Ashley Tofil

“When Hel and I were Fivers, a Barbarian raiding party took us prisoner. I was trussed like a festival-day goat, but they tied Helene's hands in front of her with twine and propped her on the back of a pony, assuming she was harmless. That night, she used the twine to garrote three of our jailers and broke the necks of the other three with her bare hands.
“They always underestimate me,” she said afterward, sounding puzzled.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“You choose tools for a task by their crafting, not their look,” a crow said crisply from a nearby tree. He flapped over to land on a barrel in front of the cottage. “A smith’s finest hammer will be streaked with soot.”
― Tamora Pierce, Trickster's Choice

“Cats aren’t special advisers. They advise us all the time, whether we want them to or no.”
― Tamora Pierce, Wolf-Speaker

“You must save yourself," Tairn demands. "I chose you not as my next but as my last, and should you fall, then I will follow.”
― Rebecca Yarros, Iron Flame