First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
First Lines:
The wood came for us the day the king died.
At first it was only a few spots on an orchid, small rotten dots that few would even notice. I didn’t think anything of it. It hadn’t looked like any disease I could remember; still, I simply bit my first finger until I could taste blood on my tongue, and pressed a droplet into the heart of the dying flower.
It bloomed once again…
Do you recognize the lines?
Hint: It’s an upcoming YA fantasy.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Ashley Potson
The First Lines Friday book is:
Title: Among the Beasts and Briars
Author: Ashley Poston
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Oct. 20, 2020
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Synopsis: Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.
Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.
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LINKS: Goodreads Amazon Book Depository
I’m loving those first lines! Does her blood have magical power? And is the wood alive? I need to know more!!
Is Among the Beasts and Briars on your TBR? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
I love the cover!
Me too!
So far, the only fantasy books on my TBR list are rereads of HP and Narnia. Actually for Christmas, thinking of asking for the Nevermoor series after hearing that fans of HP would like it. I actually think most fantasy books I love belong to series.
By the way- nominated your for the Liebster Award
They’re both amazing series! I just bought the first book in the Nevermoor series and plan on reading it soon. I’ve heard fantastic things about it.
And thank you so much for the nomination! 🙂
Nevermoor is one of the newest series I heard. Thinking of Nevermoor, I want to reread the HP series.
In order to reread HP, I need my own collection- my sister isn’t really letting me read them. She owns the collection. So I need my own copies so that way I can read when I want to
Ohh, gorgeous cover and great first lines! These lines definitely make me very curious about the book.
I love the cover too – so striking!
That cover is gorgeous and it has a great first line!
Ooh, really great first lines! I’m even more excited to read this one now 😍
Right! Between the first lines and the cover…I’m loving it!
I requested that one on Edelweiss but I was denied. It’s particularly frustrating because it was the first HarperCollins book I requested after being accepted into their influencer program and specifically sent a list of fall YA titles to consider on Edelweiss, which this was on. :/
I love doing First Lines Friday ❤ I used it today and last week to feature some physical review copies I’ve recently been sent by publishers and have been feeling guilty about not reading yet. Lol.
That’s so frustrating! I was lucky enough to get it on Netgalley. I haven’t used Edelwiess and am a little intimidated by it. lol
Hey there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
Yes, I do! 🙂 Here’s a link: https://twitter.com/1BookMore