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:
Isabelle took great pride in herself that she did not cry once during the whole wretched, messy ordeal. Not when the soldiers barked their orders at her to stand down; not when they grabbed her up like a common criminal and threw shackles on her wrists; not when they shoved her in this moldy makeshift prison cell that once served as a potato cellar; not even when the strips of light leaching in from outside grew longer, and thinner, and then disappeared altogether. She held her head high, gritted her teeth, and glared malevolence at the warped wooden boards of the door and the rough voices of the men beyond.
Do you recognize the lines?
Hint: It’s a book by Jenny Elder Moke.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint: It’s connected to Robin Hood.
The First Lines Friday book is:
Hood by Jenny Elder Moke
Page Length: 320
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Synopsis: Isabelle of Kirklees has only ever known a quiet life inside the sheltered walls of the convent, where she lives with her mother, Marien. But after she is arrested by royal soldiers for defending innocent villagers, Isabelle becomes the target of the Wolf, King John’s ruthless right hand. Desperate to keep her daughter safe, Marien helps Isabelle escape and sends her on a mission to find the one person who can help: Isabelle’s father, Robin Hood.
As Isabelle races to stay out of the Wolf’s clutches and find the father she’s never known, she is thrust into a world of thieves and mercenaries, handsome young outlaws, new enemies with old grudges, and a king who wants her entire family dead. As she joins forces with Robin and his Merry Men in a final battle against the Wolf, will Isabelle find the strength to defy the crown and save the lives of everyone she holds dear?
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LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository
I loved Hood and am so excited that I received an advanced copy for the author’s newest book Curse of the Specter Queen. It sounds fantastic!!
Want to learn more about Hood? Check out my review!
Have you read Hood? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!!
I really want to read this book and those lines!!
I still have to read this one!
It’s good! I really enjoy Robin Hood-related stories, so this was perfect for me! 🙂 I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!
Wow! What an opening! It’s on my to be read list and now I’m even more excited for it!!!!
Nice! I hope you love it! 🙂
Those are awesome first lines! I’m one clicking this!