And suddenly, in the place of the woman-shape made of shadow, there was something else. Something huge, something ugly. Lindy flung up both hands. The thing screamed like a hawk and opened to wings: one white as a death cap, one clotted in shadow. The wings came together and the whole pond shuddered. Something hit Kate's ear and shoulder and smashed to the deck by her feet. It was a swallow, dead. She could hear them falling all over the pond.

— Erin Bow

At night the fog was thick and full of light, and sometimes voices.

— Erin Bow

Be brave. Things will find their shape.

— Erin Bow

Behçet eased the horse forward again. "The harvest is failing. There will be no crop at all if this rain doesn't stop - not even hay." The rain. The rain she'd been so grateful for, the rain that concealed the warping of her shadow. It was going to kill people.

— Erin Bow

Fantasy elevates ordinary and eternal problems of young people into stories via the language of myth. It turns “No one really knows me” into “I’ve got a secret identity.” It turns “I don’t understand why other people act the way they do” into “I’m trapped in a faerie realm.” It turns “my high school must have been built over the mouth of hell” into “my high school must have been built over the mouth of hell.” There are certain things in life that are glorious, and they are glorious for everyone. There are more that are hard, and they are hard for everyone. We like to see these things retold, but with dragons.

— Erin Bow

Her father sat her down and spoke to her with great seriousness. "You are not a witch, Katerina. There is magic in the world, and some of it is wholesome, and some of it is not, but it is a thing that is in the blood, and it is not in yours." The foolish will always treat you badly, because they think you are not beautiful," he said, and she knew this was true. Plain Kate. She was a plain as a stick and thin as a stick and flat as a stick. Her nose was too long and her brows too strong. Her father kissed her twice, once above each brow. "We cannot help what fools think. But understand, it is your skill with a blade that draws this talk. If you want to give up your carving, you have my blessing."" I will never give it up," she answered.

— Erin Bow

I am not sure if I can."" Become sure," said the cat, his eyes flashing green in the firelight. "Once you leap on a boar's back, you can't sheath your claws.

— Erin Bow

I'm not a cruel man. I mean, technically I'm not a man at all.

— Erin Bow

It's true that when you read YA you rarely have to read about middle-aged men having affairs. Personally I consider that a plus.

— Erin Bow

I wished for impossible things. It was never going to have been a fairy tale for us. There are no fairy tales about two princesses.

— Erin Bow