The Queen of All that Dies (The Fallen World, #1)

by Laura Thalassa

When the king turns back to me, he bends and scoops my feet out from beneath me. “What are you doing?” I gasp out. “What do think I’m doing?” he asks, carrying me to the shallow edge of the pool,

You, a girl. That’s what he meant. Like owning a vagina made me inferior in some fundamental way.

There will be no honor to my sacrifice. Women who have filled the role of temptress have always been looked down upon.

“Say that again, and I’ll castrate you with a butter knife.”

The priest announces us to the chapel, and I feel a tear drip down my cheek. I just married the monster under the bed.

Right when I assumed I was the loneliest creature in the world, I find out I might matter to someone.

War tears down everything. Morals, loyalties, lives. Its aftershocks can ripple long after it ends.

I stare into the king’s eyes. I am Isolde, I am Juliet, I am Guinevere. I am every one of those idiots because I’ve fallen for the king.

Where evil is avenged with more evil. It will never be enough to remedy the world.

She’s the most fearless person I know. My opinion of her only increases when she slugs Will, and again when she pulls his own gun on him. It doesn’t take a genius to know I married up.

What you choose to do with all that anger is your business. But you can’t control the world; someone will always be there to wrong you. It’s your choice to let it go. Only you can decide the woman you want to be.”