Alright! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for! My top 10 quotes from 2021! I did not read enough books, or collect enough quotes, this year to warrant a top 5 quotes. All the same I love these. Surprisingly there were at least 20 quotes that fought for these spots. I probably could have been more ruthless, but I decided to be kinder to myself this year.
Without further ado.
10.
“Villains were wonderful. They got to be cruel and selfish, to preen in front of mirrors and poison apples, and trap girls on mountains of glass. They indulged all their worst impulses, revenged themselves for the least offense, and took every last thing they wanted.
And sure, they wound up in barrels studded with nails, or dancing in iron shoes heated by fire, not just dead, but disgraced and screaming.
But before they got what was coming to them, they got to be the fairest in all the land.”
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
9.
“Like light cast over the morning water, it became new. Every moment that lay ahead, like an uncharted sea.”
Fable by Adrienne Young
8.
“A good book was its own brand of magic, one I could safely indulge in without fear of getting caught by those who hunted us. I loved escaping from reality, especially during times of trouble. Stories made everything possible.”
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
7.
“Because stories tell a truth, if not precisely the truth.”
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories, Holly Black
6.
“Stories always begin the same way: There was and there was not. There is possibility in those words, the chance for hope or despair… because it means anything is possible. There was and there was not. She is and she is not.”
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
5.
“The best canvas has flaws and furrows… and tells a story of its own before the paint is even added.”
Stain by A.G. Howard
4.
“They’re not scars. They’re a map. Where will they lead you?”
A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo
3.
“Well, when you wonder something, doesn’t that mean part of you wants to believe in it? I think we want to prove things, in life, more than we want to disprove them. We want to believe.”
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
2.
“Some might think of him as a strong draught, burning the back of one’s throat, but invigorating all the same.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
You might beg to differ.
So long as you’re begging, he doesn’t mind a bit.”
1.
“Queer folks are like wolves. We travel in packs.”
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
I knew my top two quotes immediately, actually, when I was collecting these. I can not tell you how many times I quoted that Cemetery Boys line this year. It was more than five times, enough said. I was tempted to put the Holly black quote first, but then I decided that if I quoted this book that many times, it probably means something A LOT to me. Just like the number one quote from last year. It might not be lyrical. It might not be the most revolutionary line in the world, but it meant something to me when I read it and still read it.
Thus, first place for me this year.
And with that! Onwards!
MM
Marlena Marie 