From the Bookshelf of Meggie & Mo's Booklist…

[close] Look. (Grown-ups skip this paragraph.) I'm not about to tell you this book has a tragic ending. I already said in the very first line how it was my favorite in all the world. but there's a lot of bad stuff coming.

Quoted in Inkheart, chapt. 10, p. 90

He held up the book then. "I'm reading it to you for relax."
"Has it got any sports in it?"
"Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders...Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Stringest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. passion. Miracles."
"Sounds okay," I said, and I kind of closed my eyes.

Quoted in Inkheart, chapt. 16, p. 136

And that's when she put her book down. And looked at me. And said it: "Life isn't fair, Bill. We tell our children that it is, but it's a terrible thing to do. It's not only a lie, it's a cruel lie. Life is not fair, and it never has been, and it's never going to be."

quoted in Inkheart, chap. 26, p. 266

"We were told there was a village nearby that might enjoy our skills."
"You were misinformed," BUttercup told him. "There is no one, not for many miles."
"Then there will be no one to hear you scream," the Sicilian said, and he jumped with frightening agility toward her face.

quoted in Inkheart, chap. 30, p. 288