Marie Lu

“I remember my favorite books when I was a kid: 'The Redwall Adventure' series, 'Ender's Game,' things like that.”

“'The Rose Society' was definitely the hardest book I've ever written, because it's so difficult to stay in that dark space.”

“I see pieces of memories in his eyes. Pieces of us. They are broken, and scattered, but they are there, gradually coming together again at the sight of me.”

“If I’ve learned anything from my past and my present, it’s the power of fear. You can give your subjects all the generosity in the world, and still they will demand more. But those who are afraid don’t fight back. I know this well enough.”

“I never saw her again. But even now, as an old man, I remember her as clearly as if she were standing before me. She was ice personified. There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.”

“I'm a big fan of the trope of 'the poor boy meets the wealthy girl.' I like the idea of this boy from the other side of the tracks who doesn't have a lot, but he'll give that little bit that he has to you.”

“I went into writing 'The Young Elites' with a great deal of fear - I'd been told repeatedly that a villain's story would be far too dark for young readers to want and that no one would like my villainess, Adelina. I braced myself for epic failure.”

“He is beauty, inside and out.He is the silver lining in a world of darkness.He is my light.”

“For me, as a fan, when I read book series, I tend to be the most judgmental of the last book.”

“I laugh with him. I imagine mixing poison into his tea, then watching his face turn purple and anguished; I picture myself leaning over him, looking on patiently, with my chin resting in my hands, admiring his dying, writhing body as I count out the minutes.”

“I've seen fan art from readers that is professional-grade in quality.”

“Her sadness makes her impossibly beautiful, like snow blanketing a barren landscape.”

“Comics and animation have some of the deepest stories I've ever seen.”

“My first three manuscripts were epic fantasy - like high fantasy - and then the fourth one was a historical fantasy about Mozart as a child. I still have a soft spot for that one!”

“Writing is an extremely rewarding and humbling process, and I've learned to go with it, that even if it feels absolutely impossible, I will find a way to tell the next story.”

“He's right. I can't deny it. I am the reason Day lost everything that matters to him.”

“I belong to no one. On this night, I swear to you that I will rise above everything you’ve ever taught me. I will become a force that this world has never known. I will come into such power that none will dare hurt me again.”

“Why can’t I be like that? Why can’t I be the father who just shrugs off the love of his daughter? Why can’t I be the Lead Inquisitor who enjoys watching his pleading victims burn at the stake? Why can’t I be the one who befriends a lonely, lost girl and then casts her out? Why can’t I be the one to strike first, to hit so early and with such fury that my enemies cower before they can ever think of turning on me? What is so great about being good?”

“Like fear and fury. It is energy from another realm, threads from beneath the sur­face, an immortal place never meant to be disturbed. Raffaele trembles.Something is poisoning the world.”

“Without his father's shadow in a way, he's beautiful.”