Rowell Quotes & Sayings

When she opened her door, Levi was sitting in the hallway, his legs bent in front of him, hunched forward on his knees. He looked up when she stepped out.
"I'm such an idiot," he said.
Cath fell between his knees and hugged him.
"I can't believe I said that," he said. "I can't even go nine hours without seeing you. — Rainbow Rowell

Best of all, she had Park's songs in her head - and in her chest, somehow. — Rainbow Rowell

Neal made up his mind as soon as he saw it. The future was going to happen, even if he wasn't ready for it. Even if he was never ready for it. — Rainbow Rowell

Once, I started listing off all the people that I truly cared about. When I got to number seven, Penelope told me I either needed to whittle down my list or stop making friends immediately. My mother says you should never have more people in your life than you could defend from a hungry rakshasa. — Rainbow Rowell

As soon as the door closed, Levi popped his eyes again. Bluely. "That's your twin sister?"
"Identical," Reagan said, like she had a mouth full of hair.
Cath nodded and sat down at her desk.
"Wow." Levi scooted down the bed so he was sitting across from her.
"I'm not sure what you're getting at," Cath said, "but I think it's offensive."
"How can the fact that your identical twin sister is super hot be offensive to you?"
"Because," Cath said, still too encouraged by Wren and, weirdly, by Abel, and maybe even by Nick to let this get to her right now. "It makes me feel like the Ugly One."
"You're not the ugly one." Levi grinned. "You're just the Clark Kent."
Cath started checking her e-mail.
"Hey, Cath," Levi said, kicking her chair. She could hear the teasing in his voice. "Will you warn me when you take off your glasses? — Rainbow Rowell

I really am happy for Kiley. And for you and every other happily married lady. Except for that I'm not happy for you. I kind of want you all to drop dead. — Rainbow Rowell

It was like getting congratulated for losing weight when you didn't think anyone else had noticed that you needed to. — Rainbow Rowell

She was like one of those dogs who've tasted human blood and can't stop biting. A walrus who'd tasted blood. — Rainbow Rowell

We're not broken up."
"I know, but we're still broken. — Rainbow Rowell

Reagan wore eyeliner all the way around her eyes. Like a hard-ass Kate Middleton. And even though she was bigger than most girls-big hips, big chest, wide shoulders-she carried herself like she was exactly the same size everyone wanted to be. And everyone went along with it. — Rainbow Rowell

Don't worry about her!" Troy shouted from behind her. "She's in good hands!"
Elena's mom looked aghast. But she still drove away.
"I'm sorry," Troy said. "Did I make that worse? I meant the hands of the line. — Rainbow Rowell

Every night when I'm sure everyone is asleep, I sit on my bed and laugh maniacally. — Rainbow Rowell

Why do the gingerbread girls have to wear pink?" Penny asks.
"Why should the gingerbread girls feel like they shouldn't wear pink?" I say. "I like pink."
"Only because you've been conditioned to like it by Barbies and gendered Lego."
"Lay off, Penny. I've never played with Lego. — Rainbow Rowell

Loving Simon isn't something one does alone or once a year at a convention - for thousands of fans of all ages, loving Simon Snow is nothing less than a lifestyle. — Rainbow Rowell

Is it too much?"
"No. It's like you completed the circuit," I say, gripping his other hand. "I feel kind of drunk, though."
"Drunk on power?" he asks.
I giggle. "Shit, Snow. Stop talking. This is embarrassing. — Rainbow Rowell

She'd be nothing without them. Nothing. But without her? They'd be exactly the same. — Rainbow Rowell

It's a hard spell and an old spell, and it works only if you understand the Great Vowel Shift of the Sixteenth Century - and if you're stupidly in love. — Rainbow Rowell

Oh, fine, Eleanor thought. The children of hell shan't go hungry on my watch. — Rainbow Rowell

She was smiling. She looked happy, but that didn't mean anything. She always looked happy... — Rainbow Rowell

There's never been a moment when I didn't recognize you. — Rainbow Rowell

I'd know you in the dark," he said. "From a thousand miles away. There's nothing you could become that I haven't already fallen in love with. — Rainbow Rowell

