I don't know why I feel so wounded with Martin's obvious infatuation with Poppa. There's no romance between us. There's nothing that tethers us but this dark secret neither of us wants. It's not Martin's longing that hurts. It's my own. Furthermore, it's knowing that I'll never have what she has--a beauty so powerful it brings things to you. I fear I will always have to chase things I want. I'll always have to wonder whether I'm truly wanted or whether I've just been settled for.

— Libba Bray

I don't think you should die until you're ready. Until you've wrung out every last bit of living you can.

— Libba Bray

If you understood the present, you must come to know the past.

— Libba Bray

I got married in Florence, Italy. My husband and I were in love but totally broke, so we eloped and got married in Italy, where he was going on a business trip. We had to pull a guy off the street to be our witness. It was incredibly romantic. Florence is still one of my favorite cities in the world.

— Libba Bray

I have done what they expected of me. I have curtsied for my Queen and made my debut. This is what I have anticipated eagerly for years. So why do I feel so unsatisfied? Everyone is merry. They haven't a care in the world. And perhaps that is it. How terrible it is to have no cares, no longings. I do not fit. I feel too deeply and want too much.

— Libba Bray

I just read this great quote by Juno Diaz, he was talking about true intimacy, and he was saying that it was the willingness to be vulnerable and to be found out. That’s what I felt that YA did. It wasn't pretentious, and it wasn’t hiding its heart. It wanted to be found out... It felt like those moments when you go to a party, and you're standing around for a long time, going, I don't fit in here, what am I going to talk to these people about? And everybody's getting drunk, and then you find this one person, and you end up sitting in some corner talking about all these arcane things. And then before you know it you're having a conversation about the meaning of life, and it's four o’clock in the morning. That kind of feeling, that kind of intimacy — I felt like that's what I got from YA.

— Libba Bray

I know because I read. Might I suggest you try it?

— Libba Bray

I know because I read... Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.

— Libba Bray

I know it. I know I shall make beastly mistakes, Father-""The world does not forgive mistakes so quickly, my girl." He sounds bitter and sad." If the world will not forgive me," I say softly, "I shall have to learn to forgive myself." He nods in understanding." And how will you marry? Or do you intend to marry?" I think of Martin, and tears threaten. "I shall meet someone one day, as Mother found you.

— Libba Bray

I know you adore Father, but he isn't the white knight you imagine him to be. He never was. True, he's charming and loving in his way. But he's selfish. He's a limited man determined to bring about his own end-""But-"Tom grabs both my hands in his and gives them a small squeeze. "Gemma, you can't save him. Why can't you accept that?" I see my reflection on the surface of the Thames. My face is a watery outline, all blurred edges with nothing settled. "Because if I let go of that" - I swallow hard, once, twice - "then I have to accept that I am alone." The ship's horn howls again as it slips out toward sea. Tom's reflection appears beside mine, just as uncertain." We're every one of us alone in this world, Gemma." He doesn't say it bitterly. "But you have company, if you want.

— Libba Bray