Far from the Tree Quotes

“The older she got, the more human her parents seemed, and that was one of the scariest things in the world. She missed being little, when they were the all-knowing gods of her world, but at the same time, seeing them as human made it easier to see herself that way, too.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“That’s what parents do. They catch you before you fall. That’s what family is.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Don't you get it? That's what happens when you love someone: they're brave when you can't be! I can be brave--for you, for both of us!”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“It took us fifteen years to find each other, but we still did! And sometimes, family hurts each other. But after that's done you bandage each other up, and you move on. Together. You've got us now, like it or not, and we've got you.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“words could shatter harder than a glass breaking against a wall, hurt more than a fist plowing through teeth.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Content in the knowledge that no matter what happened with your parents, or your girlfriend, that your siblings will still be there, like a bookend that keeps you upright when you feel like toppling over.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“nothing was worse than someone wanting you to talk when the words you needed to say hadn’t even been invented yet.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Maya was crying and she couldn't say anything, not because she didn't know what to say, but because there was too much of it.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“But the truth was far deeper. The truth was every single color in a rainbow spectrum, and Maya didn’t have the words to say what she felt. So she didn’t say anything. It was just easier that way.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“He thought it was ironic that everyone was trying so hard to leave home, when all he wanted to do was stay in one.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Joaquin shook his head. "Look, you two are my sisters, right? You're my family. I won't hurt you like that."
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Maya suddenly screamed, and they both turned around to see her still standing next to the car, hand on hips.
"That's exactly what family is, Joaquin!" Maya shouted at him. "It means that no matter where you go, no matter how far you run, you're still a part of me and Grace and we're still a part of you, too! Look at us! It took us fifteen years to find each other, but we still did! And sometimes, family hurts each other. But after that's done you bandage each other up, and you move on. Together. So you can go and think that you're some lone wolf, but you're not! You've got us now, like it or not, and we've got you. So get in this fucking car and let's go!”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“I love you," Lauren whispered. "Even when you act like a brat sometimes."
"And I love you, even when you call me a brat.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“how goes it? Rafe asked.
it goes, Grace wrote back.
you scared?
terrified.
it'll be okay. everything always works out.
She wasn't sure if that was true or not, but she was glad that at least one person thought so.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“boys who get girls pregnant are heroes and girls who get pregnant are sluts.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“She got in line behind a woman who was paying with a check. A check. Grace wondered if the woman’s cart and oxen were double-parked outside.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Because I already have one sister, Lauren? She’s like their miracle baby—they had her right after me, oh joy—and sometimes she’s crazy annoying and I was like, ‘Another one? I don’t know about this.’ But then they told me about you, too? And I was like, ‘Get. Out.’ I mean, it’s like insta-family, right? Just add water. Like sea monkeys.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Well, if they don't like you, then the unfortunate fact is that you're related to idiots. I'm sorry. A lot of us are, though. You're in good company.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“I know you don’t believe it now, I know you might not ever believe it, but Mark and Linda are like those training wheels, too. What you described? That’s what parents do. They catch you before you fall. That’s what family is.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“We've got all the time in the world."
They didn't, of course. Grace chose to believe Rafe anyway, as they sat together, lying in wait at the edge of the world.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“You can be scared!” Birdie was still shouting. “Don’t you get it? That’s what happens when you love someone: they’re brave when you can’t be! I can be brave—for you, for both of us!”
― Robin Benway, Far From the Tree

“Love is fleeting, things change, et cetera.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“(At Mark and Linda’s, Joaquin had adapted to eating vegetables at every meal. Broccoli and spinach were fine; brussels sprouts were death, even when they were cooked in butter.)”
― Robin Benway, Far From The Tree

“Maya's eyes grew wide, and Grace finally saw the little-sister potential in her. She could imagine Maya toddling after her, annoying her, pulling her hair and borrowing her clothes without asking first. She didn't tell Maya about all the people she'd talked to on the phone, trying to follow a seventeen-year-old trail of bread crumbs that had mostly blown to the wind and taken Joaquin with them. She didn't mention that some people had been rude, others had been so helpful that it made Grace's heart hurt, that Joaquin's family tree seemed to have way too many scraggly branches and not enough roots, not the kind of roots you would need when the storm was strong.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Lauren was good at it, being able to say whatever was on her mind so that people could understand, but for Maya, it was like describing colors: the sunset pinks and reds of first love, the stormy blues that clouded her brain when she was hurt or angry.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Maya thought that if everyone had to die eventually, this wouldn't be the worst way to go, with the sun on your face and your head in the lap of someone you loved.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“The problem with power, though, is that having it doesn't always make you a good person. Sometimes, it makes you the bad guy.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Maya had never realized how much power there was in loving someone. At first, she thought it was a source of strength, but now she was realizing that, in the wrong hands, on the wrong day, that power was strong enough to destroy the very thing that had built it.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Progress, she thought, sounded exhausting.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“Maybe she just wants you. Pictures are the past, that's all. Maybe you're her future.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree

“She didn’t realize it at the time, but Grace liked him just because he liked her, and that wasn’t a strong enough tree to hang on to when the storm came.”
― Robin Benway, Far from the Tree