The Epic Lines of Modern Literature and How They Shaped a Generation of Writers

A look at the great authors of my decade

What makes a line in a story stand out? How can a single line transform a reader into a writer? I have always loved the Young Adult authors in the world. They have a way of transforming something that should be hard to believe, into food for thought that makes the reader question the world in which we live. Making the supernatural world a world that lives side by side with the modern world.

“To Love is to Destroy. To be the one loved is to be destroyed.” — Jace Wayland, City of Bones

The novels by Cassandra Clare have many lines that stand out, this one, in particular, resonated with me and reverberated throughout the series The Mortal Instruments. Jace might have been one of her characters that struggled the most with darkness. His biggest issue is the love he had for someone he was told he was never meant for him. Telling someone that love equals destruction is something that gives a person a reason to blame. Jace whispered those words throughout the series until the person who had first told that he was actually the one to be destroyed. That’s when Jace eventually discovers that love might be the most powerful thing in the world.

“I cannot sever them, one from the other, I cannot be responsible for such a thing.” — Tessa, Clockwork Prince

One of my favorite things about the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare is the love triangle that is unique to the book series. The idea of Parabatai, of warrior brothers who cannot live without each other, is a beautiful thing, that turns deadly when you factor in that they love the same woman. Although this could have ended horribly, the two men loved each other just as much as they loved the woman in question, and either one of them would’ve sacrificed their own happiness for the other, which makes it all the more tragic.

“R.I.P, Captain Abraham R. Griswold. He was completely useless and made girls cry.” — Bram, Dearly, Departed

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel is a unique take on the Zombie apocalypse in a world that is set years in the future but has all the flair of Victorian England with parasols, royal girls in proper dresses, and military personnel that are the undead. The unique and fascinating manner in which she described this world only adds to the beauty of the story’s tagline — “Love can never die.” Ironic, as the girl is in love with a boy who has been dead for at least two years even though he still walks around.

“Had being near him always felt like playing with fire? Warm and bright, intense and dangerous?” — Nora

One of the best novel series I have ever read was the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. Nora is thrust into a war of fallen angels against the Nephilim. She loses her memory in one novel only for it to be forcibly returned when the tides of the war started to change. This book is as hypnotic as the character Patch definitely and worth a read or reread.

“I get to live forever…You come along every seventeen years. You fall in love with me, and I with you. And it kills you.” — Daniel, Fallen

The Fallen series by Lauren Kate is a beautiful story of rebirth that has you guessing until the very end. Daniel is an angel who has loved one girl his whole life. She keeps getting reborn so she and Daniel fall in love every time only for Luce to die every time. It’s only until the fourth installment that we actually get answers to the tragic tale.

“My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press.” — Four, Divergent

Technically the Divergent series is more of science fiction than a fantasy novel, it has a world that is unique from the one we live in. Until the curtain lifts in the third novel and we realize we have always known where the story takes place. I’ve always loved Four and Tris’s relationship, unlike the movie it showed that Tris was always the strongest one of everyone in Dauntless. She was forever being pushed because it was the fear that made her become truly alive. Something that the movie series had such a hard time portraying.

These novels may not be what everyone says are the best quotes of the decade, but for me, these novels all shaped me into the author and writer I have become. These stories led me through tough times where I was alone, and through good times too. Everyone has their own version of novels that shaped who they are, these are mine.