
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 House of Atreus carried a curse. A particularly gruesome one, even by the standards of divine torment. The history of the family was full of brutal murder, adultery, monstrous ambition, and rather more cannibalism than one would expect.
Do you recognize the lines?

Hint: It’s a Greek myth retelling.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Jennifer Saint.

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

Title: Elektra
Author: Jennifer Saint
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: April 28, 2022
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Synopsis: The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
Clytemnestra
The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon – her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost.
Cassandra
Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.
Elektra
The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?
Have you read Elektra? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
Intriguing first lines! I’ve already had my eye on this one.
Yes!!! It’s fantastic!
That particular book isn’t my cup of tea but I love the concept of doing the First Lines!
It’s a fun weekly thing. 🙂
I really like the first lines!
It’s such a great read!
I actually guessed this one!
Nice! I love when that happens!
Ooh, great first lines! 👀
Such a good book!!!