How we cite our quotes: (Story.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It was much easier than Kizzy would have thought, walking across town with a beautiful boy, talking about things like the fat content of elk mat and the aerodynamic quality of pizza, and about the jocks of St. Pock's, and superstition, and marshmallows, and death. (1.2.133)
Maybe this isn't love yet, but it's a form of flirtation and infatuation that's all new to Kizzy. She can't believe that it's this easy to spend time with a boy she likes. Is it too good to be true?
Quote #2
This time it was real; it was really going to happen. Kizzy was going to kiss a beautiful boy. Why then was she thinking about the peach, of how his lips would taste of it? (1.3.69)
You've got to hand it to the goblins: They know exactly how to reel in a lovesick teenager who's filled with romantic notions. Kizzy is a goner once Jack shows up with his cool clothes and good looks.
Quote #3
That was ridiculous, of course. Certainly a man couldn't fall in love with cursive on a page, could he? He scanned the inside covers of the little book for some hint of the girl's identity but found no name. (2.4.5)
It's love at first sight—or rather first read—for James when he finds Anamique's diary on the train. The way she bares her soul on the page is so appealing to him, and he only feels more strongly toward her when he meets her in person.
Quote #4
And while they danced, James whispered to her. He urged her to sing for him, to tell him that she loved him. "How can I ever believe it," he asked, his brown eyes pleading, "unless you tell me so yourself?" (2.6.8)
Well this complicates things. Anamique just wants James to love her and to know that she loves him back, but it looks like he wants some verbal confirmation. Doesn't he care that hearing an "I love you" from her could actually kill him?
Quote #5
The girl was in love! Nothing could scatter caution like love. Nothing could turn a girl silly half so fast as a handsome soldier whispering in her ear! And a soldier begging her to talk, no less! (2.7.1)
Love can be a great thing, but it can also be quite dangerous—which is exactly what Vasudev is counting on. He's delighted to learn that Anamique is in love because it means she's more likely to trip up and let the curse come true.
Quote #6
James' wife never told him that she loved him, not out loud, but he learned to believe it anyway. There are other ways of showing someone you love them, such as fetching them out of Hell. (2.12.1)
Now that James knows firsthand that Anamique's curse is a real thing, he's not going to ask her to say that she loves him anymore. After all, she's shown through her actions that she'll do anything for him, and that's proof of love enough.
Quote #7
"The first time I touched him and felt that his flesh was warm like mine, not cold like theirs, I can't explain it, my darling, that was the first time I understood I was real. He wasn't nice at first, but why should he have been? They had stolen him! But in time, between us, there was tenderness." (3.4.21)
Mab hasn't experienced the kind of romantic love that teenage girls come to expect. She didn't even get romance with Esmé's father because they were both basically slaves to the Druj. The most she could hope for was some understanding and compassion between them.
Quote #8
It was hard later to admit it, but she had adored her then, the tall, beautiful creature who held her on her hip, so easy in the crook of one long arm. She had even loved her eyes and thought they were like the blue jewels in the frame of the great milky mirror in her Tabernacle of Spies. (3.6.11)
The Druj Queen may be a cold unfeeling mistress, but she's still the closest thing to a mother that Mab has ever had. Because of this, Mab grows up adoring her—even when she's treated with cruelty and neglect.
Quote #9
It would seem to her that the gathering doom should have blotted out all else, like thunderheads roiling before the sun, but there had been nothing like that, only a small, pathetic hope that the Queen might love her again. Love! As if the Druj were capable of it. She herself didn't even know the word then, scarcely knew the feeling. But she would learn it. (3.7.19)
As powerful and immortal as the Druj are, there's one thing that they just don't get—and that's good old fashioned love. The Druj Queen will never feel the kind of warm and fuzzy feelings that a mere slave like Mab is capable of.
Quote #10
She had created the new magic that had angered the old god. And, Mihai thought, she would eventually remember it. He feared she would have just enough humanity now to grieve for what she'd done—but not enough to love him. (3.16.15)
Showing the Druj Queen that she was once human is quite the gamble for Mihai. Even if she remembers that they were once married and in love, will she be able to feel that same emotion again? Fingers crossed.