Stephanie Garber Quotes

Just because something is real doesn't mean you believe in it.

We might not have what you want, but we have what you need.

Caraval is a world built of make-believe, and sometimes it's difficult for those of us who always live inside it to feel as if anything is real. Most of us won't admit it, but we all crave the real.

Remember, it's only a game…

Scarlett pressed down on the tip of the blade. A single drop of ruby blood welled. Carefully Julian brought her finger to his mouth, and when his soft lips touched her skin the entire world shattered into a million shards of colored glass.

The air was full of salt and secrets.

He was mystery and unanswered questions.

She'd disappeared like a broken star, leaving the world untouched, save for the bits of missing light that no one would ever see again.

Why aren't you dressed like a leopard with butterfly wings, or a unicorn?"
A sliver of a grin. "Not even Legend could make me dress like a unicorn."
"But unicorns are magical, and then all the ladies would want to pet you.

But for all its sparkle, once Tella looked closer she thought it seemed more like glitter pretending to be stardust.

Nothing about him was soft. His chest felt like a block of marble and yet she could have closed her eyes, curled up against him, and gone to sleep forever.

Julian had a voice meant for casting spells. But tonight he'd have broken them instead. He sounded like salt without the sea. Rough, alone, and lost.

I imagine the game wouldn't be the same in the light," Scarlett answered. "People think no one sees all the nasty things they do in the dark. The foul acts they commit, or the lies they tell as part of the game. Caraval takes place at night because you like to watch, and see what people do when they think there are no consequences.

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

Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.

His steady gaze was even softer than his voice. It reached out to the broken parts of her like a caress. The type of touch that moves through damaged flesh, past fractured bones and into a person's wounded soul.

Gold shimmered no matter what, but few people could make darkness glitter the way he did.

Invite the lie to play until you become so comfortable with it that it feels like the truth.

Suddenly everything became clear. Tella understood why Legend showed up in her dreams but kept his distance, refusing to touch her until tonight, right before making an offer to change her. Last night she'd thought Legend had real feelings for her – that he could love her. But it was the opposite. Legend wasn't changing – he was hoping to change her.
And she didn't believe it was so that she wouldn't die. Legend wanted to make her immortal so that he wouldn't die.
He didn't love her. He was afraid of falling in love with her, because love was his one weakness. If Legend loved her, he'd lose his immortality and become human. But he wouldn't have to worry about it if she was immortal, because immortals couldn't love each other.
Immortals felt obsession, fixation, lust, possession. And Legend was clearly experiencing those things.

I think I've made a mistake.'
'Then make it into something better.

Think whatever you want, but if you honestly believe that's the only reason I'm here with my hands all over you, you're not nearly as clever as I thought.

He might have been a liar and villain, but he made both things look very good.

She wanted to trust him, but a lifetime of mistrust made it impossible.

This game brings out the most selfish parts of many people, but it had the opposite effect on you. Watching you restored my belief that Caraval could be what I believe it used to be---and that my brother could be good once again.

I thought it was the opposite," Scarlett said. "The past is set but the future is changeable?" "No. The past is only mostly set, and the future is harder to change than you would think.

She remembered thinking falling for him would be like falling in love with darkness, but now she imagined he was more like a starry night: the constellations were always there, constant, magnificent guides against the ever-present black.

Some would probably call him a villain. Others would say his magic makes him closer to a god.

What's so dangerous about my arms?' he murmured.
'For me, everything.

but the wish would only work if you wanted it more than anything.

I don't believe it's as hopeless as it seems.

There's always a bit of real mixed in with everything

Occasionally, there are minutes that get extra seconds. Moments so precious the universe stretches to make additional room for them.

Even before she'd known him, she'd fallen in love with the boy who'd had the passion to make his one wish come true and the audacity to call himself Legend.

Briefly, Scarlett let herself imagine what it would be like to go to Legend's private isle, to play the game and win the wish. Freedom. Choices. Wonder. Magic.

You have it all wrong." Dante stole the cord's other end. "We're going to have to remove the rope and retie it."

Tella snatched both ends back and took a wobbly step away. "You can't take apart my dress on these stairs."

"Does that mean I can take it apart somewhere else?" His low voice oozed dark promises.

Every good story needs a villain.
But the best villains are the ones you secretly like.

