Stephanie Garber Quotes

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

Legends were supposed to be better than the truth. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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 ~ Stephanie Garber

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 ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

Sometimes Scarlett felt all of Trisda was under a dome, a large piece of glass that trapped everyone inside while her father looked down, moving - or removing - people if they weren't in the right places. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

Neat rooms were easy to rifle through and search undetected because it was simple to put carefully placed things exactly where they'd been. But messes, on the other hand, were difficult to recreate. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

He was mystery and unanswered questions. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

Just because I don't like you doesn't mean you're not pretty."
"If you really hated me, you wouldn't find me attractive at all."
"I never said I had good taste. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

How long was I out?" she asked.

"Long enough to make me worry that this wasn't just an elaborate ploy to get into my bed."

Scarlett managed to smile. "What if I said it was a ploy?"

"I'd tell you that you don't need one. You're welcome in my bed anytime. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

But Scarlett had already been broken. For years her father tore her down. Over and over, she had let him. She'd allowed him to make her feel worthless and powerless. But she was neither of those things. She was done allowing her fear to make her weaker, to eat away at the meat on her bones until she could do nothing but whimper and watch. ~ Stephanie Garber

If you can convince yourself it's true, you can convince anyone. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

The air tasted like wonder. Like candied butterfly wings caught in sugared spiderwebs, and drunken peaches coated in luck. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

You're not playing fair," she murmured.

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

For it was also said the Prince Of Hearts was not capable of love because his heart had stopped beating long ago. Only one person could make it beat again: his one true love. They said his kiss had been fatal to all but her - his only weakness - and as he'd sought her, he'd let a trail of corpses. ~ Stephanie Garber

I used to fear I wouldn't come back, until I learned that it's the fear that feeds him. It's the same way hopes and dreams give Legend so much power during Caraval. ~ Stephanie Garber

The future knows what things we desire, unless there is something greater in our path that chases us away. ~ Stephanie Garber

Some things are worth pursuit regardless of the cost. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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 ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

There were shipwrecks more graceful than Tella. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

Tella was the sister who would destroy the world if anything happened to Scarlett, but Scarlett's world would be destroyed if anything happened to Tella. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

It took seven years to get the letter right. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

It's better this way, sister. There's more to life than staying safe... ~ Stephanie Garber

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

When she loved, she did it as fiercely as she lived. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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. ~ Stephanie Garber

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

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

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