How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Karou's] hair—loose, long, and peacock blue—was gathering a lace of snowflakes. (1.3)
Karou's appearance makes it apparent that she's the main character of this book. A striking, blue-haired girl would never be relegated to the supporting cast.
Quote #2
"[Ancient Wiktor] looks like an unwrapped mummy." [Zuzana] shuddered. "I ask you, is staring at a naked old man any way to start the day?" (2.37)
We know they're young, but for people who want to be artists of the human form, these two are surprisingly judgmental about what it should or shouldn't look like.
Quote #3
They looked like African trade beads. They were more than that. (2.95)
People aren't the only ones who have deceptive appearances in this book. Karou's plain necklace has the power to grant small wishes. If someone else got their hands on it, do you think they'd be able to make wishes, too?
Quote #4
[Akiva's] fiery wings were glamoured invisible, and he should have been able to pass as human, but he wasn't quite pulling it off. (9.7)
Akiva has to use magic when in the human world, so that he can appear human. Why doesn't he quite pull this ruse off—what is it about him that makes people realize he's not-quite-right?
Quote #5
His face—oh, beauty, he was perfect, he was mythic—was absolutely cold. (14.15)
Akiva's striking appearance makes it hard for Karou to realize that he is trying to kill her. It's not really that worth it to die at the hands of a hot guy, girls. It's not like you'd get to tell your friends about it afterwards.
Quote #6
Abominably, [Bain] was shirtless, showing an abundance of loose white gut, and his extraordinary beard bushed around his shoulders in clumps. (21.28)
How dare this man be shirtless in his own home, with a body that doesn't meet Karou's demanding standards for physical beauty? The audacity. We can't believe Karou didn't kill him just for that.
Quote #7
"Beautiful, aren't they?" "Beautiful," he agreed, and he might have been talking about the knives, but he was looking straight at her. (31.12)
As a man of war, Akiva can appreciate the beauty of a good knife. However, this scene is rife with double meaning. The knives are beautiful. Karou is beautiful. But Karou, and the knives, are beautiful to Akiva because they remind him of Madrigal, who was also beautiful… Is anyone not beautiful in this book? Oh, right. Bain.
Quote #8
Madrigal was of high-human aspect, as was said of races with the head and torso of man or woman. […] [Chiro] was of creature aspect, with the head of a jackal. (48.4, 48.16)
Appearances are a big deal in the world of the chimaera. When some of them die, they want to come back as "high-human." Why do you think this is the valued appearance in their culture? Is it just an arbitrary form of prejudice, like skin color?
Quote #9
"Would you want to be me?" Hurt and confused, Madrigal said, "I don't understand." "No, you wouldn't," said Chiro. "You're beautiful." (50.39)
Chiro is extremely self-conscious about her appearance, which isn't surprising when you consider how prejudiced her culture is against those with creature aspect. The desire to be human after death is eerily similar to some people's real-world desire to put their life on the line for extreme plastic surgery.
Quote #10
Madrigal had to agree [that Thiago was magnificent] but she placed the credit for it with Brimstone, who had crafted that beautiful body, not with Thiago, who wore it with the arrogance of entitlement. (52.49)
Thiago bought a beautiful body for his reincarnation. What do you think: is the beauty a person is born with more valuable than the beauty a person works for (or pays to acquire)?