Sometimes Legend felt like her enemy, sometimes he felt like her friend, sometimes he felt like someone she used to love, and every once in a while, he felt like someone she still loved.

For a moment she could feel his emotions again, as close as if they were her own. Awe mixed with fierce protectiveness, and a thread of pain so intense she wanted to take the hurt from him.

and she imagined an invisible bind around her neck as well, always holding her back.

She knew when she was being deceived and she couldn't imagine she'd become so confused about reality that she would lose her life or go insane.

Some things are worth pursuit regardless of the cost.

Every person gets one impossible wish, if the person wants something more than anything, and they can find a bit of magic to help them along.

I'm just not fond of cages,' she said, 'and this place looks like one giant dungeon.

I'm sorry, Crimson. I lied when I said I left for five weeks to give you space. I left because I was angry you wanted to meet the count, and I thought leaving would make you want me more.

I used to be scared of it, but now I think love is another type of magic. It makes everything brighter, it makes people who have it stronger, it breaks rules that aren't supposed to exist, it's infinitely valuable.

Just because your moral compass is broken doesn't mean everyone here is unscrupulous.

You're not playing fair," she murmured.

"I never said I did, and I won't this time.

Not everyone gets a true ending. There are two types of endings because most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, where the situation feels hopeless. But that's when hope is needed most. only those who persevere can find their true ending.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest show on land or by sea. Inside you'll experience more wonders than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip magic from a cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it's all a game.

Dante had wings. And, holy mother of saints, they were beautiful-soulless jet-black with midnight-blue veins, the color of lost wishes and fallen stardust.

Hope is a powerful thing. Some say it's a different breed of magic altogether. Elusive, difficult to hold on to. But not much is needed.

And even though she would never tell him, she loved the way he moved, with total confidence, as though nothing in the world could harm him. It made her less fearful when she was around him. As if boldness and bravery did not always end in defeat. But

Tella often imagined she knew what people thought when they saw her. One look at her honey-blond curls, her girlish smile, and her pretty dresses, coupled with the fact that she liked to enjoy herself, and people dismissed her as a silly girl. Tella might have been many things, but she was far from silly or worthless or whatever labels people liked to affix because a person was young and female. Tella liked to think that was where much of her strength came from. She was bold. She was brave. She was cunning. And she was going to come out of this triumphant - no matter the cost.

She couldn't honestly deny he was extremely appealing physically. His rugged face, his wild dark hair, his warm brown skin. And even though she would never tell him, she loved the way he moved, with total confidence, as though nothing in the world could harm him. It made her less fearful when she was around him. As if boldness and bravery did not always end in defeat.

If you think I'm nice, you really need to spend time with better people

Saying something was for someone else's own good was almost always another way of justifying something wrong.

When you truly care about someone, aren't you supposed to be honest, even if it means you might lose that person?

So,' she said cautiously, 'is all this your way of telling me you're the villain?'
His chuckle was dark. 'I'm definitely not the hero.'
'I already knew that,' Tella said. 'It's my story, so clearly I'm the hero.

He was a mess of gold hair, sea-salt blue eyes, and bitten lips, beautiful in a way only broken things could be.

Tella claimed she didn't want love - she liked to say love trapped and controlled and ripped hearts apart. But the truth was she also knew love healed and held people together, and deep down she wanted it more than anything. She enjoyed the kisses, but a part of her always wished that whenever she walked away from a boy he'd run after her, beg her to stay, and then promise he'd never leave.

...most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, where the situation feels hopeless. But that's when hope is needed most.

You're the starlight to his darkness, and if you feel the same about him, you should give him another chance.

The future is much like the past; it is mostly set, but can always be altered.

Your future can be whatever you wish. We all have the power to choose our own destiny. But, my sweet, if you play with those cards, you give the Fates pictured inside them the opportunity to shift your path. People use Decks of Destiny, similar to the one you just touched, to predict the future, and once a future is foretold, that future becomes a living thing, and it will fight very hard to bring itself about.

Legends were supposed to be better than the truth.

Tella was the most important person in the world to Scarlett, but it always broke Scarlett to know her sister did not feel the same way.

When she loved, she did it as fiercely as she lived.

Scar, I don't know what you're thinking, but I swear there is nothing going on between Dante and me. You know how I feel about boys who are prettier than me.

