Glow (The Plated Prisoner, #4)

by Raven Kennedy

To those who stand on their own two feet despite their stumbles.

As a woman in power, you can never let people see your true emotional reactions because they would only use them against you.

words are the most powerful weapon of all, and I will wield them.

“You don’t have to be cruel to be strong. You don’t have to be mean to seem brave. You don’t have to look down on others in order to stand tall. Having emotions does not mean you’re weak. It means you’re smart enough to let yourself feel.”

But survival is also about choosing your loyalties wisely. When it comes to those I’m loyal to, I’m a fierce fucker.

death always manages to create misplaced adoration and loyalty.

distance is the footpath of avoidance,

But what is the value of strength when it’s just a facade?

Maybe none of us truly know our own strength. Not until the world has hacked away at us. But the point is, we aren’t strong because of our trauma. We were always strong to begin with. We just needed to figure it out for ourselves.

You never notice what’s keeping you balanced until you realize you’re not standing straight anymore.

Finding your strength even when you believe you have none is what makes you a true force.

“Anger can do a lot of things,” he goes on, thumbing over the sharp tips of his spikes. “It can drag you down, make you bitter. But if you wield it another way, it can be a stepping stone for your determination.”

I’ve always been more passive in life. I think passivity is often mistaken for weakness. Really, it’s just a different way to cope. To survive. The safest way I learned to react to situations was to endure. To let things blow over. To please. To peace keep. To constantly regulate my own reactions and thoughts and emotions

“Why are you sorry?” I reply. “One person’s pain doesn’t negate another’s. Our heartaches are not competition, but the bridge to empathy. So that we can look at one another and know that on some level, we understand. That’s one beautiful thing about grief, I think. That sometimes, we can find someone in the world to look at from the other side of the bridge of our torments and know that we are not alone.”

the respite I didn’t know I needed, a balm to soothe the wrongs that have nicked into my soul and tried to bleed out my purpose.

People rarely change their opinions when they’re argued with. They only tend to listen to the voices of those they already agree with.”

“The world can judge us all it wants, doesn’t mean we have to give a shit.”