How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He pressed his lips into my hair. "I love you, Becks. I've never felt like this." (7.96)
When Jack tells Nikki that he loves her, she feels like it's too good to be true. She's had feelings for her childhood friend since, like, forever, and now they're finally together and he loves her. Talk about a dream come true.
Quote #2
Cole could shield me from the pain of this world, and for the moment, I wanted to go with him.
No good-byes. No second chances. No disappointing the people I loved. (9.63-64)
Nikki has learned that love is a double-edged sword: Caring for people also often means caring about how they feel. And this includes how they feel about what you do and who you are. Nikki knows she let down the people closest to her when she disappeared for the Feed the first time around—it's almost too hard to face how much disappointment she left in her wake. Ain't love grand?
Quote #3
"The love of Orpheus's life, Eurydice, was taken to the Underworld. He was desperate to get her back, but no one ever comes back from the Underworld, right? Orpheus didn't give up, though." (13.15)
In Mrs. Stone's telling of the Orpheus story, love was the main motivator for Orpheus to try to track down Eurydice in the Underworld. She was the love of his life, so he wasn't about to give up on her easily. So love essentially provided Orpheus with the perseverance to find Eurydice, and then (depending on the version of the story you know) to make the ultimate sacrifice for her.
Quote #4
Jack leaned forward. "Trust me, Becks. I know exactly what loving you looks like on a person. And he loves you." (20.107)
Jack thinks that Cole loves Nikki. Nikki doesn't think it's even possible, though, since Cole doesn't have a heart in his chest anymore and he claims to not be able to feel emotions. But according to Jack (who used to love, and may still love, Nikki), it's possible to see on someone's face when they love her. Do you buy it?
Quote #5
I wished I could talk to my dad like I had talked to my mom, but we never had that kind of relationship. Not because of anything either of us was doing. Sometimes the closeness isn't there.
It didn't mean I loved him any less. Or he, me. (22.12-13)
Nikki loves her dad, even though she's not as close with him as she was with her mom (before her mom died). Still, as she reflects here, having a different type of closeness in a relationship doesn't automatically mean there's less love in that relationship. And Nikki's love for her dad is a big factor in how she decides to act when she Returns.
Quote #6
Cole took a couple of deep breaths. "I want you. Whether we take over the throne or not. I want you in my life, and the only way that will happen is if you become like me. We shared a heart, Nik." He touched his finger to my heart. "Your heart is in me now." (25.82)
Cole has some super intense feelings for Nikki, especially since he claims to not be able to love or feel certain things. So what's the deal here? Does he actually love her? Is he capable of love? Or does he just want her companionship? Maybe he just lusts after her? Maybe it's some other form of love that only Everlivings feel? Man, this love stuff is complicated.
Quote #7
Cole just smirked at me. "Hate. Such a strong feeling. A next-door neighbor to love."
"It will never be love. You made the only person I love leave," I said. (25.96)
Cole and Nikki have a flirty little back-and-forth here about love and hate. Well, it's probably only flirty from Cole's perspective. He's feeling pretty good right now since he drove off Jack with the truth about Nikki's return to the Tunnels. Nikki, however, is feeling pretty crummy about that, and so she doesn't seem as amused by Cole's fast-talking comparisons.
Quote #8
Jack wanted me close because he wanted me. (31.65)
When Nikki and Jack cuddle up to spend some time together the day before the Tunnels are coming for her, she realizes why her relationship with Jack is special. Unlike Cole's bizarre supernatural attraction, Jack's love for her is simple—he loves her for who she is, not because she's a ticket to the throne of the Everneath. And that, to Nikki, is the most important thing of all.
Quote #9
My dad and Tommy deserved letters this time. They were the closest thing I had to a real good-bye. In the letters, I tried to explain that I was gone, and that I wasn't coming back. I tried to express my love. I tried to make it all okay. (32.1)
Nikki really loves her family, and that's why she tries to give them a better goodbye than last time (when she just disappeared for six months with no warning). It's not like there's ever an easy way to say goodbye, but when you love someone, you have to make an effort.
Quote #10
Jack told me he knew what loving me looked like on a person. Cole stared at me with an expression that seemed almost vulnerable. (32.64)
At the very end, when the Tunnels are coming for Nikki, Cole actually looks pretty torn up about it—like someone he truly cares about is being condemned to eternal suffering. Why would Cole hide his emotions? Is it that he's not free to act on them the way Jack is? Hrm…