1. “it's a weirdly subtle conversation. i almost don't notice i'm being blackmailed.”
— simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli
2. “by the time alex managed to get the blood out of her good wool coat, it was too warm to wear it.”
— ninth house by leigh bardugo
3. “watch your step. keep your wits about you; you will need them. this city i am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before.”
— the crimson petal and the white by michel faber
4. “i didn't mean to kill josh harper. really, i didn't. it's just that i was nervous, and condoms are more complicated than i was expecting, and one thing led to another and - well. now there's blood everywhere and he's dead.”
— when we were magic by sarah gailey
5. “i started collecting my older sister eunice's suicide notes when i was seven years old.”
— a cosmology of monsters by shaun hamill
6. “i never dreamed it would end like this, my lord: your blood splashing hot flecks onto my nightgown and pouring in rivulets onto our bedchamber floor.”
— a dowry of blood by s.t. gibson
7. “i am not as i once was. they have done this to me, broken me open and torn out my heart. i do not know who i am anymore.”
— the hundred thousand kingdoms by n.k. jemisin
8. “some people are born under a lucky star, while others have their misfortune telegraphed by the position of the planets. casiopea tun, named after a constellation, was born under the most rotten star imaginable in the firmament.”
— gods of jade and shadow by silvia moreno-garcia
9. “lydia is dead. but they don’t know this yet.”
— everything i never told you by celeste ng
10. “ivy lin was a thief but you would never know it to look at her.”
— white ivy by susie yang