Her dress seemed designed to call attention to the tattoo climbing up her arm and almost to her throat: a psychedelic flower on a spiny stem that could’ve been a botanical illustration of a blossom found on Mars. I had its twin tattooed on me in a mirror image - a misguided Mother’s Day gift Ella had blindsided me by hating.
-- Alice (chapter 3 paragraph 13 and 1)

Importance: This quote is important because it establishes the relationship between Alice and Ella, while foreshadowing the importance of that tattoo. The reader knows that Alice and Ella have a strong, if occasionally difficult relationship. They love each other, but Ella continuously avoids any subject pertaining to Althea or her novel Tales from the Hinterlands. This implies that the tattoo, which Alice says Ella hated, pertains to the Hinterlands or Althea in some way. It is unlikely that Ella would hate a gift like a matching tattoo if...