All That You Are (All That You Are, #1)

by Elicia Roper

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to anyone who has ever felt that they are not good enough. I want you to know that you are enough. A thousand times enough, and you will find someone who will love you, all of you, for all that you are. -E.R.

Okay, so I might have a teensy-weensy problem. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a book hoarder... but I do love books.

Emotions are a funny thing. No matter how far down you bury them, they always seem to find a way to climb back up to the surface. No matter how much you would love to keep those feelings buried.

if someone says an insult, but I know it isn’t true, then I shouldn’t let it bother me. Because he’s wrong,”

“Dear Athena, you have been my best friend. No one ever treated me this way like how you treat me and don’t care about my age. People other than you care about my age. If they see I am younger, they won’t include me. But you included me in everything, so I want to give you a token of my appreciation.” - From Isabella

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you condone the wrong action.” Mom puts a hand on mine. “Forgiveness is to release yourself from the prison you are in. It’s to stop the person who hurt you from continuing to hurt you.”

“No... the suspense...” I clutch my chest dramatically. “It’s killing me.” Isabella sighs a heavy sigh like she is absolutely done with me. “Then just die.”

“No one’s life is exactly as we pictured it to be... I feel like we hold ourselves to such unrealistically high standards, only to punish ourselves for not being able to reach them. Of course, we can’t reach them since they were unattainable in the first place.”

“I wish you could see yourself the way that I see you. You are inspiring.”

you have a big heart, so when you love someone, you give them all of you, and it hurts if they don’t do the same.”

The thing about broken hearts is, unlike a broken bone, it doesn’t get the time and attention it needs to heal. It goes undetected by the naked eye, so no one really knows the pain you are feeling on the inside.

Men don’t cry. Men don’t break down, or they will be seen as weak. But that’s such an unfair expectation to have in the first place because, like women, men have feelings, too, and they shouldn’t have to feel ashamed of it.

Real life is tragic and miserable—we don’t always get what we want in the end.

I get that you may not want to show me the side of you that’s less than perfect, but don’t you see? I don’t want perfect. Perfect is overrated. All I want is you. All that you are. Exactly as you are. I want you to know that I will wait for you for as long as it takes. Take your time. (but not too long).”

“Prideful people are the loneliest because no one wants to befriend them.” A beat of silence passes.