How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
A body without responsibilities—no job or family to care for; someone who had time to experience the things I wanted to experience. But not too protected. Someone who wasn't watched every second. Someone who had a little time on his hands, but also a safe place to go to every night. I knew I wanted all this, so I decided to take a middleclass suburban American teenager. (1.7)
Age is the reason Kiriel chooses Shaun in the first place; he wants a teenager who has his own freedom but isn't responsible for too much. Little does he realize that being a teen has some troubles of its own—we're talking puberty, girls, teachers, and homework.
Quote #2
"Shh. He'll hear you." Her voice was low. "He's just growing up."
"But did you see what he was wearing?"
"It's normal for a teenage boy to take a sudden interest in his appearance. And did you hear him lifting weights?" (4.84-86)
As Shaun's mom and brother discuss his change in appearance, Kiriel worries they'll find him out. There's no reason to be concerned, though, since it's normal for teenage boys to want to impress girls, and Shaun's mom just figures his changes are about growing up. Phew.
Quote #3
I knew what Shaun's mother believed about Shaun's love interest. A while back, she'd found a note from a girl in one of his pockets. She put it back and never told Shaun she found it, I suppose because she feared he'd think she'd been snooping. Although she had been. (9.1)
It's normal for teenagers to hide stuff from their parents. Too bad Kiriel can see everything as a spirit and doesn't need to snoop around like Shaun's mom. We get a glimpse into Shaun's life and it all seems very normal for someone growing up. He's coming of age just as Kiriel takes over his body.
Quote #4
I didn't care about these things. It was the feeling I wanted, the feeling my—or Shaun's—body would have while engaging in the sexual act. It didn't matter with whom the act occurred so long as I experienced my side of it. (9.8)
Kiriel doesn't care about the girl's body like Shaun does; he just wants a girl to be interested in him—any girl. In a lot of ways, he's just like a normal teenage boy, wanting to hook up with girls but not really knowing how to go about it.
Quote #5
It's been said that emotional pain is worse than physical pain, and I will agree that in general it lasts longer. But the moment when Reed hit me was much sharper than anything I'd felt before. If interminable emotional pain could be compressed into a split-second flash, I thought, it would end up feeling an awful lot like Reed McGowan's right hook. (12.6)
Let's see how Kiriel is doing on our coming of age checklist: Sibling quarrels? Check. Girl troubles? Check. Bullies? Check. When he decided to become a human, chances are he didn't think it through because bullies are all over the place at schools these days. He's got to learn how to deal with Reed while not blowing his cover.
Quote #6
Lane didn't know how lucky she was. Unlike many teenage boys, I had the knowledge necessary to create a sublime first sexual experience for a girl. It wouldn't be any trouble; indeed, it would likely increase my enjoyment as well. (15.74)
Kiriel likes to separate himself from other—or should we say, real—teenage boys. Yet he's just like them. He thinks he has everything figured out, but he knows next to nothing about real girls. He's surprised he can't just hook up with Lane anytime he wants.
Quote #7
There stood a walking pile of cruelty, guilt, insecurity, and childishness. (16.13)
As Kiriel wants to stop Reed from bullying people, he realizes that it's not just up to him. Sure, he can give the guy a lecture on it, but what will that change? Inevitably, these things get in the way. Only Reed can help himself, which bums Kiriel out.
Quote #8
"You may think, because you have friends, that you are liked. But teenagers are notoriously insecure, and for the most part your 'friends' must know that you could turn on them on a dime. On a dime," I said again, liking the sound of it. "Yes, you could turn on them on a dime." (16.35)
Way to lay it on thick. Kiriel tells Reed this as a way of encouraging him not to bully people anymore. Too bad it doesn't work. The Reeds of the world (read: bullies) don't respond to logic. In fact, they're acting out because they are insecure about themselves a lot of the time.
Quote #9
It was odd that she wouldn't look at me. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. I wanted to please her. "I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," I told her, taking the first step she'd outlined in her diary. (18.54)
Classic move, right? Pretending to need help with homework when really he's just trying to get close to Lane is the oldest trick in the book. All Kiriel really wants to study is her. Dealing with crushes and girl drama is a big part of coming of age, as Kiriel quickly finds out.
Quote #10
Most of Lane's expressions of desire had dwelled on the before and after; none had mentioned the during. Her imagination had never taken her to any of the places I wanted to explore, and certainly not to the wild dark corners of lust that I was familiar with—theoretically familiar with, anyway. (22.59)
Kiriel realizes that Lane might not want to lose her v-card right after having her first kiss. Sure, she talks of love and romance in her diaries, but that doesn't mean she's ready to actually tumble between the sheets. This is a big surprise to Kiriel, who thought he had this whole human thing down. Turns out he's more like a human teen that he thought.