And sometimes holes want to get bigger, but Baz was wrong - sometimes they just want to be filled. — Rainbow Rowell

Your face is flushed, did you know that?"
"Well," she said.
"I'm frustrated."
"Don't make me angry-kiss you."
"Give me the laundry."
"Tempers rising, faces flushed ... This is how it happens."
That made Cath laugh. — Rainbow Rowell

Why do the X-Men need another girl telepath?" she asked. "This one has purple hair." "It's all so sexist." Park's eyes got wide. Well, sort of wide. Sometimes she wondered if the shape of his eyes affected how he saw things. That was probably the most racist question of all time. "The X-Men aren't sexist," he said, shaking his head. "They're a metaphor for acceptance; they've sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them." "Yeah," she said, "but - " "There's no but," he said, laughing. "But," Eleanor insisted, "the girls are all so stereotypically girly and passive. Half of them just think really hard. Like that's their superpower, thinking. And Shadowcat's power is even worse - she disappears. — Rainbow Rowell

She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something. Eleanor — Rainbow Rowell

So stop making it so hard, Cath. You kissed him, right? The only question is, do you want to kiss him again? — Rainbow Rowell

... I'm extra good at wanting things. I want things until I feel sort of sick about them. I want enough for two normal people, at least. — Rainbow Rowell

I don't even know what it means to be Korean..." he said.

"Well, I don't know what it means to be Danish and Scottish," she said. "Does it matter?"

"I think so. Because it's the number one thing people use to identify me. It's my main thing. — Rainbow Rowell

He stood for twenty minutes in the bedding aisle at Target, trying to choose a manly sheet set, then picked the ones with a violet pattern, because he liked violets and who else was ever going to see his sheets, anyway? — Rainbow Rowell

She wouldn't be on the bus with him. She wouldn't roll her eyes at him in English. She wouldn't pick a fight with him just because she was bored. She wouldn't cry in his bedroom about the things he couldn't fix for her. — Rainbow Rowell

She knew what that was like. His eyes were warm and baby blue. They made you feel like he liked you better than other people. — Rainbow Rowell

When I'm by myself, magic is something personal. My burden, my secret.
But at Watford, magic is just the air that we breathe. It's what makes me part of something bigger, not the thing that sets me apart. — Rainbow Rowell

She only came back when she felt like it, in dreams and lies and broken-down deja vu. — Rainbow Rowell

How many people make a career out of writing anyway?' Cath snapped. She felt like everything inside her was snapping. Her nerves. Her temper. Her esophagus. 'I'll write because I love it, the way other people knit or ... or scrapbook. And I'll find some other way to make money. — Rainbow Rowell

You are my favourite person of all time. I want everyone to meet you. — Rainbow Rowell

But I still didn't let myself dwell on any of the good things, you know? It's the good things that'll drive you mad with missing them. — Rainbow Rowell

Cue maniacal laughter. — Rainbow Rowell

Nick wanted to meet on campus at Love Library. (That was the actual name; thank you for your donation, Mayor Don Lathrop Love.) — Rainbow Rowell

I trust you," she says.
"That doesn't mean I won't hurt you."
Penny shrugs. "Pain is temporary."
"That doesn't mean I won't damage you. — Rainbow Rowell

What's wrong? wasn't such an easy question to answer. — Rainbow Rowell

She held his beautiful face and kissed him like it was the end of the world. — Rainbow Rowell

I'd rather be broken than wasted. — Rainbow Rowell

Seth, it's seven o'clock. Nine in Omaha. Or maybe 1998 in Omaha. — Rainbow Rowell

That's a voice that arrives on a chariot drawn by dragons — Rainbow Rowell

That girl
all of them
hated Eleanor before they'd even laid eyes on her. Like they'd been hired to kill her in a past life. — Rainbow Rowell

Stop asking that," she said angrily. There was no stopping the tears now. "You always ask that. Why. Like there's an answer for everything. Not everybody has your life, you know, or your family. In your life, things happen for reasons. People make sense. But that's not my life. Nobody in my life makes sense ... — Rainbow Rowell

