How we cite our quotes: (Page number)
Quote #1
Donald is not sure what the universe was trying to tell him by taking away his only daughter, but here is what he learned: no one can put a price on losing everything. And another thing: all your future histories can be destroyed in a single moment. (63)
Donald’s the BMW driver who almost runs over Natasha (and does hit Jeremy Fitzgerald), but it’s hard not to sympathize with him. His daughter was killed by a texting driver, and his entire world was shattered instantly.
Quote #2
"People just want to believe. Otherwise they would have to admit that life is just a random series of good and bad things that happen until one day you die." (77)
If “data scientist” is the career that best suits Natasha’s personality, it’s probably safe to say “Hallmark greeting card writer” would be the least suitable choice. This girl’s brand of determinism has a seriously depressing streak.
Quote #3
No one bother to follow up with destiny, though. The cafeteria just forgot there was another box in the back, and you got a slice of cake from your friend anyway. You fumed while waiting for another train, but one came along eventually. No one died on the train you missed. No one so much as sneezed. We tell ourselves there are reasons for the things that happen, but we're just telling ourselves stories. We make them up. They don't mean anything. (198-199)
After Daniel and Natasha have their big fight, Daniel’s in an emotional tailspin and is mentally kicking himself for reading so much significance into their meeting. He doesn’t really believe what he’s saying here.
Quote #4
Imagine the awesome and awful sight of these three sisters pressed together, presiding over his crib, determining his future. In modern times, the sisters have largely disappeared from the collective consciousness, but the idea of Fate hasn't. Why do we still believe? Does it make tragedy more bearable to believe that we ourselves had no hand in it, that we couldn't have prevented it? It was always ever thus. (200-201)
In this mini-chapter, Nicola Yoon shares the origins of the concept of Fate itself: Ancient Greeks believed that the Three Sisters of Fate would literally visit a new baby in the middle of the night and determine his or her destiny. Creepy. No wonder they’ve faded from the collective consciousness; video-capable baby monitors probably put an end to their unexpected cribside drop-ins.
Quote #5
Maybe he wasn't meant to meet Natasha today. Maybe it was a random chance after all.
But.
Once they met, the rest of it, the love between them, was inevitable. (201)
Nicola Yoon tells us Daniel’s views on fate are nebulous, which is an apt term, since this description is making our brains feel foggy. If he and Natasha hadn’t met, does Daniel think he would have inevitably fallen in love with another potential soul mate? Would either of them feel like they were missing out on an important experience? It seems like he’s trying to have his philosophical cake and eat it too by believing their meeting was a random chance, but their eternal love was inevitable.
Quote #6
This is what I get for letting the Fates guide me—beat up, girlfriend-less, future-less. Why did I postpone my interview? Worse, why did I let Natasha walk away? Maybe she was right. I'm just looking for someone to save me. I'm looking for someone to take me off the track my life is on, because I don't know how to do it myself. I'm looking to get overwhelmed by love and meant-to-be and destiny so that the decisions about my future will be out of my hands. It won't be me defying my parents. It will be Fate. (235)
Natasha knows this aspect of Daniel’s personality better than he knows it himself, which is pretty impressive since they’ve only known each other a few hours. Now that he recognizes he’s looking for a way out of his tough decisions, he can’t keep waiting for Fate to rescue him. Time to grow up and admit he doesn’t want to be a doctor.
Quote #7
Of all the ways today could've gone, I couldn't have predicted this. But now I'm sure that everything that's happened today has been leading me to her and us to this moment and this moment to the rest of our lives. (175)
This norebang makeout sesh must really be something.
Quote #8
Does he really need me to tell him that all the seconds matter? That our own universe exploded into existence in the space of a breath? (296)
It’s not clear which universe Daniel’s talking about—the actual, physical universe or his own mini-universe with Natasha—but either way, he’s right that every second he has left with Natasha is important.
Quote #9
I want the whole world to stop. There are too many moving parts that are outside of my control. I feel like I'm in an elaborate Rube-Goldberg contraption that someone else designed. I don't know the mechanism to trigger it. I don't know what happens next. I only know that everything cascades, and that once it starts it won't stop. (302)
After Natasha realizes Attorney Fitzgerald wasn’t able to stop her deportation, readers get a taste of why she’s so anti-Fate: She hates feeling like she has no control over what’s happening to her.
Quote #10
By the third minute, Natasha's reliving the day and all the moments that led them here. She sees the USCIS building, that strange security guard caressing her phone case, Lester Barnes's kindness, Rob and Kelly shoplifting, meeting Daniel, Daniel saving her life, meeting Daniel's dad and brother, norebang, kissing, the museum, the rooftop, more kissing, Daniel's face when he told her she couldn't stay, her dad's crying face filled with regret, this moment right now in the cab. (333-334)
If we were to compile a list of the Top 10 Saddest Flashback Montages in Literature, this one would be up there with the best of them. It’s incredible to think all the events Natasha’s describing have happened in one short day.