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Holly Black

Holly Black Quotes

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Famous Holly Black Quotes

“Why am i the way i am?" His tone makes it clear he's proposing something i might suggest he ask, not really wondering about it. "There are no real answers,Jude.Why was i cruel to Folk? Why was i awful to you? Because I could be. Because I like it. Because, fot a moment, when i was at my worst, i felt powerful, and most of the time, i felt powerless, despite being a prince and the son of the High King of Faerie.”

Cardan
Book:The Wicked King
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“Cardan's face is serious, almost grave, in a way that he seldom allows himself to be. "When my father sent me way, at first i tried to prove that i was nothing like he thought me. But when that didn't work, I tried to be exactly what he believed i was instead. If he thought i was bad, i would be worse. If he thought i was cruel, i would be horrifying. I would live down to his every expectation. If i couldn't have his favor, then i would have his wrath.”

Cardan
Book:The Wicked King
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“In a moment, I am going to ask you to put the blade through your hand. When I ask you to do that, I want you to remember where your bones are, where you veins are. I want you to stab through your hand doing the least damage possible.' His voice is lulling, hypnotic, but my heart speeds anyway. Against my will, I aim the sharp point of the knife. I press is lightly against my skin. I am ready. I hate him, but I am ready. I hate him, and I hate myself. 'Now,' he says, and the glamour releases me. I take a half step back. I am in control of myself again, still holding the knife. ... My eyes on him, I slam the knife in to my hand. The pain is a wave that rises higher and higher but never crashes. I make a sound low in my throat. I may not deserve punishment for this, but I deserve punishment. Dain's expression is odd, blank. He takes a step back from me, as though I am the one who did the shocking thing instead of merely doing what he ordered.”

PunishmentHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeGlamourThe Cruel PrinceStabbingDainPrince Dain
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“No geas can save you from the effects of our fruits and poisons. Think carefully. I could grant you the power to enrapture all who looked upon you instead. I could give you a spot right there.' He touches my forehead. 'And anyone who saw it would be struck with love. I could give you a magical blade that cuts through starlight.”

PowerHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeThe Cruel PrinceDainPrince DainGeasGeases
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“In a moment, I am going to ask you to put the blade through your hand. When I ask you to do that, I want you to remember where your bones are, where you veins are. I want you to stab through your hand doing the least damage possible.' His voice is lulling, hypnotic, but my heart speeds anyway. Against my will, I aim the sharp point of the knife. I press it lightly against my skin. I am ready. I hate him, but I am ready. I hate him, and I hate myself. 'Now,' he says, and the glamour releases me. I take a half step back. I am in control of myself again, still holding the knife. ... My eyes on him, I slam the knife in to my hand. The pain is a wave that rises higher and higher but never crashes. I make a sound low in my throat. I may not deserve punishment for this, but I deserve punishment. Dain's expression is odd, blank. He takes a step back from me, as though I am the one who did the shocking thing instead of merely doing what he ordered.”

PunishmentHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeGlamourThe Cruel PrinceStabbingDainPrince Dain
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“When it is time to sleep, Tiernan and Oak wrap themselves in bearskins. Oak drapes one over my shoulders. I say nothing to indicate that I don't need it, that I am never too cold. When we lie down by the fire, he watches me. The light dances in his eyes. 'Come here,' he says, beckoning with a hand. I am not sure I know the me who moves, who shifts so that I am resting my head against his shoulder. The me who feels his breath against my hair and the pressure of his splayed fingers at the small of my back. His feet tangle with mine, my toes brushing against the fur just above his hooves. My fingers are resting against his stomach, and I cannot help feeling the hard planes of him, the muscles and the scars. When I move my hand, his breath catches. We both go still. Tiernan, close to the fire, turns in his sleep. In the firelight, the prince's amber eyes are molten gold. I am aware of my skin in a way I have never been before, of the slight movements of my limbs, of the rise and fall of my chest. I can hear the beat of his heart against my cheek. I feel as though I am shouting kiss me with every restless shift of my body. But he does not, and I am too much of a coward to do more than lie there and yearn until my eyes drift closed at last.”

NervousIntimateHolly BlackThe Stolen HeirSurenWrenOakOak GreenbriarWantingCuddling
Book:The Stolen Heir
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“I guess I don't know my daughter very well. Because the Jude I knew would cut out that boy's heart for what he did to you tonight.' At the shame of having the revel thrown in my face, I snap. 'You let me be humiliated in Faerie from the time I was a child. You've let Folk hurt me and laugh at me and mutilate me.' I hold up the hand with the missing fingertip, where one of his own guards bit it clean off. Another scar is at its centre, from where Dain forced me to stick a dagger through my hand. 'I've been glamoured and carried in to a revel, weeping and alone. As far as I can tell, the only difference between tonight and all the other nights when I endured indignities without complaint is that those benefited you, and when I endure this, it benefits me.' Madoc looks shaken. 'I didn't know.' 'You didn't want to know,' I return.”

ShameHolly BlackHumiliationThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeThe Wicked KingFather And DaughterMadocSnap
Book:The Wicked King
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“And if I am particularly kind that evening, particularly deferential, if I laugh particularly loudly, it is because I know I will never do this again. I will never have him behave like this with me again. But for one final night, he's the father I remember best, the one in whose shadow I have- for better or worse- become what I am.”

FatherHolly BlackLast TimeThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeThe Queen Of NothingFather And DaughterMadocSavouring
Book:The Queen of Nothing
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“He wants me to be charmed by him so that I will stay by his side and do what he asks of me. No doubt he believes that a little attention and a few smiles will be all it requires of him. He expects me to be as malleable as one of the ladies of the Court. So much of me wants to give in and pretend with him that it makes me hot with rage. If he wants to charm me, the least I can do is make it cost him. I won't settle for smiles and a dance. I am going to call his bluff, I am going to prove to myself- prove to us both- that his flirtation isn't sincere.”

Holly BlackDistrustThe Stolen HeirSurenWrenOakOak GreenbriarCharmedFlirtationCall Their Bluff
Book:The Stolen Heir
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