Ruin and Rising Quotes

“Na razrusha'ya. I am not ruined. E'ya razrushost. I am ruination.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but mine.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Beauty was your armor. Fragile stuff, all show. But what's inside you? That's steel. It's brave and unbreakable. And it doesn't need fixing.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I hope you weren’t looking to me to be the voice of reason. I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“In this moment he was just a boy -brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He leaned against the window, and the gilded frame came into sharp focus. “Do you think it would be any different with your tracker beside you? With that Lantsov pup?”
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Because you would be the strong one?”
“Because they’re better men than you.”
“You might make me a better man.”
“And you might make me a monster.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Aleksander," I whispered. A boy's name, given up. Almost forgotten.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I saw the prince when I was in Os Alta,” said Ekaterina. “He’s not bad looking.”
“Not bad looking?” said another voice. “He’s damnably handsome.”
Luchenko scowled. “Since when—”
“Brave in battle, smart as a whip.” Now the voice seemed to be coming from above us. Luchenko craned his neck, peering into the trees. “An excellent dancer,” said the voice. “Oh, and an even better shot.”
“Who—” Luchenko never got to finish. A blast rang out, and a tiny black hole appeared between his eyes.
I gasped. “Imposs—”
“Don’t say it,” muttered Mal.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I'm the Sun Summoner. It gets dark when I say it does.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Maybe love was superstition, a prayer we said to keep the truth of loneliness at bay.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Yuyeh sesh. Despise your heart. Ni weh sesh. I have no heart.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Aleksander."

His eyes fluttered shut. "Don't let me be alone," he murmured. And then he was gone.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Thanks for the rescue."

"Everyone needs a hobby."

"I thought yours was preening."

"Two hobbies.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Why waste my anger on you when the fault is mine? I should have anticipated another betrayal from you, one more mad grasp at some kind of childish ideal. But I seem to be a victim of my own wishes where you are concerned.” His expression hardened. “What have you come here for, Alina?”

I answered him honestly. “I wanted to see you.”

I caught the briefest glimpse of surprise before his face shuttered again. “There are two thrones on that dais. You could see me any time you liked.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“You never know," said Nikolai. "I've been busy. I might have some surprises in store for the Darkling yet."

"Please tell me you plan to dress up as a volcra and jump out of a cake."

"Well, now you've ruined the surprise.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Maybe love was superstition, a prayer we said to keep the truth of loneliness at bay. I tilted my head back. The stars looked like they were close together, when really they were millions of miles apart. In the end, maybe love just meant longing for something impossibly bright and forever out of reach.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He watches her the way Harshaw watches fire. Like he’ll never have enough of her. Like he’s trying to capture what he can before she’s gone.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“You live in a single moment. I live in a thousand.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“It’s true,” I said softly. “You are stronger, wiser, infinite in experience.” I leaned forward and whispered, my lips brushing the shell of his ear. “But I am an apt pupil.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Hope was tricky like water. Somehow it always found a way in.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He’d wanted me to believe in his ruthlessness.
Then I remembered his words from so long ago: Make me your villain.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“You are all I’ve ever wanted,” he said. “You are the whole of my heart.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I don't want lies between us, Alina."

"How many lies have you told me, Sturmhond? How many secrets have you kept until you were ready to share them?"

"Prince's prerogative?"

"If a mere prince gets a pass, so does a living saint."

"Are you going to make a habit of winning arguments? It's very unbecoming."

"Was this an argument?"

"Obviously not. I don't lose arguments.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I am not ruined. I am ruination.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Suffering is cheap as clay and twice as common. What matters is what each man makes of it.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“It’s a vow that if I can’t be anything else to you, at least I can be a weapon in your hand.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“You'll still make a great king."

"Of course I will," he scoffed. "I'm melancholy, not daft.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Alina, I'll be back to fetch you for dinner, but should you grow restless, do feel free to run screaming from the room or take a dagger to her. Whatever seems most fitting at the time."

"Are you still here?" snapped Baghra.

"I go but hope to remain in your heart," he said solemnly. Then he winked and disappeared.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I’ve never understood this taste for otkazat’sya. Is it because you thought you were one of them for so long?”
“I had a taste for you, once.” His head snapped up. He hadn’t expected that. Saints, it was satisfying.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising