Isa Oliver > Quotes

“Say one more thing to her,” I say in a dangerous tone”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“I remember what it was like, living on the streets. Cold. Hungry. Nobody looking out for you. I couldn’t…I didn’t want any of the animals to feel like that.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“want to scream at them that this isn’t a tantrum. That my little girl isn’t bad. She’s just overwhelmed. She’s just neurodivergent. And she’s just struggling with the world today. But my throat is tight, and my words are trapped beneath a lump of shame and exhaustion.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Because you stayed when it was easier to leave. You showed up when you could have just walked away. That’s what is important.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“You don’t have to be the same to belong.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Crowded. Loud. Disorganized. It’s like a fucking zoo. Nothing makes sense.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“She’s more than different,” Olga blusters. “She’s odd and peculiar and⁠—”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“have autism too.” The house holds its breath. The kind of pause that tells me everyone is listening.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“No one’s ever defended us like this before.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“His love is quiet and attentive—but it’s definitely fierce and protective.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Yes, my Albert. Viktor found him too. The day he brought him home, I nearly fell off the windowsill from shock. Albert barked once, his tail going wild, and I ran straight into his fur. We haven’t been apart since.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Like it doesn’t mean the world to me that he’s trying to help us.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“That you loved hard even if you don’t call it that,”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Even if we hadn’t gone through what we did, if I’d just met you somewhere else, I still would’ve chosen you. You’re not just a brother, Viktor. You’re one of the best friends I’ve got.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Queenie doesn’t ask Sofia to speak, or make eye contact, or join in games she doesn’t understand. She just exists beside her—warm, patient, and endlessly forgiving. No rules. No expectations. Just quiet, complete love.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“You once said skating used to make you feel alive. But that you…lost that feeling. I wanted you to have it back. That feeling and that joy. Queenie helped me. You and your family helped me. And now, I want to help you.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“autism is a complex condition. It’s different in every individual because there are three main factors that interact to affect the person.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Her face buries against my neck, her arms tight—too tight—and her little fingers fist the fabric of my T-shirt like she needs to keep me from disappearing.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Loud noises, busy places, different textures—the sensory signals from all those things just add up to be too much for her brain to cope with at times. But I don’t have to tell you about sensory overload, huh?”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“I want to shove him out of the door and into traffic as he cranks up a loud song causing the base of the speakers to pulse.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“we relax in companionable silence, enjoying the sunshine and sugar.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“He’s like Sofia.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Is this what love feels like? Bright. Loud. Uncomfortable. And yet…so damn right.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“I didn’t fall in love with you because you were like everyone else. Viktor, I fell in love with you because you’re you. And you’re what my heart wants and needs.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Watching the skating calms me down and keeps the nonstop trains in my head from becoming a tangled wreck of anxiety.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“You just tell me if you’re struggling too much to give me a hug.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“And I sigh as I realize it’s a small cat. She’s hiding beneath the shrub. “You’re…not supposed to be here,” I tell her in what I hope sounds like a stern voice. “And you’re making the place look untidy.” She ignores me. “Look”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“Mama always says being different doesn’t mean you’re broken.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars

“He’s just being polite. Thanking me and complimenting the cooking. He doesn’t mean it in the way I’m taking it. What can I expect, though, when I learned to lick scraps of love off knives instead of being fed it on a silver spoon?”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia and Maid

“His hand cranks up the AC, and my jaw tightens. Another stab of irritation hits me when he turns the radio on.”
― Isa Oliver, Mafia & Scars