I love you,’ he whispered. I gasped as he shoved himself into me. And I thought: now there is no turning back. No more regrets for what I haven’t done. Now only regrets for what I have done. I love him, I hate myself; I love myself, I hate him. This is the end of a long story.
-- Jonas (Chapter 1)

Importance: Elle warns her reader in her narration that having sex with Jonas was the culmination of a long story, suggesting that the reader should not pass judgment on them. Elle even seems unsure how she feels about what has transpired between her and Jonas.

But my grandfather was running low on funds, so he built the interior walls and ceilings out of pressed paperboard, Homasote, cheap and utilitarian, and nicknamed the camp the Paper Palace.
-- Narrator (Chapter 2)

Importance: In this quote, Elle describes how the Paper Palace received its nickname. She indicates her grandfather...