Olivia

“The first time I met you, I don't think I quite knew," he said softly, looking back at me, "what a surprise you would become to me.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“When we’re together … it’s as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine. And when we are silent”—a faint smile tugged at his lips—“I forget you are even there sometimes.”

“I’m flattered, nauri,” I said drily.

“It is the greatest compliment. I dislike being around people for too long. But when I am with you … I never feel the need to be someone I am not.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“The Atargatis hadn’t found the mermaids through a free and open exchange of ideas. The Atargatis had found the mermaids because the people on the ship were made of meat, and the mermaids had empty stomachs that they wanted to fill. That was how you found things, in the sea. Be delicious. That was all you ever had to do.”
― Mira Grant, Into the Drowning Deep

“I listened to the same heartbroken song the entire bus ride home, because it was still a summer when sadness was beautiful.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay