How we cite our quotes:
Quote #7
It was Nick's story. He'd just tricked her into writing it. He was an unreliable narrator, if ever she'd met one. (18.52)
An unreliable narrator is one who may or may not be telling the reader the truth. But Nick's not just bending the truth on the page; he's bending it in real life, which is decidedly less okay.
Quote #8
"Think about it, Cath. That's what makes a god—or a mother. There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself." (23.41)
Cath's mom isn't exactly a god, or even a minor deity, but that doesn't mean Professor Piper's wrong. It just means Cath's mom kind of sucks. But now it's Cath's turn to create something from nothing, if only she'll accept the challenge.
Quote #9
"I know Simon and Baz. I know what they think, how they feel… When I'm writing my own stuff, it's like swimming upstream. Or… falling down a cliff and grabbing at branches, trying to invent the branches as I fall." (23.45)
First Cath uses a cliché to describe writing (swimming upstream), then she puts it in her own unique voice (inventing the branches as she falls). That's what good writing is—digging below the surface and saying things in a way nobody ever has. Bonus points for awesome visuals.