Home > Author > Paula Stokes
41 " I’ve read so many stories online about how tragedy brings people together, how hard times encourage bravery and sacrifice, how a crisis can turn ordinary folks into heroes. But what about the opposite, when something horrible happens and it strips us bare, exposing weaknesses we didn’t even know we had. What about when tragedy makes people worse? "
― Paula Stokes , This is How it Happened
42 " I am not warm. That is why my sister chose the name Winter for me. "
― Paula Stokes , Vicarious (Vicarious, #1)
43 " I can’t seem to wipe away the blood. I rub my hands against my nightgown, but traces of the red remain, staining the lines of my palms and the crescents beneath my fingernails. I wipe harder, gathering and bunching the soft cotton inside my fists. The fabric has been slit up the center and for a moment I worry that I’ve been cut, that maybe the blood is my own. I try to ask what’s happening, but there’s a mask over my mouth and nose. Suddenly it hits me—I’m in an ambulance.I don’t remember how I got here. "
44 " Jesse and I might as well be caught in a snow globe. Tonight is just a single perfect moment trapped in glass. Tomorrow our protective bubble will be shattered. "
― Paula Stokes , Ferocious (Vicarious, #2)
45 " Standing up for yourself is about more than flinging barbed-wire insults around. Its about picking your battles, knowing when to fight, knowing exactly what and who is worth fighting for. "
― Paula Stokes , The Art of Lainey (The Art of Lainey, #1)
46 " The truth never hurts worse than finding out someone you care about lied to you. "
― Paula Stokes , The Key to Everything
47 " There are so many different ways for someone to say your name. I’m not sure I ever realized that before I met Jesse. Prior to him, it was just Rose calling out to me with love and affection or Gideon relaying his quiet approval or disapproval. Crisp, clear notes. When Jesse says my name, it’s a chord, a mash-up of several intense emotions all reflected in two syllables. "
48 " Our “protective bubbles”—our houses, our cars, our friends, our online identities—might make us feel secure, but most of it’s just an illusion. It’s easy to get hurt, just like it’s easy to hurt other people. "
49 " You know what I regret the most?” Trinity says, her voice just above a whisper. I don’t answer. All I can think about is how crappy it is that my fourteen-year-old sister already has regrets. "
― Paula Stokes , Infinite Repeat (The Art of Lainey, #0.5)
50 " We can’t define people by their worst actions. "
51 " Where does seeking justice end and seeking vengeance begin? "
52 " Not sure how you can get them to him without looking like a crazy stalker chick," Micah says."You think I'm a crazy stalker chick?""You're using an ancient war manual to try to win back your boyfriend. I think you're a girl who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants," he says. "Hey, at least you're committed. "
53 " How can something feel so crucial in the moment and then seem completely trivial after the fact? "
― Paula Stokes , Girl Against the Universe
54 " Lainey is hot in a prom queen kind of way and we used to be friends back in grade school, but that was two lifetimes ago. Now she’s a varsity soccer player and card-carrying popular girl who hangs out with the kind of mean girls and douchebags who get killed first in horror movies. "
55 " That's one of the problems with nice guys. If They can't stand up for themselves then they won't be able to stand up for you either. "
― Paula Stokes , Stronger Than Words
56 " We are not killers,” Gideon says firmly.“In my experience everyone is a killer.” Baz’s eyes go cold. He leans back against the wall. “Or a victim. Some people just need a little coaxing to choose a side. "
57 " I don’t make to-do lists, but if I did, today’s would have gone something like this: 1. get drunk, 2. get laid, 3. go surfing (not necessarily in that order.) Noticeably absent from the list: get arrested. And yet here I am, spending my eighteenth birthday with my back against the wall of the Colonel’s hunting cabin, two FBI agents prowling the dark with their guns drawn, both trying to get me to confess to the murder of my friend Preston DeWitt. "
― Paula Stokes , Liars, Inc.
58 " Anyone who is struggling with something could find inspiration in the way you face your problems head on and totally kick their asses. "
59 " What so many people don’t understand is that the reason some of us do things that seem impossibly hard to others is because we don’t have a choice. "
60 " Who would vandalize a doghouse? I ask."Cats?" Bee suggests. "