Renee Ahdieh

“It was easy to be good and kind in times of plenty. The trying times were the moments that defined a man.And love? Love was something that did much to change a person. It brought joy as it brought suffering, and in turn brought about those moments that defined one’s character. Love gave life to the lifeless. It was the greatest of all living powers.But, as with all things, love had a dark side to it.”

“It does not take courage to kill. It takes courage to live.”

“Before she could stop her hands, they reached for him, as though they existed for no other reason than to touch him. Her fingers brushed across his jaw with a feather's caress before pulling away, and he closed his eyes on a soft inhale. Like the poison toying with its remedy, Shahrzad's hands ignored her and took control, a mere taste of his skin not nearly enough. Never enough.”

“I understand how difficult it is, putting your heart in someone else’s hands. But, if you don’t, how will you ever truly know a person?”

“There's nothing you can do about the past." "You're wrong. I can learn from it..." Tariq dug his heels into his stallion's flanks, and the horse shot forward, painting a dark smudge across the sand. "And I can make sure it never happens again!”

“You are first and foremost a person. A reckless, foolish person, but a person nonetheless. If I ever say you are not permitted to do something, rest assured that the last reason I would ever say so would be because you are a girl.”

“You deserve someone who will feel you at her side without needing to see you. And I've only felt that way about one boy.”

“This dangerous girl. This captivating beauty.This destroyer of worlds and creator of wonder.”

“I think beauty is rarely worth the trouble.” Shahrzad gripped Irsa’s hand tighter in sisterly solidarity. “But I am worth a great deal more than what you see.”

“For his children, he would move mountains.”

“From the stars, to the stars.”

“Because when I kiss you, I want yours to be the first... and last lips I ever kiss.”

“The power behind words lies with the person.”

“For the wonder of a first love can never be matched.”

“Love is a force unto itself, sayyidi. For love, people consider the unthinkable...and often achieve the impossible. I would not sneer at its power.”

“The tears and the pain all but blinding her, she forced open her eyes one more time, to a curtain of dark hair; to a waterfall of black ink spilling across the last page of her life. No. I’m not nothing. I was loved.”

“You have a beautiful laugh. Like the promise of tomorrow.”