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449 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2020
“The days we’d spent swimming and fishing at the beach, the first time I’d kissed her, the dreams we’d shared – I was now the only keeper of these memories, and that was the truest sort of loneliness. There were so many things I still wanted to tell her, to share with her.”
“Little by little, he’d become more than just an animal, but a companion he couldn’t see himself being parted from.”
“It’s hard to remake one’s view of the world, to admit to complacency. I thought remaking myself for you was hard enough, but doing that was something I wanted. I didn’t want to realize how much I’ve hurt the people around me, and that’s what confronting my beliefs meant. We all tell ourselves stories of who we are, and in my mind, I was always the hero. But I wasn’t. Not in all the ways I should have been.”
“One foolish choice is like a rat you let go. It will spawn more consequences than you first thought possible.”
I wasn’t sure on which of the floating islands Father had found the abomination that made up the bulk of the Construct of Spies. But I knew I never wanted to visit. The construct looked nothing so much as a giant spider, dark brown and glistening, as tall as my chest when it stood to attention. Human hands were attached to the end of each of its spindly legs, and an old woman’s adorned the abdomen.
I wished I did remember. Was there a time when this man stroked my hair and kissed my forehead? Had he loved me before I’d forgotten, when I’d been whole and unbroken?
“No.” Mephi rested his chin on my shoulder. “Not lonely. I am here with you.”
“It’s hard to remake one’s view of the world, to admit to complacency. I thought remaking myself for you was hard enough, but doing that was something I wanted. I didn’t want to realize how much I’ve hurt the people around me, and that’s what confronting my beliefs meant. We all tell ourselves stories of who we are, and in my mind, I was always the hero. But I wasn’t. Not in all the ways I should have been.”
// buddy read with my two favorites!
Thank you to Orbit for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect ny opinions in any way.
All quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may differ in final publication.
“I would show him that even broken daughters could wield power.”
“You were quiet. For once in your life, you were quiet. And when I sat next to you to help, shoulder to shoulder, I could feel a future in that silence.”
”They’ll think they know you, and that’s very different”
“I was now the only keeper of these memories, and that was the truest sort of loneliness.”
“A made thing could grow and change beyond its original purposes.”
“I knew that hollow look. Shard-sick. Somewhere, her bone shard was in use, and it had nearly drained her life.”
“Fanatics were all alike, cut from the same cloth and dyed different colors.”
“And then I held the tool poised over the corner of my fresh, blank bone. I’d made certain, when I’d gone back to the storeroom, to choose an island far away from the inner Empire, one where I didn’t know the occupants and never could have met them. One where I might never know the occupants.
[…]
But the moment I pressed this tool into the bone, I was writing on the life of someone, no matter that they were half a world away.”
“A made thing could grow and change beyond its original purposes.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
I would show the Emperor: I’d grown beyond mine.”
“When a shark offers up a pearl, be wary of its teeth.”
“A person who can’t see a future doesn’t have a future”
“I would drink a thousand lies just to see your face again.”
“A person who can’t see a future doesn’t have a future”
I was Lin. I was the Emperor’s daughter. And I would show him that even broken daughters could wield power.
The days we’d spent swimming and fishing at the beach, the first time I’d kissed her, the dreams we’d shared – I was now the only keeper of these memories, and that was the truest sort of loneliness. There were so many things I still wanted to tell her, to share with her.
It’s hard to remake one’s view of the world, to admit to complacency. I thought remaking myself for you was hard enough, but doing that was something I wanted. I didn’t want to realize how much I’ve hurt the people around me, and that’s what confronting my beliefs meant. We all tell ourselves stories of who we are, and in my mind, I was always the hero. But I wasn’t. Not in all the ways I should have been.
We all tell ourselves stories of who we are, and in my mind, I was always the hero. But I wasn't. Not in all the ways I should have been.
Mephi, now as tall as my knee, pressed his body against my leg. "We do a very good," he said in a stage whisper.
For what felt like the thousandth time, I made a lowering gesture with my hand.
"A very good,' he said, only a little more quietly.
It felt like I was digging the end of the tool into my soul, scratching irreversible words into its surface.
But it was done.