How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
Cath could already feel the anxiety starting to tear her stomach into nervous little pieces. "It's not just that… I don't like new places. New situations. There'll be all those people, and I won't know where to sit—I don't want to go." (4.84)
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders among college students. So when someone's isolating herself, it doesn't automatically mean she's a snob—it might mean she's suffering.
Quote #2
"You're a sad little hermit, and it creeps me out. So get dressed. We're going bowling." (6.116)
This is the first instance of Reagan's blunt, tough love toward Cath, and it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Quote #3
Emergency Kanye Party. Cath climbed onto her bed to announce it, but she stepped right down. It felt silly. And pathetic. (Is there anything more pathetic than a one-person dance party?) (11.40)
Actually, one-person dance parties can be pretty awesome. It's easier to perfect your twerk when there's no one around to judge.
Quote #4
But Baz had hardly left the room in the last two weeks. Simon hadn't seen him in the caf or at football, he'd seemed drawn and distracted in class, and his shirts—usually pressed and bright white—were looking as manky as Simon's. (12.124)
When Rowell steps into Cath's fanfic voice, she puts in little girl-from-Nebraska-trying-to-write-British quirks like using "caf" and "manky" in the same sentence.
Quote #5
In some cases, she was actively trying not to make friends, though she usually stopped short of being rude. (Uptight, tense, and mildly misanthropic? Yes. Rude? No.) (13.2)
If your mom pushing you away defines your childhood, it makes sense you'd hold people at arm's length. After all, nobody can abandon you if you never let them get close, right?
Quote #6
No one ever invited Cath out or to go to parties (except for Reagan and Levi, who felt more like sponsors than friends). (13.8)
We kind of like the idea of People Who Prefer To Hide In Our Rooms Anonymous. That would be a great support group, if kind of a clunky acronym. (O hai, PWPTHIORA.) Also, pro tip: If you want to get invited to parties, leaving your room from time to time helps.
Quote #7
"He's just a guy," Reagan said. "Of course he's different from you. You're never going to find a guy who's exactly like you—first of all, because that guy never leaves his dorm room…" (16.61)
The Internet: bridging that gap since about 1994.
Quote #8
"I'm crazy like him." She was already having panic attacks. She was already hiding at parties. In seventh grade, she'd been late to class for the first two weeks because she couldn't stand being in the halls with everyone else during passing periods. "It's probably going to get worse in a few years. That's when it usually kicks in." (19.123)
It could be that part of the reason Cath's such a loner is a sort of constant vigilance about developing a mental illness. Waiting for bipolar disorder to hit is her version of waiting for nuclear war.
Quote #9
"It's just… everything. There are too many people. And I don't fit in. I don't know how to be." (21.49)
What exactly does "be" mean here? Does it mean relax? Express a personality? Display a sense of self? All of the above?
Quote #10
If you study something that nobody cares about, does that mean everyone will leave you alone? (23.19)
Quick, introverts, head on over to the heraldry department and declare that major in 17th-century coats of arms pronto. Bam—all your life problems (except how to feed yourself) are solved.