Dannii Elle > Recent Status Updates

Overdue - 3.75/5 stars

"I came to Etaynia in search of the most important thing in the world.
A story."

"The darkened night, whispering wind, and isolation seemed to invite secrets."

"Dreams were nothing but illusion. They obscured sight of what actually existed."

"I knew from losing my mother that grief had countless small traps like this— not just the big ache of missing someone, but the small cuts of memories or wishes. People vanished all at once, but the things you wanted to tell them or do with them or show them didn’t."

"That was the way of some men. Their tongues wagged in an imitation of love while their fists dealt pain. I stroked the dagger’s outline at my thigh, thinking about what it might be like to live in a world where women didn’t have to depend on people they feared for safety."

The thud that appears every couple of lines with increasing frequency is actually working to make this such an ominous read!!

"Seek not water among the poisoned thorns but rather a path free of torment."

"Suffering was its own form of absolution."

"he seemed like a good enough sort. Young, though in a way that had nothing to do with age. He lacked the tinge of sadness"

New book delivery day means dropping all others to prioritise your new babies

"history is not a line; it is a spiral... We don't repeat moments in time but we come back around, echoing them."

"I suppose I am a smuggler at heart. I'll have to do what I've done so many times before."
"Which is?"
"Figure it out as I go along."

"Ah, fashion. The only power one really needs to rule an Empire."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME RN!?

It's a huge testament to this author's ability to craft her characters that someone I actually DESPISED previously has now become my favourite thing about this book!

"You look sad. Even when you smile."

"They believe if a broken-winged bird can fly despite her fall, then maybe Annwyn can too. Maybe a rebellion can rise up, lifting their realm back to where it should be... it's their hope that they see when they look at me. It's their symbol come to life."

"all good liars believed their lies."

"I couldn't see another soul in any direction. existence distilled to peace and freedom and a sense of waiting in an infinite present."

"Under scrutiny he dispersed, like smoke."

"Sometimes in a big family you need to claim something to make a mark. Eating disorders, anxiety, narcissism, ponies. Anything would do."

"What annoys me is that it takes no effort to be born beautiful, no hard work, no mental agility, no strength of character. Just dumb luck. And yet it's universal currency, often taken for moral superiority."

"I'm hollow with nothing but the echo of her and the reverberation of fury. I imagine my aura must be a pit of malevolence churning in the deepest shade of black, because this rage.. it will consume me wholly.
And I'll let it."

"So, yes, I was scared to fall. But without falling, I never would have landed.
And what a beautiful thing it was to land."

"Our heartaches are not competition, but the bridge to empathy... 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."

"I will be a monster if it means I can destroy one."

"I'll be the villain for you. Not to you."

"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."