The Evil Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil, #1)

by Gena Showalter

Evil never came dressed as a devil; evil came disguised as a dream, as tempting as the shiny red apples they’d once consumed.

“Every hero is a villain, and every villain is a hero. It just depends on who you ask.”

“Evil isn’t born, it’s made. One thought and action at a time.” I paused for effect. “Take a good look at what you’ve made.”

Everly is winter, cold and driven. She’s fun, but she’s treacherous, too. Rouse her fury, and you will suffer.

We were just so different. Chocolate versus vanilla. Or arsenic versus vanilla.

All my life I’d heard a million variations of evil is this, and evil is that. The one I’d internalized: evil is knowing what’s right and doing what’s wrong anyway.

“Mother, aunt...father, sorcerer...sister, cousin. Love, hate. Will be...whatever heart...desires.”

Hope is like a seedling. In darkness it dies, in light it thrives. How easy it is to love the lovable.

The true test of strength is loving the unlovable. A dirty dollar bill isn’t worth any less than a clean one. Every life has value.

No matter how happy people seemed, they had hurts, too. Underneath our skin, we were all the same, fighting for a little slice of happiness in an unhappy world.

want to look at a girl and know she’s mine and mine alone. That I am hers. That we belong to each other, body and soul. I want the world to stop when we’re together. I want to dream about her at night and wake for her every morning. I want to put her first, and know she does the same for me. I want...everything.”

Fight the good fight with everything you’ve got, or even your smallest efforts will be for naught.

Evil wears many faces, and if you aren’t careful, it will wear yours.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice. I will be your favorite vice.