ambsreads > Books: savage-review‎ (10)

“Violet Eden!’ Steph said sternly, sucking me out of my trance. ‘We have your dad’s Amex, a green light and no specified limit.’ Her mock rebuke morphed into a devious grin. ‘What more could a girl want as a birthday present?”

“It’s like he’s training you for battle or something.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘Hey, maybe he has some underground fight club and he’s grooming you!’
‘That’s it, Steph. Definitely.”

“The fact that she was from a seriously monied-up family and was usually wearing something that cost more than my entire wardrobe didn’t adversely affect our friendship. I didn’t overly care for material possessions and she didn’t overly care that I didn’t.”

“I’d never been given a gift by my mother. She’d never made me warm milk, never wiped away my tears or put a plaster on me. She hadn’t saved me from the embarrassing outing with my nanny to buy my first bra and she hadn’t left me with a nifty stash of tampons in the bathroom cupboard that would never run out and that I’d never have to talk about.”

“Our fingers brushed briefly and it was enough to make my heart jump.”

“He smelled of baked suncream and his body radiated warmth.”

“It was like we were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We locked together perfectly.”

“I swear to you, he’ll never hurt you again. You’re… I’ll never let him near you,’ he whispered.”

“Whatever you’ve heard about Caraval, it doesn’t compare to the reality. It’s more than just a game or a performance. It’s the closest you’ll ever find to magic in this world."

“The truth is, I don’t really blame my brothers. They were raised this way.
I blame my parents.
I blame my grandparents and their parents before them. My great-grandparents, who I bet got off the boat at Ellis Island, took the train to Chicago, and stood in line for season tickets for the Cubs.
I am the lone sane person in my family, going back generations.”

“Eff off,” I shout.
Hello, first impression.”

“I love Chucks.
I love Chucks unadorned, none of those foofy colors, plaids and stripes and patterns. I like pure, simple Chucks.
Boys who wear red Chucks? My kind of boys.”

“She laughs and everyone laughs along. Apparently we’re that kind of crowd. But given that I’m doing it too, I’m not judging. Especially since I have these fluttery feelings inside me listening to baseball-cap boy beside me guffaw. Sorry. Zeke. Zeke Martin.”

“She doesn’t look up when I enter; her hand is furiously writing in what appears to be a black Moleskine notebook. She’s using a fountain pen.
I think I’m in love.”

"It's a cemetery." My voice was like weak tea.

"Aggressively normal."

“Why are you being so quiet? Is Gravedigger there?”
“I’m in my bedroom, but I get the feeling that sound travels in this house. I don’t know if he can hear me or not.”
“Great. So you can’t even speak freely. We’d better come up with a code word so I know if you’re okay. Say ‘bluebird’ if you’re being held hostage.”

“Addie and I had once won a costume contest dressed as Tacky Tourists. These two could have been our inspiration.”

“Howard still had steam curling out of his nostrils.”

“My heart jumps, but I ignore it. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
Marco heads for the cars. He slows down as he passes me, dipping his head close to my ear. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“Maybe I don’t need protecting.”

“Things could’ve ended differently tonight. The guys who hang out at the races aren’t good guys.”
“You hang out here,” I say.
“Exactly.”
Is he trying to scare me?”

“So is there something going on between you two? Because he’s a total lunatic, in case you didn’t pick up on that after this morning and tonight.”

“You did not just say manwhore.”
She glares at me. “He has hooked up or slept with at least half the girls at Monroe, maybe more. Please stay away from him, Frankie. The way he was looking at you…”

“He’d never be into her,” one of them whispers.
Because I’m not his type? Or because I’m from the Heights?”

“Hey, Frankie?” he calls out.
I glance back at him, ignoring the eyes on us. “Yeah?”
“You should smile more often.”
A hint of one tugs at the corner of my mouth. “I’ll think about it.”

“Marco lingers by the door for a moment. “I’ll see you around, Angel.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Does it bother you?” He cracks a half smile...”

“Marco looks confused for a second and steps back. “You mean me. I make you uncomfortable. Is that it? I’m a thug from the Downs. We’re all alone and it’s dark. I get it.”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” He sounds hurt.
“I’m not.” I start to slide off the hood, but Marco leans over and boxes me in with his arms. Our lips are inches apart.”

“After all the girls you’ve hooked up with, I wouldn’t want to be a disappointment.”
He doesn’t break eye contact, and with just inches between us, the intensity is nerve-racking. “There’s nothing disappointing about you, Frankie."

“This can’t happen. Not with a guy who takes me apart with a kiss. I don’t want to get attached to anybody now that I know how quickly someone can be taken away. I haven’t even recovered my memories from the night Noah died. I need to be stronger, not more vulnerable. But I’m not admitting that to Marco.”

“The last time I saw him we were kissing … and yelling. My lips tingle just thinking about it. Why is that kiss so hard to forget?”

“My mind flashes back to the kiss, the way his lips felt against mine. Without thinking, I touch my mouth. Marco sucks in a sharp breath.”

“This life is not always what we think it will be,” Cain says. “You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius.

“This life is not always what we think it will be,” Cain says. “You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”

“Duty first, unto death. If you betray the Empire, you will be caught, and you will pay. Dismissed.”

“The world moves fast, changing everything around us with each new day. Photography is a gift that can keep us in a moment forever, blissf

“The world moves fast, changing everything around us with each new day. Photography is a gift that can keep us in a moment forever, blissfully eternal.”

“Cara and I were scary similar in so many ways. We both could quote every line from every episode of Friends like we had written and produced the show ourselves. We hated peanut butter because of the way it made your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and neither of us had ever had a boyfriend.”

“I pressed my lips together to keep myself from laughing. “Just because they site the Misfits and the Ramones as their inspiration doesn’t make them punk.”

“I snarl at her, not satisfied with her first pick.”

“Natalie spats out a laugh.”

“I never said your clothes weren’t cute, Cam.” She grins and reaches up and snaps my bra against my back. “You look frickin’ sexy on a daily basis, girl—I’d totally do you if I wasn’t with Damon.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re so damn sick, Nat!”
“I know,” she says as I turn back to the mirror and I hear the devilish grin in her voice. “But it’s the truth. I’ve told you before and I wasn’t joking.”

“No, Damon’s drug of choice is cocaine and he only grows and sells weed to pay for his cocaine habit.”

“Oh shut up, Nat!” I say, irritated at her serious over-exaggeration illness. “He did not look like either one of those guys. He was just a regular guy who didn’t happen to be fugly.”

“Christian Deering, my Ian rebound guy and the jerk who cheated on me with some red-haired slut.”

“You’re probably better off anyway,” he says, putting the MP3 player in his bag. “I don’t listen to Justin Bieber or that crazy meat-wearin’ bitch, so I guess you’ll just have to do without.”