How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I did not want to go to the academy. But what I wished, what I feared, didn't matter a crap to my father, and it never had.
"Sit up straight," he repeated. My mother made a little gesture of protest and started to say something to him. He lifted one hand and she lowered her head. (2.15-16)
Hahp's father is clearly an abusive dude, and both Hahp and his mother suffer under his iron fist (or whatever kind of fist he actually has). It must suck to have to obey the orders of a power-hungry family member who doesn't care about what you want out of life, and who'll use force to get what he wants instead. Attending the academy at least gets Hahp out of his father's household… but as we'll see, it's not much better in terms of suffering and pain.
Quote #2
"I am just glad Papa died," Micah said tightly. "His heart was broken the day you were born. This would have gutted him. After what that magician did to Mama… " (13.21)
Micah and Sadima's family is no stranger to suffering. Not only did they lose their mother due to a magician's greed, but they also endured heart-rending poverty and harsh living conditions. On top of that, they had to put up with a father who had a love-hate relationship with his daughter because her birth was one of the causes of his wife's death. This doesn't sound like a really happy home.
Quote #3
"We are going to change the world," he whispered in her ear as he set her down. His face was bright with hope and belief. "The poor will eat," he said. "The sick will heal. No woman will ever have to die as your mother did." (25.39)
Franklin and Sadima both know from personal experience that the world is full of suffering, and they both want to change that by helping bring magic back into the world. They're in for a surprise though, when it comes to how to bring magic back into the world—and how much suffering that'll mean for both of them.