How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life and death will be in your hands." His voice still sounded firm, but there was a gentleness there too. "If you were human or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could." (9.77).
… but she's not a human, so she can't do all that fun stuff. Dimitri gives Rose one tough pill to swallow. Sometimes, you have to do the hard thing when you're an adult. That's why she wants to stay a kid and goof off for as long as possible.
Quote #8
I could figure out the rest, the part she didn't tell Dimitri. She'd found the rabbit, cleaned up, and freaked out. Then she'd cut herself, but it was the weird way she coped with things that upset her. (12.43)
Sadly, a very real part of coming of age is dealing with adult problems like depression and death. At first Rose thinks she can muddle her way through, but eventually she realizes she's just not adult enough to cope with Lissa's cutting. Another big part to coming of age? Knowing when you're in over your head and asking for help.
Quote #9
She sounded like she wanted to believe that, and inside, some part of her really did. But there was another part of her, a desperate part of her that had wanted for so long to know that she wasn't a freak, that she wasn't alone. Even if the news was bad, at least now she knew there were others like her. (16.70)
When Rose tells Lissa about the similarities between her, Ms. Karp, and St. Vladimir, she's comforted and angry at the same time. Lissa is just like us—we want to believe there are people out there who are like us, that we fit in somewhere, and that's what Lissa is going through with her strange hocus pocus too.