The Shining Girls Quotes

“She would disappear
folded like origami
into her own dreams”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“There are only so many plots in the world. It's how they unfold that makes them interesting.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“There are patterns because we try to find them. A desperate attempt at order because we can't face the terror that it might all be random.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“The problem with snapshots is that they replace actual memories. You lock down the moment and it becomes all there is of it.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Next time, can you ask him to bring cookies? I don't like to put up with that level of insane unless there's some kind of high-calorie compensation.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Only other people can make you feel real.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Memory is curated. All this paraphernalia you collect to ward off forgetting”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Can't reinvent the wheel. But you can put your own spin on it.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“But she was the kind of girl you couldn't keep down. Unless you cut her up and caved in her skull.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“I'm scared, Mom." ... "It's okay, honey. It's all right. That's the big secret, don't you know? Everyone is. All the time.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Being her friend was like going to a tropical island for a little fun in the sun, only to be kidnapped by terrorists.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“She's even been practicing making out with the back of her hand. Which was about as effective as tickling yourself. It's why you needed other fingers, other tongues. Only other people can make you feel real.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Grown-up relationships are complicated. We got what we needed from each other. Passion. A safety net. Some kind of solace. It's lonely out there. But it ran its course. It was lovely while it lasted. But everything is finite. Life. Love. All this. Sadness too. Although that's harder to let go of than happiness. - Rachel Mazrachi”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Time heals. Crushes let up. Splinters work their way out. Doesn't mean they don't leave scars that itch.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Dope don't have no sympathy, not for love or family, definitely not for fear. Put dope and the devil up against each other in the ring, and dope will win out. Every single time.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“We do this to ourselves. Society is a poisonous hamster wheel.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Affectionate violence. For when a hug just won't do. That's a Hallmark card for you.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Oh, but fine isn't everything!' Rachel exclaims and grabs her hands and pulls her into a stepping foxtrot over the paintings, twirling her round. 'Fine is the very definition of mediocrity. It's what's polite. It's what's socially acceptable. We need to live brighter and deeper than just fine, my darling!”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Nothing is infinitely reducible. You can split an atom but you can't vaporize it. Stuff sticks around. It clings to you, even when it's broken.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“You can bury your radical magazines and tear up your sexually perverse sketches and burn your sheets. But how do you erase who you are?”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Six foot eight and all asshole.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“If you want to kiss me again, then shut the fuck up and stop bleeding to death”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“(…) everything is finite. Life. Love. All this.' (…) 'Sadness too. Although that's harder to let go of than happiness.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“You have to do the cutting yourself, to let out the pain inside. Getting someone else to slice you up is cheating.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“He adds, wistfully, "I don't suppose you have syphilis, do you?"
"No."
"Pity. There's a study starting in Alabama that would have paid for all your medical care if you did. Although you'd have to be a Negro."
"I'm not that, either."
"Too bad." The doctor shrugs.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“It doesn't escape him that the rock holding it up is the perfect fit for his fist. Or how easily one of those needle spokes would slide right through the girl's eye like Jell-O.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Fine is the very definition of mediocrity. It's what's polite. It's what's socially acceptable. We need to live brighter and deeper than just fine, my darling!”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Poison shared is poison halved. Or maybe it just poisons everyone equally.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls

“Fear festers in the imagination. It’s not fear’s fault. That’s just the way it’s made. Nightmares breed. Allies become enemies. Subversives are everywhere. Paranoia justifies any persecution, and privacy is a luxury when the Reds have the bomb.”
― Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls