Alexandra Bullen > Quotes

“Family's not family unless it's totally messing you up. I'm pretty sure that's the point”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wish

“Whatever you wish for wish carefully, and make sure it comes from your heart. Those are the only wishes that count.”
― Alexandra Bullen

“Really?" Olivia managed. It's called conversation, she reminded herself, like a visitor from a foreign planet. Answer one question, ask another. "Where do you live?”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wish

“She took pictures because it was the only way she knew she existed. I was here. It was about anchoring herself in a moment when everything else seemed to be floating off in the distance.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wishful Thinking

“You know, life doesn't have to be something you watch happen to everybody else. You say you want to change things, but nothing's going to change until you change it.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wish

“I never said I didn’t identify with Lily,” she went on, her voice clear and her own. “I think in some way she’s the heart of the book. And her transformation at the end, when she’s finally able to finish her painting, after she doesn’t have anything holding her back…it’s one of the most important scenes in the novel. It’s when she finally realises who she is.”

Mr Whitley nodded vaguely, pacing the length of a square-paned window overlooking the courtyard below.

“And what was it?” he asked deliberately. “What do you think was holding her back all that time?”

Olivia looked down at her feet, feeling every pair of eyes in the class burning holes into the top of her head. Miles’s mushroom loafers were fidgeting under the chair beside her, and she felt him holding his breathe. Her heart was pounding, but this time it was different. Everybody in the room was waiting for her, and that was okay. This time she had things to say.

“The past,” Olivia answered finally. “The past was holding her back.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wish

“Made of rose-colored silk, it had subtle accents: a muted trail of flowers at the hem, and a delicate chain that dangled from the clasp. Hazel had stopped breathing when she'd pulled it out of the bag. It was, hands down, the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wishful Thinking

“It was a standard white-bread hot dog bun oozing with orangey-pink lobster meat, dotted with tiny slices of celery ribs, and held together by globs of creamy mayonnaise. "Careful," Jaime warned, stretching the plate out closer to Hazel's lap. "It's sort of a two-hand situation."
Hazel brought the soggy roll to her mouth and bit down at one end. A mouthful of buttery, lemony goodness greeted her, and she swooned. "S'good," she mumbled, wiping the corners of her mouth. It wasn't just good. It was heavenly and tasted exactly the way she'd always thought that summer should.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wishful Thinking

“The dress was stunning. She could see that now. It was a shimmery, teal green, and short, just like the other dress had been. But instead of abruptly ending at her knees, it sort of billowed out from her hips, giving her pale, slightly knock-kneed legs a shape. The neck was an easy, swooping cowl, and the delicate cap sleeves gave her usually sticklike arms the illusion of sleek contour.
But more than the way it looked, Hazel couldn't believe the way the dress felt. Usually, her clothes hung on her body uncomfortably. This dress felt like it was made especially for her, barely even touching her skin in some places and resting like a material mist in others.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wishful Thinking

“It doesn't really matter who you are, as long as you commit to being that person one hundred and fifty percent.”
― Alexandra Bullen, Wish