I was always weak in the head—that must be it. I can't seem to care anymore about what I'm supposed to do. - Helen Oyeyemi

… there's a difference between having no one because you've chosen it and having no one because everyone has been taken away.

I wish there was someone I could have written to after that, someone I could have written to explain how awful it was to have someone touch you, then look at you properly and change his mind.

“And without further argument he unsheathed the sword and cleaved Miss Foxe's head from her neck. He knew what was supposed to happen. He knew that this awkward, whispering creature before him should now transform into a princess - dazzlingly beautiful, free, and made wise by her hardship.