But for one final night, he's the father I remember best, the one in whose shadow I have -- for better or for worse -- become who I am.

She had arrived in a gown of black silk beneath a cage of fish bones and shells, her deep aquamarine hair caught up in a crown of coral.

That boy is your weakness. Page 128

Many times in his first nine years, Prince Cardan slept in the hay of the stables when his mother didn't want him in their suite of rooms. It was warm there, and he could pretend he was hiding, could pretend that someone was looking for him. Could pretend that when he was not found, it was only because the spot he'd chosen was so extremely clever.

And you will still love him, mortal girl, long after his feelings evaporate like morning dew.

You can take a thing when no one's looking. But defending it, even with all the advantage on your side, is no easy task,' Madoc told her with a laugh. She looked up to find him offering her a hand. 'Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.

I am used to girls screaming, and your screams- your screams will be sweeter than another's cries of love.

Nothing is sweeter, but that which is scarce.

My chest hurts, looking at him. I feel like I can't breathe. Though he is in front of me, the pain of losing him hasn't faded.

I tell people everything. People only believe what they can handle. That's how I know who to trust.

There you are,' Cardan says as I take my place beside him. 'How has the night been going for you? Mine has been full of dull conversations about how my head is going to find itself on a spike.

I am no closer to finding a way to get out of here and no clearer on my father's plan. The only thing I am closer to is getting caught.

Oak was never taught to fight any way but to kill. He doesn't know any elegant parries. He cannot show off. All he can do is deal death. And once he starts, he doesn't stop. I'm not sure he can.

He might not want to hurt me, but that doesn't mean he won't.

Inside the carriage, Cardan slumps. I stare at him, at the blood drying in tide lines over his body and crusting in his curls like tiny garnets. I force myself to look out the window instead. 'How long have I-' he hesitates. 'Not even three days,' I tell him. 'Barely any time at all.' I do not mention how long it has seemed. Nor do I say how he might have been trapped as a serpent for all time, bridled and bound. Or dead.

She didn't have to use any magic. I trust you. I trusted you.

The Thorn of Istra, the mad vampire. She thought of the grainy video of him she had seen, head tipped back, so covered in blood that she hadn't remembered his features, hadn't remembered him as looking like anything but a monster, laughing, endlessly laughing. Mad as a dog. Mad as a god. Gavriel.