“This is the thing about life I've never really understood until now: we try so hard to control it, but bad things happen anyway. The only real control is an anti-control, a letting go.”

“Life is a war, and the families are the armies. Even if you win the war, some will never see you plant the flag.”

“There is not a name for what I'm feeling. There is no description for it.To call it yearning would be like calling the ocean water.Whatever this thing is, it shoves you inside itself and you can't measure its boundaries because they go too far and you don't have enough time. Or you move toward the boundaries and they move away.There has been an earthquake in my life.Catastrophic, civilization-ending.”

“I'd make oatmeal cookies.""Cookies?""I would. That's just what I would do.""Why?"He lifts one hand from the steering wheel and pinches his chin. "Because the world is changing so fast all the time. There's nothing you can do but just say, 'cool,' and roll with it. But some things can stay the same. Flour is still flour. Vanilla still smells like vanilla. Say a giant fireball is motoring toward us right now from Alha Centauri. Okay, universe. You expect us to run and scream and kill one another? Sorry, we're making oatmeal freaking cookies.”

“Everything's a game,' Sagan said. 'When you get down to it. Everything in life is ultimately some kind of strategy. If you have a better strategy than the other guy, he's going down.”

“Welcome to my head. Let's hit the ground running.”

“A latter-day Go Ask Alice, BEAUTIFUL is raw, gritty, and powerful, an intense ice-pick jab to the heart. A stunning debut and a must-read.”