
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 Line:
There are monsters in this world
There are monsters in the woods.
They slip inside at night. Crawl through the walls of our cottage. They find their way into my brother’s dreams. .
Do you recognize the lines?

Hint: It’s a YA fantasy.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Lyndall Clipstone.

The First Lines Friday book is:
Lakesedge
About the Book:

Title: Lakesedge
Author: Lyndall Clipstone
Series: World at the Lake’s Edge
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Sept. 28, 2021
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Synopsis: A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.
There are monsters in the world.
When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.
There are monsters in the woods.
As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…
There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.
Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.
Have you read Lakesedge? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
That sounded so familiar! I should’ve known it was Lakesedge.
I always have such a hard time recognizing first lines!
I’ve started it recently but didn’t end up finishing, probably will pick it up some other time, but I recognized the line because it specifically mentions monsters & a brother lol
lol – The first lines definitely stand out!
Those are so creepy first lines! I haven’t read this one yet.
Right! It’s got total Gothic vibes.
Aw, I recognized the book! Because i read it recently and it is still fresh in my mind.
Nice! I hope you enjoyed it!
I did! Can’t wait for the sequel.
Ooh, creepy! This does sound interesting but also entirely too creepy for this chicken 😂 Great first lines though!
Haha – definitely has creepy, Gothic vibes.