“A person did not need to be beautiful; they just needed to be loved.”
There are people who often judge others by appearance. However, you need to judge a person by his soul and life positions. Ray, who is Starr’s boyfriend, immediately becomes interested in Astrid, because she is young and beautiful. Astrid like an angel. Starr obviously does not attract him anymore, because she does not get younger, and beautiful girls grow up in her house. Astrid is ashamed of Ray’s desire and his primitiveness. She assures that it is not about beauty, because a beautiful person can turn out to be as cruel as her mother Ingrid is. Astrid does not need beauty, she needs to be loved and respected, as Starr needs. People are fond of not appearance, but of soul. Astrid certainly wants to be beautiful, but if this is the only way to love, then she chooses it.
“In life, knowledge of poisons is essential.”
The meaning of this quote is that bitter experience is the most necessary knowledge in life. Every heroine from this novel has the bitterest experience on the basis of which they remember the terrible results of their deeds. Ingrid, who poisoned her ex-boyfriend Barry, is imprisoned. She has received her knowledge for the rest of her life - never to do the spontaneous deeds because of jealousy. Astrid, who lived in foster families, has learned that her mother is the only dearest person, who cannot be replaced with anyone. You need to appreciate what you have, because the links between mother and child, between friends and family members that seem eternal are actually tenuous. Everything can be lost, more easily than anyone can imagine. Astrid has lost maternal love and happiness, and Ingrid has lost her freedom.
“Love. I would ban the word from the vocabulary. Such imprecision.”
After reading the novel, readers can say that love between all of the characters is sentiment, fantasy, longing, and lust. It is obsession, which is devouring need. As Ingrid says, the only love that is accurate without qualification is the love of a very young child. After endless attempts to find a beloved man, love ceases to exist for Ingrid. It ceased to exist for her, when Astrid was born. Astrid’s father immediately abandoned them and Ingrid stopped to believe in love. Finally, Ingrid finds love and affection together with Barry, but he begins to be unfaithful to Ingrid. All these fairy tales about love and the prince remain only fairy tales. Love and reality are two different words that do not exist in Ingrid’s world.
