Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3)

by Kristin Cashore

“Truths are dangerous,” he said. “Then why are you writing them in a book?” “To catch them between the pages,” said Teddy, “and trap them before they disappear.” “If they’re dangerous, why not let them disappear?” “Because when truths disappear, they leave behind blank spaces, and that is also dangerous.”

“It is not the job of a child to protect her mother. It’s the mother’s job to protect the child. By allowing your mother to protect you, you gave her a gift.

“But that’s how memory works,” Bitterblue said quietly. “Things disappear without your permission, then come back again without your permission.” And sometimes they came back incomplete and warped.

Every configuration of people is an entirely new universe unto itself.”

“There are no limits to the ways people you think you know can astonish you. I can’t explain the practice to you, Lady Queen. I wonder if it’s meant to be punishment for something one can’t forgive oneself for. Or an external expression, Lady Queen, of an internal pain? Or perhaps it’s a way to realize that you actually do want to stay alive.”