Melissa MacDonald

“That whole ‘pretty’ thing annoys me. Everyone’s one and only compliment to me has always been about my appearance. It’s all I get to be.”
― K.F. Breene, A Ruin of Roses

“When others look at you, they might see your surface beauty. I wanted you to know that when I look at you, I see the beauty of your soul, and I am in rapture. I see you, Finley. That is what I wanted to say. I see all of you, and you are beautiful.”
― K.F. Breene, A Ruin of Roses

“I’m so much more than my appearance. We all are. I’m as well read as I can be in this village. I’m smart and strong and good at problem solving. I have courage—mostly. I’ve created various healing remedies people use, not to mention the one that keeps their family members alive. But I only get praise for being pretty. It feels like, in this village, if you’re beautiful, you’ve reached the highest level of achievement for a woman—something none of us can control. Something given to me and that I didn’t work for or have any choice in. And if you aren’t perceived as beautiful, or if you don’t play up your beauty, you’re constantly told ways to fix yourself to look better—hair, makeup, clothes, whatever. As if we somehow need fixing because someone else doesn’t like us the way we are. As if we should care what others think over what we think of ourselves. It’s bullshit.”
― K.F. Breene, A Ruin of Roses

“You are incredibly beautiful to me, and I do not just mean your appearance or your body. Down to your soul, you are beautiful. You are so honest about who you are. So free with your thoughts and emotions. Growing up, everyone around me was guarded. So closed off. But you…you have this divine light”
― K.F. Breene, A Ruin of Roses