The beginning was great, the middle was good, but the end was fantastic!

It made the woods on Earth seem like the pencil sketches of a blind man who‘d read about trees but never seen them.

“A smile like that could be weaponized.”

"...remember that art is as vital as food to a kingdom. Without it, a kingdom is nothing, and will be forgotten by time."

The snowflakes sparkled and shimmered beyond the glass panes of the window, twirling and weaving as they flew to the ground in a waltz that was beyond human comprehension.

"I think Nesta feels everything- sees too much; sees and feels all. And she burns with it. Keeping that wall up helps from being overwhelmed, from caring too greatly."

And the truth was that, no matter what happened, we were sisters.

I wanted the impossible, which made it that much easier to push out of my mind.

Before she could stop her hands, they reached for him, as though they existed for no other reason than to touch him.

Growing up, his parents had written off his dreams as simply an effect of his reading too many novels, disappearing for hours--sometimes days--into fictional and fantastical worlds.

"Like leashed lightning." (Re Amren)

I smelled jasmine first--then saw stars. A sea of stars flickering beyond glowing pillars of moonstone that framed the sweeping view of endless snowcapped mountains.

His eyes dug into mine, sifting them for answers.

"Terrifying feelings, making her more monstrous, more human in turn."

"...Are you partial to unicorns?"
"Not really," I said with a smile.
"Oh. Well, just a small one, then."

"Lucky?" Jenna mumbled. "Lucky would have been to die in Scotland."

"...one must be elegant whatever the sacrifice."

"There you are. I've been looking for you," said a deep, sensual male voice I'd never heard.

"Friendly, witty, always ready with a joke. That was the Welsh in him."

Because heat makes them suffer more.

(Story of my life.)

I try to work out whether this is a compliment or not but then give up.

"Clearly the courtship was over."

I feel a hand on mine.

When the final note finished, the conductor turned to the crowd, the musicians standing with him. And, as one, they looked to the boxes, to all those jewels bought with the blood of a continent. And without a word, without a bow or another gesture, they walked off the stage.

"You raise your arm and wave. Such a small gesture, but the simple movement of your hand fans a flame inside me that I've tried again and again to another out."

👆🏼yep!

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Loved the characters of this book! A team of extraordinary people with problems galore who set out on an impossible task.

The danger lay in the way he used his mind: there was not one thing he did that was not planned in advance.

Beautifully written story that incorporates art and history.