The Reading Frog (semi ia for a few days)’s Reviews > The Forest Bleeds > Status Update

All her life, she had been taught to be useful.

To see what she could do, what she could be for others.

But she had never asked the question—be useful to whom?

If they were the fighters, then Saige could be their martyr.

That small-town community you hear about never applied to us. We were their pets. The nice little chinks, they called us, never mind that we're not Chinese. When we cleaned up nice, when we turned our tricks, people were fine. Look how nice the chinks are, not like those dirty other ones.

"He's fucking with the laws of nature (...) Trying to use what's not his to manipulate."

(..) spirit witches have boundaries, rules we live by. It all boils down to don't fuck with stuff outside your control." She glanced at Saige. "My guess is that Arius doesn't see anything as outside his control."

Saige's throat tightened. "No, he doesn't."

"It was terrifying, the way Vaish could simmer like an open candle or blaze like a wild bonfire. Saige had always been scared to get too close, lest she get singed in the aftermath.

(...)

Saige wondered if maybe it was time for her to burn."

There's always the 'I am a God' factor of getting into pharma or biotech, but usually, it's the stupid buckets of money. You don't become a billionaire by being a good person.