Not this in-between thing that Levi had, where his brain could catch the words but couldn't hold on to them. — Rainbow Rowell

She'd made it. She was here. It was happening. — Rainbow Rowell

She saw him after seventh hour in a place she'd never seen him before, carrying a microscope down the hall on the third floor. It was at least twice as nice as seeing him somewhere she expected him to be. — Rainbow Rowell

He had never looked at me before, never, and the idea made my skin burn. — Rainbow Rowell

Everytime, he breaks your heart. And everytime, he expects me to pick up the pieces. — Rainbow Rowell

So why aren't you living with your sister?"
"She wanted to meet new people," Cath said.
"You make it sound like she broke up with you. — Rainbow Rowell

You were the centre of my universe,' I say. 'Everything else spun around you. — Rainbow Rowell

And thinking it made her
want to cry, because she knew it was true.
And wanting to cry just made her angry. Because if she was going to cry about
something, it was going to be the fact that her life was complete shit - not because some cool, cute guy didn't like her like that. — Rainbow Rowell

I just ... ," Cath started again: "I realized that I'm not cut out for fiction-writing."
Professor Piper blinked and pulled her head back. "What are you talking about? You're exactly cut out for it. You're a Butterick pattern, Cath
this is what you were meant to do. — Rainbow Rowell

My favorite Starbucks is nice - Omaha Starbucks stores tend to be friendlier than big-city ones, and the baristas are especially lovely at mine - but it's still a Starbucks. — Rainbow Rowell

Park's eyes got wide. well, sort of wide. Sometimes she wondered if the shape of his eyes affected how he saw things. That was probably the most racist question of all time. — Rainbow Rowell

Underneath this veneer of slightly crazy and mildly socially retarded, I'm a complete disaster. — Rainbow Rowell

I can't believe there's a part of you that grows when you need it. You're like a mutant."
"I'm a vampire," Baz says, "and can you hear yourself? — Rainbow Rowell

What if I promise not to touch you?"
"Cath laughed. "Now I have zero incentive to come."
"What if I promise to let you touch me first?"
"Are you kidding? I'm the untrustworthy person in this relationship. I'm all hands."
"I've seen no evidence of that, Cath."
"In my head, I'm all hands."
"I want to live in your head. — Rainbow Rowell

No one ever calls me Tyrannus. My mother insisted on it because it's a family name, but my father hates it. — Rainbow Rowell

He emptied all his handheld video games and Josh's remote control cars, and called his grandma to tell her that all he wanted for his birthday in November was AA batteries. — Rainbow Rowell

Someone had given Georgie a magic phone and all she'd wanted to do with it is stay up late talking to her old boyfriend. If they'd given her a proper time machine, she probably would have used it to cuddle with him. Let someone else kill Hitler. — Rainbow Rowell

Or maybe, he thought now, he just didn't recognize all those other girls. The way a computer drive will spit out a disk if it doesn't recognize the formatting.
When he touched Eleanor's hand, he recognized her. He knew. — Rainbow Rowell

Having a conversation on a landline is more intimate than talking to someone in person. Your voices are so clear and close - you're in each other's heads. — Rainbow Rowell

It was a good weekend. Five thousand words of Carry On. Fish tacos with radish and shredded cabbage. Only two more conversations about Wren. And Sunday afternoon brought Levi back, taking her front steps two at a time. — Rainbow Rowell

You can be Han Solo," he said, kissing her throat. "And I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you. — Rainbow Rowell

Lincoln felt like he'd dunked his head into a sink full of Pop Rocks and turned on the water. — Rainbow Rowell

If they'd given her a proper time machine, she probably would have used it to cuddle with him. Let somebody else kill Hitler. — Rainbow Rowell

Now is all you ever get. — Rainbow Rowell

How long does it take for a star to collapse? How many trillions of years? — Rainbow Rowell

I spent four months trying to kiss you and the last six weeks trying to figure out how I managed to fuck everything up. — Rainbow Rowell

