Jess

“I don't want to be great, Zhu repeated. Her desire was the radiance of the sun, an immensity that filled every part of her without exception. Who else understood what it was to feel something of this magnitude; to want something with the entirety of their self, as she did? "I want to be the greatest.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, He Who Drowned the World

“Healing. Forgiveness. Shared story. The promise of walking life with someone who knew my bloodied past. A hand willing to touch the skin of a Romanov and feel only joy.”
― Nadine Brandes, Romanov

“I am a witch,” said Vasya. Blood was running down her hand now, spoiling her grip. “I have plucked snowdrops at Midwinter, died at my own choosing, and wept for a nightingale. Now I am beyond prophecy.” She caught his knife on the crosspiece of hers, hilt to hilt. “I have crossed three times nine realms to find you, my lord. And I find you at play, forgetful.” She felt him hesitate. Something deeper than memory ran through his eyes. It might have been fear. “Remember me,” said Vasya. “Once you bid me remember you.”
― Katherine Arden, The Winter of the Witch

“Your whole world can be falling apart, she thought, but then Springsteen will start playing on the radio.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising