" In that moment, I was suddenly grateful to Violet. Compassion burned in her like a beacon, and I couldn’t help but be attracted to it like a moth to a flame. Since my wife had died, I had cut off almost everyone I had known. It was easier that way— easier not to feel. How misguided I was: The feelings didn’t go away. I had just buried them under a veneer of calm. I had become so distanced from humanity, so apart from it, that I had forgotten that life was precious. "

― Bella Forrest , The Gender Secret (The Gender Game, #2)