No matter what happens," Park said, "I love you. — Rainbow Rowell

I wouldn't even have to think about it, Neal. I'd choose you. I'd choose you again and again and again. Seth is my best friend-I think he'll always be my best friend-but you're my future. You're my whole life. — Rainbow Rowell

Kissed. Cath loved that word. She used it sparingly in her fic, just because it felt so powerful. It felt like kissing to say it. Well done, English Language. — Rainbow Rowell

You're giving me lung cancer. — Rainbow Rowell

What would we do together?" Cath asked. "He'd want to go to the bar,and I'd want to stay home and write fanfiction. — Rainbow Rowell

He [Levi] made standing look vertical lying down. — Rainbow Rowell

He was still holding the end of her scarf, rubbing the silk idly between his thumb and fingers. She watched his hand. — Rainbow Rowell

There are moments when you can't believe something wonderful is happening. And there are moments when your entire consciousness is filled with knowing absolutely that something wonderful is happening. — Rainbow Rowell

Next time,' he said, 'I'll just say, "Eleanor, duck behind these bushes with me, I'm going to lose my mind if I don't kiss you. — Rainbow Rowell

You don't have to laugh out loud to mock someone. — Rainbow Rowell

I mean it. If i figure out what makes me happy, i'm not going to waste any more time. I'm just going to grab it. I'm just going to do it. — Rainbow Rowell

Georgie pretended to dance. She clung to Neal's shirt. They rubbed their noses together. "You're my wife," Neal said, and then he laughed, and she tried to catch his dimples with her teeth. (Like if she caught them she might get to keep them.)
"Yours," she said. — Rainbow Rowell

What a douche," Reagan muttered. "I'm pretty sure my mom has that scarf. — Rainbow Rowell

I want to pretend this didn't happen."
"Okay. — Rainbow Rowell

It's like I'm trying to distract him with something shiny." Cath circled her spoon hand in front of her face, accidentally flicking cottage cheese on her sweater. "He already knows about all this. This is what I look like." She tried to scrape the cottage cheese off without rubbing it in." (pg. 290) — Rainbow Rowell

From a thousand miles away. There's nothing you could become that I haven't already fallen in love with. He — Rainbow Rowell

She wrapped her fingers around his and touched his palm with her thumb.
Her fingers were trembling.
Park shifted in his seat and turned his back to the aisle.
"Okay?" she whispered.
He nodded, taking a deep breath. They both stared down at their hands.
Jesus. — Rainbow Rowell

You flirt with everything." She could tell that her eyes were popping
her eyeballs actually felt cold around the edges. "You flirt with old people and babies and everybody in between. — Rainbow Rowell

He finally realized that she was reading at his lap. Not in a gross way. She was looking at his comics- he could see her eyes moving. — Rainbow Rowell

You didn't bring it up. It's always on my mind. In a way it's good to talk about it. To get some of it out of my heart, even for a minute. — Rainbow Rowell

When something small happens, something almost imperceptible, and it changes everything. — Rainbow Rowell

I know that people change. I thought ... I thought we're going to change together. I thought that's what it meant to be in love. — Rainbow Rowell

Levi kicked her chair. "Cath. Read me your fan fiction. I want to know what happens next."
She opened her computer slowly, as if she were still thinking about it. As if there were any way she was going to say no. Levi wanted to know what happened next. That question was Cath's Achilles' heel. — Rainbow Rowell

Maybe there's no such thing as enough. — Rainbow Rowell

But the explanations fell apart in her hands. Everything true was too hard to write
he was too much to lose. Everything she felt for him was too hot to touch. — Rainbow Rowell

She wasn't," Heather said, crying now. "Pugs are bred to be useless. We have to take her to the vet. — Rainbow Rowell

God, she'd never even been able to imagine this much cold before.
How could people live someplace that so obviously didn't want them? All that romance about snow and seasons ... You shouldn't have to make a special effort not to die every time you left your house. — Rainbow Rowell

-We've been dating for three years!He's my boyfriend!
-You have stronger feelings for Baz and Simon!
-Duh, they're Baz and Simon, like that's even fair ... — Rainbow Rowell