I prefer to think of the good times. Like when you held my hair as I was vomiting into a bucket.

— Leigh Bardugo

I promise, Matthias. I'll take you home."" Nina," he said, pressing her hand to his heart. "I am already home.

— Leigh Bardugo

I rolled my eyes. "For defending my honor, you dullard." He yanked me beneath a shadowed awning. I had a moment's panic when I thought he'd spotted trouble, but then his arms were around me and his lips were pressed to mine. When he finally drew back, my cheeks were warm and my legs had gone wobbly." Just to be clear," he said, "I'm not really interested in defending your honor."" Understood," I managed, hoping I didn't sound too ridiculously breathless.

— Leigh Bardugo

I shouldn't have lost my temper that way. It just pricks his pride, makes him dig in his heels."" So why did you?" I asked, genuinely curious. It was rare for Nikolai's emotions to get the best of him. "I don't know," he said, shredding the leaf. "You got angry. I got angry. The room was too damn hot."" I don't think that's it."" Indigestion?" he offered." It's because you actually care about what happens to this country," I said. "The throne is just a prize to Vasily, something he wants to squabble over like a favorite toy, You're not like that. You'll make a good king." Nikolai froze. "I…" For once, words seemed to have deserted him. Then a crooked, embarrassed smile crept across his face. It was a far cry from his usual self-assured grin. "Thank you," he said. I sighed as we resumed our pace. "You're going to be insufferable now, aren't you?" Nikolai laughed. "I'm already insufferable.

— Leigh Bardugo

I think... sometimes when we find love we pretend it away, or ignore it, or tell ourselves we are imagining it. Because it's the most painful kind of hope there is. It can be ripped away so easily. By indifference. By death.

— Leigh Bardugo

I think the hard work of writing is just how long a book is terrible before it's good.

— Leigh Bardugo

I think we often hold heroines to an absurd standard. Be brave! Be wise! Always know what's in your heart and speak the truth of it! No and no and no. We fight to be brave. We learn to be wise. Furthermore, we struggle to know ourselves and voice what we want.

— Leigh Bardugo

I thought the love I'd had for him belonged to the past, to the foolish, lonely girl I never wanted to be again. I'd tried to bury that girl and the love she'd felt, just as I'd tried to bury my power. But I wouldn't make that mistake again.

— Leigh Bardugo

I tilted my head back, breathing deeply. It was a clear, moonless night, and after those long months underground, the sight of all that sky was dizzying. And so many stars—a glittering, tangled mass that seemed close enough to touch. I let their light fall over me like a balm, grateful for the air in my lungs, the night all around me.

— Leigh Bardugo

It's always been this way. There were rumors about me even before I was born. It's why my mother never calls me Soacha. She says it makes me sound like a mongrel." My heart gave a little pang at that. I'd been called plenty of names growing up." I like mongrels," I said. "They have cute floppy ears."" My ears are very dignified.

— Leigh Bardugo