Ari’s Reviews > Notes on an Execution > Status Update

"There are millions of men out there who want to hurt women - people seem to think that Ansel Packer is extraordinary, because he actually did."

"Lavender knew, then, that the world was a forgiving place. That every horror she had lived or caused could be balanced with such gutting kindness. It would be a tragedy, she thought - inhumane - if we were defined only by the things we left behind."

"What a waste this hunt had been. What a disappointment. She had finally solved this epic mystery - touched the place where Ansel's hurt had congealed - only to find his pain looked just like everyone else's. The difference lay in what he chose to do with it."

"This was not about him. It never had been. It seemed insane, almost laughable, that one person - Ansel, a single man, so deeply average - had created a chasm so colossal."

"As Saffy gazed up at the ceiling, hot tears burning down her cheeks, she prayed that the difference between good and evil was simply a matter of trying."

"It was like she'd held her own desire too long in the palm of her hand and it was now just an object, devoid of meaning, useless and taking up space."