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Holly Black

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Famous Holly Black Quotes

“Some afternoons we sit in groves carpeted with emerald moss, and other evenings we spend in high towers or up in trees. We learn about the movements of constellations in the sky, the medicinal and magical properties of herbs, the language of birds and flowers and people as well as the language of the Folk (though it occasionally twists in my mouth), the composition of riddles, and how to walk soft-footed over leaves and brambles to leave neither trace nor sound. We are instructed in the finer points of the harp and the lute, the bow and the blade. Taryn and I watch them as they practice enchantments. For a break, we all play at war in a green field with a broad arc of trees.”

LessonsHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeFaerieThe Cruel PrinceTaryn DuarteTarynFaerie School
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“The two other members of Dain's spy troupe also have code names. There's the lean, handsome faerie that looks at least part human, who winks and tells me to call him the Ghost. He has sandy-coloured hair, which is normal for a mortal, but is unusual for a faerie, and ears that come to very subtle points. The other is a tiny, delicate girl, her skin the dappled brown of a doe, her hair a cloud of white around her head, and a miniature pair of blue-grey butterfly wings on her back. She's got at least some pixie in her, if not some imp. ... 'I'm the Bomb,' she says. 'I like blowing things up.”

Holly BlackThe Folk Of The AirFaerieThe Cruel PrincePixieThe GhostImpThe BombGarrettThe Court Of Shadows
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“A drop of the bloodred liquid of the blusher mushroom , which causes potentially lethal paralysis. A petal of deathsweet, which can cause a sleep that lasts a hundred years. A sliver of wraithberry, which makes the blood race and induces a kind of wildness before stopping the heart. And a seed of everapple- faerie fruit- which muddles the minds of mortals.”

FantasyHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudePoisoningThe Wicked KingPoisonsMithridatismFaerie Poisons
Book:The Wicked King
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“Orlagh waits for us in a choppy ocean, accompanied by her daughter and a pod of knights mounted on seals and sharks and all manner of sharp-toothed sea creatures. She herself sit on an orca and is dressed as though ready for battle. Her skin is covered in shiny silvery scales that seem both to be metallic and to have grown from her skin. A helmet of bone and teeth hides her hair. Nicasia is beside her, on a shark. She has no tail today, her long legs covered in armour of shell.”

FantasyHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirSharksSealsThe Wicked KingOrcasNicasiaSea CreaturesOrlagh
Book:The Wicked King
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“He doesn't fall like the others. Instead of blood pouring from his wound, red moths stream out, in to the air. They rush out of him so quickly that in a moment, the High King's body is gone and there are just those red moths, swirling up in to the air in a vast cloud, a tornado of soft wings. But whatever magic made them does not last. They begin to fall until they are scattered across the dais like blown leaves. The High King Eldred is, impossibly, dead.”

DeathFantasyHolly BlackDeadThe Folk Of The AirThe Cruel PrinceMothsHigh KingEldred
Book:The Cruel Prince
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“I start back, only to find the maze has changed itself around. The paths are not where they were before. Of course. It can't just be a normal maze. No, it's got to be out to get me. ... 'I will slice my way clean through you,' I say to the leafy walls. 'Let's start playing fair.' Branches rustle behind me. When I turn, there's a new path. 'This better be the way to the party,' I grumble, starting on it. I hope this doesn't lead to the secret oubliette reserved for people who threaten the maze.”

LostFantasyHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeMagicalThe Wicked KingMazeOubliette
Book:The Wicked King
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“I pass trays of spun-sugar animals, little acorn cups filled with wine, enormous sculptures of horn, and a stall where a bent-backed woman takes a brush and draws charms on the soles of shoes. It takes some wandering, but I finally find a collection of sculpted leather masks. They are pinned to a wall and cunningly shaped like the faces of strange animals or laughing goblins or boorish mortals, painted gold and green and every other colour imaginable.”

FantasyHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeMagicalThe Wicked KingMasksMarketThe Mandrake Market
Book:The Wicked King
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“Perhaps a necklace of tears to weep so that she won't have to? A pin of teeth to bite annoying husbands? No.' He continues to walk through the small space. He lifts a ring. 'To bring on a child?' And then, seeing my face, lifts a pair of earrings, one in the shape of a crescent moon and the other in the shape of a star. 'Ah, yes. Here. This is what you want.' 'What do they do?' I ask. He laughs. 'They are beautiful- isn't that enough?' I give him a skeptical look. 'It would be enough, considering how exquisite they are, but I bet it isn't all.' He enjoys that. 'Clever girl. They are not only beautiful, but they add to beauty. They make someone more lovely than they were, painfully lovely. Her husband will not leave her side for quite some time.' The look on his face is a challenge. He believes I am too vain to give such a gift to my sister. How well he knows the selfish human heart. Taryn will be a beautiful bride. How much more do I, her twin, want to put myself in her shadow? How lovely can I bear her to be? And yet, what better gift for a human girl wedded to the beauty of the Folk? 'What would you take for them?' I ask. 'Oh, any number of little things. A year of your life. The luster of your hair. The sound of your laugh.' 'My laugh is not such a sweet sound as all that.' 'Not sweet, but I bet it's rare,' he says, and I wonder at his knowing that. 'What about my tears?' I ask. 'You could make another necklace.' He looks at me, as though evaluating how often I weep. 'I will take a single tear,' he says finally. 'And you will take an offer to the High King for me.”

Holly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeMagicalPriceThe Wicked KingBargainingEarringsGrimsen
Book:The Wicked King
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“At least one person is going to be naked,' I say. 'You know it's true. I've never been to a single revel in Faerie where everyone had clothes on.' 'Well, if that's your plan,' she says, turning on her heels. 'Then I suppose all you need is a pretty necklace.' 'Wait,' I say. 'You're right. I don't have a dress, and I need one. Please don't go.' When Oriana turns, a hint of a smile is on her face. 'How unlike you, to say what you actually mean and have it be something other than hostile.”

FunnyNakedHolly BlackThe Folk Of The AirJude DuarteJudeThe Wicked KingDressRevelOriana
Book:The Wicked King
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