Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)

by Cassandra Clare

And it wasn’t so bad being tall, either—taller than most of the boys her own age, it was true, but Aunt Harriet had always said that as long as a tall woman carried herself well, she would forever look regal.

He was the one she was doing all this for, but sometimes she missed him so much it felt like she’d swallowed broken glass.

If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all?

There was a copy of Great Expectations and—of all things—Little Women. Tessa had hugged the books to herself and, alone and unwatched in her room, had let herself cry.

When you find a man you wish to marry, Tessa, remember this: You will know what kind of man he is not by the things he says, but by the things he does.