Left alone, human beings are a plague. They multiply relentlessly, consuming every resource, destroying everything they touch.

It’s amazing how quickly nature consumes human places after we turn our backs on them. Life is a hungry thing.

With everything so perfect, reality seemed somehow fragile, as if the slightest interruption could imperil her pretty future… all of it felt as tenuous as a soap bubble, shivering and empty.

God, you mean I lost my virginity to the apocalypse?”Morgan sighed again. “The whole thing was really embarrassing; my parents sent me to Brooklyn when they found out.” She shrugged. “I thought I’d be safe...

What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.

…this is life. Right here in this room, with you, is life.

History would indicate that the majority of people have always been sheep.

No matter how far from the war we run, it always catches up with us.

The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit. Of course, Tally thought, you’d have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right.

At least one thing was consistent about her life: It just kept on getting more complicated.

Now,young lady,I suppose you’re here for a work assignment.”Work?” Tally said.They both looked down at her puzzled expression, and Shay burst into laughter.

Hoverboarding looks so fun, like being a bird. But actually doing it is hard work.”Shay shrugged. “Being a bird’s probably hard work too. Flapping your wings all day, you know?

Nature didn’t need an operation to be beautiful. It just was.

Shay sometimes talked in a mysterious way, like she was quoting the lyrics of some band no one else listened to.

The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.

…I want those perfect eyes and lips, and for everyone to look at me and gasp. And for everyone who sees me to think Who’s that? and want to get to know me, and listen...

All that glitters is not hovery.

Not everything made you stronger. It was possible to survive, yet still be crippled for your trouble. Sometimes it was okay to run away, to skip the test, to chicken out. Or at least to...

The very idea of making shoes by hand boggled her mind.

Were you raised to wear trousers and be a soldier?

And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether she in fact was still beautiful… or if the fall had changed the story...

What if destiny doesn’t care?

A milli-Helen is enough beauty to launch exactly one ship

But you weren’t born expecting that kind of beauty in everyone, all the time. You just got programmed into thinking anything else is ugly.

Tally wondered if you could talk somebody out of their brain damage.

People only worry about the uncanny for about a week; that’s the end of their attention span. After that, suspicions turn into shtick.

When she awoke, the world was on fire.

As Melissa got closer, the taste of school began to foul her mouth.

You look beautiful – David

We’re not freaks, Tally. We’re normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we’re not hyped-up Barbie dolls.

Una franja en la que se mezclaban el naranja y el amarillo prendía fuego al cielo,espléndida e inesperada, tan espectacular como los fuegos artificiales, aunquecambiaba a un ritmo majestuoso y apenas perceptible. Tally estaba descubriendo...

Then dead pretty.