Soline

“When I say us, what I mean is them. I felt fine. No; I felt like I’d woken up after a long sleep and had a good workout in the fresh air and a really nice stretch and was now contemplating with interest the idea of a hearty lunch. Sitting on edge in a classroom for hours surrounded by fluffy peeping freshmen waiting for one mal to pop out at me: nightmarish. Summoning a river of magma to instantly vaporize twenty-seven carefully designed attacks at once: nothing to it.”
― Naomi Novik, The Last Graduate

“It was much easier to be brave for your friends than for yourself.”
― Alice Winn, In Memoriam

“I could never afford to look past survival, especially not for anything as insanely expensive as happiness, and I don’t believe in it anyway.”
― Naomi Novik, The Last Graduate

“And I want to help my family, I want to take care of them…but I can’t be that girl. I can’t be the smart girl. I can only be me.”
― Naomi Novik, The Last Graduate