“In the midst of a full-blown disaster – with the house apparently self-destructing around them – Lila was calmly filing her nails.”

“Apparently, I had graduated from psychologist and was now in need of a full-blown psychiatrist.”

“Physical imperfections have always offended him, but apparently my bad hygiene wasn't repellent enough. Perhaps Ms. Mues's full-blown adulthood will be.”

“I'm thinking that I shouldn't have filed my nails last night.”

“If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society, I think I would stage a full blown blitz on women. I would keep them so distraught and distracted that they would never find the calming strength and serenity for which their gender has always been known.”

“Once, Lila Zacharov was in love with a boy with hair as black as spilled ink and eyes as dark as coffee. She would trace his name on her skin, over and over, write it in the condensation of her breath on panes of glass, scrawl it on the bottoms of her feet with the tip of her nail, like she was casting a spell.”