Arrogant. Overconfident. Vain. Impossible. She hated the way he refused to leave her alone, how he took her insults the same way other boys might take a compliment, and that his interest in her was clearly only part of his role. And yet she could never seem to push him away.

Feathers covered the carnage, as if a rebel angel had gone mad.

Many of the volumes had spines covered in numbers, symbols, or languages she didn't read. There were also a few spines with titles that she would have liked to read, had she not felt pressed for time.

Mermaids and Mermen and How to Become One

Ten Essential Rules of Time Travel

Shape-shifting for Beginners

Cakes, Cakes, and More Cakes

Turning Your Shadow into a Pet

Love, Death, and Immortality

He didn't kiss her as if he'd simply just come back to life. He kissed her as if he'd died, been buried, and clawed his way out of the grave and through the dirt just to get to her.

It took seven years to get the letter right.

He was the perfect picture of a gentleman in a top hat and tails, fully sane and dreadfully victorious.

Weren't you the one who said you see girls the same way we see party dresses, only to be used once?"
"Clearly I view you a little differently." He reached for one of her errant curls and wound it around one tattooed finger, the black rose on the back of his hand spinning until it turned red beneath the ruby starlight. With every turn he drew her closer. He made it easy to ignore her achy legs and her dying heart. He twisted the hair around his finger in the same way she imagined he wanted to wrap her around his finger. As if she would ever let him.

Don't be like me and settle for the ease of an almost-ending, when you could have the true ending.

Sometimes it's easier to have someone else wound you.

What have I always told you about the future?"
"Every person has the power to write her own.

But the lie had already buried itself inside of Scarlett, as lies that children are told often do.

I'm the villain, even in my own story.

...judging her based on a moment like that is the same as reading one page from a book and assuming you know the whole story.

But there are many things to want in life. It's not a bad thing if there are other things you desire a little more.

He kissed her once more, gently and deliberately, reassuring her without words that he had no intentions of letting her go.

For centuries the Fates were locked away, but now they wish to come out and play.
If they regain their magic the world will never be the same, but you can help stop them by winning the game

His mouth was crashing against hers. He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.

Dante ran his tongue over his lips, like a tiger that had just bested a kitten.

Our futures are only predictable because as creatures of this world we are predictable.

Yes, her father had always treated her like a possession, but she was not a thing to be bought or sold.

Fate had already decided no one she loved would ever love her back.

He's never stared at her like this before. Sometimes he gazed at her as if he wanted to be her undoing, but just then it was as if he wanted her to undo him.

She remembered her first impression of him, tall, roughly handsome, and dangerous, like poison dressed up in an attractive bottle. It

This was why love was so dangerous. Love turn the whole world into a garden, so beguiling it was easy to forget that rose petals were as ephemeral as feelings, eventually they would wilt and die, leaving nothing but the thorns.

What happens beyond this gate may frighten or excite you, but don't let any of it trick you. We will try to convince you it's real, but all of it is a performance. A world built of make-believe. So while we want you to get swept away, be careful of being swept too far away. Dreams that come true can be beautiful, but they can also turn into nightmares when people won't wake up.

Legend did not believe in endings.
For most of his immortal life, he believed his world would come crashing down if he fell in love and became human. Instead, his world had become more precious, particularly the pieces involving her.
He stifled a laugh as he read her letter again. Tella wouldn't like it if she knew he was laughing, but she was one of the rare things he found funny.
It was one of the many reasons he loved her.

Good, because I don't want to fight you. I just want to love you." He lifted her a little and pressed another kiss to her lips. "This is my choice, and I choose you, Donatella. I don't need immortality. You're my forever.

A second in Caraval seemed richer than an ordinary second, like that moment on the cusp of sunset, when all the colors of the sky coalesce into magic.

Tonight he was smiling like a wicked prince, escaped from the stars, ready to spirit her up into the heavens.

And Scarlett cried. She cried for all the horrors he had been, and she cried for the wonders that he could have been instead.

His voice was soothing ans commanding all at once, like the crackle of flames devouring wood. Fierce and fatal, yet somehow steady and reassuring. The type of voice a girl could have been easily consumed by.

Remember, dreams come true can be beautiful, but very quickly turn into nightmares if you don't wake up