Frances

“Human fear has a terrible power. It changes everything, distorts everything, maddens everything. Fear is the dark womb where monsters are born and thrive.”
― Frances Hardinge, Deeplight

“But some of our choices are bigger, not massive, but bigger, and they have an impact on the people around us: shall I help that old lady with her shopping, or not? Shall I say something kind to you when I meet you? Shall I laugh at your ideas, shall I walk through the world gently, or shall I push everyone aside?”
― Marcus Sedgwick, White Crow

“Don't follow after me, Tian-Tian." She caresses my face, but her fingers crumble into smoke before I can cherish their warmth. "There's nothing here. It's not a solution. Not an escape. I'm not free. I'm just gone.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow

“Deedee dropped out of her ska-punk band and joined an eight-person madrigal chorus. She had a clot somewhere deep inside her that was connected to the people she had lost in the flood, or might lose in the aftermath, and the endless conversations where everybody compared notes on their respective tragedies only made her feel shittier. Just saying the words "My brother is still missing" made Deedee want to throw up and then head-butt whoever had asked. She needed an alternative to the dull repetition of facts, a way to share her uncut heartbreak without any particulars, and to her amazement she found it in these strange old songs about doomed lovers.”
― Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky