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“You want to know something true? Something real? I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time. I’m grateful my life is tied to yours because it means I won’t have to face a day without you in it. My heart only beats as long as yours does, and when you die, I’ll meet Malek at your side. It’s a damned good thing that you love me, too, because you’re stuck with me in this life and every other that could possibly follow.”

This quote from Chapter 36 is one of the most famous passages in the book. Here, Xaden finally tells Violet that he loves her after he rescues her from Varrish. His confession is important for a few key reasons. To begin with, the reader receives confirmation that Xaden has been in love with Violet since the middle of the previous book—even though he explicitly told her not to fall in love with him. The passage is also significant because he phrases his declaration as a truth. Violet and Xaden have spent the entire book working to trust each other with Violet insisting that honesty “goes both ways,” and Xaden insisting that secrets are a necessity. Here, Xaden characterizes his love for Violet as a truth in order to convey the depth of his sentiments. Finally, Violet has been frustrated in the past by Xaden’s fear of emotional vulnerability, and here she is struck by the honest and sentimental nature of Xaden’s confession, saying that it was all she ever “wanted, ever needed to hear.” Unsurprisingly, Xaden’s speech gives Violet the courage to tell Xaden that she still loves him even though she had been unable to do so up until this point. 

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