Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1)

by Jay Kristoff

“Nothing is where you start. Own nothing. Know nothing. Be nothing.” “Why would I want to do that?” The old man crushed out his cigarillo on the boards between them. His smile made her smile in return. “Because then you can do anything.”

She stood on a mezzanine overlooking a dark wood—a forest of ornate shelves, laid out like a garden maze. And on each shelf stood books. Piles of books. Mountains of books. Oceans and oceans of books. Books of stained vellum and fresh parchment. Books bound in leather and wood and leaves, locked books and dusty books, books as thick as her waist and as tiny as her fist. Mia’s eyes were alight, fingernails denting the wooden railing. “Naev, don’t let me down there,” she breathed. “Why not?” “You’ll never see me again…”

“So Solis gave your arse a kicking. Learn from it. Sometimes weakness is a weapon. If you’re smart enough to use it.”