Appetite for Innocence Quotes

“When kids go through trauma, they do incredible things to survive their situation. Sometimes it means their brains create different stories and other realities to help them cope, elaborate fantasies to make something horrible make sense.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I didn’t want to die, at least I don’t think so. I just didn’t want to feel anything. Everything was just too heavy.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I’ve been disassembled and even though they think I’ve been put back together, I’m not. Parts are missing.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I’m not a victim. I’m special. He told me that many times.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I used to think the world was a good place. Now I know it was only a fairytale. Bad things happen and they happen all the time. They’re everywhere. You can’t stop them.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“They can’t do what they need to do to make him happy. When they can’t, he gets rid of them. He has an appetite for innocence and a very short attention span.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I can’t believe I’m adapting to this place and it scares me. I don’t want to get used to it here. It’s been nineteen days since he took me. Almost three full weeks.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“not just some teenager he grabbed when he saw the opportunity. He picked me on purpose. Somehow the fact that it isn’t random makes it worse.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“We all have our pain and our secrets. None of us get through this life unscathed. It”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“starved for”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Maybe you should start thinking like a mother, then, and not like a therapist all the time.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I quickly decided there couldn’t be a God because no God who was supposed to love me and had the power to intervene in my life would do nothing to save me. I didn’t have to be scared of going to hell because of my unbelief. I was already there. I lived in it every day. I want something to hold on to, but there’s nothing there anymore. I feel like I’m flying or falling, never steady or planted on anything solid. I’m unstuck from the world around me. Now I just float in empty, vast darkness.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“He has an appetite for innocence and a very short attention span.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I have to be here for another three years, but three years really isn’t that long. It will be over before I know it and I’ll be free—totally free. The first thing I’m going to do is find Jocelyn.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. She’ll be devastated. That much is for sure, but it’s only going to make her want me more. She won’t be able to go on without a daughter to love. That’s where I come in.” She places her hand on my forehead again. I jerk back. “You don’t need to worry about her. I’m going to take good care of her. I’ll be there for her in her grief. Nothing bonds people together more than shared grief.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“You made this way too easy for me. Everyone already thinks you tried to kill yourself and now, they’ll just think you finished the job.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Sheer terror shoots through me. I try to scream but I can’t. My mouth is taped shut. Just like before. Sarah’s face comes into view above me. “Oh, Ella. I had a feeling you’d wake up. You should’ve eaten all of your dinner.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“What none of them realize is that I’m not one of the weak ones. I’m a fighter and I know what I have to do.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“You’re going to do this because our mom needs you to.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I feel like everything I do for her is wrong. I fail at every turn.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Jocelyn tells me things she doesn’t tell Ella because she knows I can handle things she can’t. When she first brought up allowing ABC News to take a picture of us to release to the press, she confessed she was only giving in to them because she needed the money.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“She’s fascinated with Sarah like she’s this exotic creature from the zoo and Sarah eats it up. She loves the attention.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“For now, she’s focused on how to become Sarah’s legal guardian. Sarah’s thrilled. The two of them exchange knowing glances all the time like they share some big secret.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Sarah, he tied you up and locked you in a basement. He starved you unless you did what he wanted you to do. He raped you.” She chokes on the word rape. “He didn’t rape me. I let him do it.” He was kind and gentle with me. He went slow and talked me through the whole thing. He explained everything he was doing as he went. When it was over, he gave me another bath and helped clean me up. He held me for a long time afterward, whispering sweet things to me.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Just think about how she must feel. Think about what it would feel like to be all alone in the world.” I don’t have to think about what it would feel like to be all alone in the world. I am all alone. I’ve been alone since John grabbed me and threw me in the trunk of his car and I woke up in the basement.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“I don’t see him.” Blake whips around to stare at me, unable to hide his surprise. “Take your time. Don’t rush. Look again. Did you live with one of these men?” I lock my eyes on John, hoping he’s proud of me. “I’ve never seen any of these men.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“He sees me. I know he sees me. He’s looking right at me. He sees into my soul like he’s always done. I can’t look away. I’m mesmerized.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“know he’ll be behind the glass and can’t see me, but I’ll be able to see him and he’ll sense my presence. Even though we can’t talk, I’ll know what he wants me to do just by looking at him. Our connection doesn’t always require words.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“Ella hates it when she calls her anything sweet. She yells at her every time she does, but I don’t mind. I like it. It makes me feel special.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence

“One time he left me behind a dumpster for three days. I stayed because he’d told me to and I always did what he said, but I was terrified. I crawled underneath the dumpster at night when it got dark and stayed there until morning. I was only five.”
― Lucinda Berry, Appetite for Innocence