Tsarina Quotes

“You said it wasn’t your fault for being born rich any more than it was my fault for being born poor. And you’re right. But if we don’t do anything to fix the world, if we just shrug and let children starve and soldiers die and people be treated like cattle . . . if we don’t fix the world, Miss Kutepova, I believe it becomes our fault.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“Love hopes for happy endings.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“The world is the world, and we're cast in whatever roles we fall into. It's not my fault I was born wealthy any more than you were born poor.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“(W)hen you forget that those you disagree with are people, not just your faceless opposition, you don't end up proving who is right and who is wrong. You end up with a body count.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“And I can tell you, without question, that it’s too late for any man who goes to war. Even if he lives, he’ll never come back the same.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“I loved him in a way that I knew would never stop, in a way that would hurt forever.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“(A) jewel with a little dirt on it is still a jewel”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“My hope is that, factual or fabricated, every line in Tsarina leads to a single truth: that when you forget that those you disagree with are people, not just your faceless opposition, you don't end up proving who is right and who is wrong. You end up with a body count.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“I shook my head. "It was too late from the start. They never had chance, not any of them."

"A bold thing for a general's daughter to say."

"A thing only a general's daughter could say," I corrected. "I may be a lady, but I know the difference between a Gewehr and a Karabiner. I can tell you about every major battle Russia has fought for the last hundred years. I was in Odessa, lived through the rebellion there. And I can tell you, without question, that it's too late for any man who goes to war. Even if he lives, he'll never come back the same.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“Maria watched her blood rise like it pleased her, tilted her hand, and watched a few drops fall to the floor. When Maria looked over and saw the Babushka staring at the wound, she narrowed her eyes. The Babushka dropped her gaze to the floor, muttered an apology under her breath-it was a well known fact that Maria hated to be stared at.

Maria sniffed; the apology was nice, but didn't erase the hot feeling that was bubbling up in her chest. She'd spent far too long being stared at, being the odd, dirty, strange girl in the Russian court. The little pet to the real nobles, something to play with until a better toy came along or her father returned from a romp in the bedroom. Eyes, eyes that told her she wasn't good enough, wasn't pretty enough, wasn't powerful

She hated to be stared at.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina

“It was true—if Emilia didn't hear about it, it didn't happen. Her trades were gemstones and gossip, and she was a master of both, collecting rumors the way scholars collected books.”
― J. Nelle Patrick, Tsarina