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:
Today, Prince Cyrus returns to the capitol with a bride, or else.
Do you recognize the line?
Hint: It’s a new ya fantasy.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Gina Chen.
The First Lines Friday book is:
Violet Made of Thorns
About the Book:
Title: Violet Made of Thorns
Author: Gina Chen
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis: A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.
Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.
But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.
Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.
Have you read this book? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
This might be my favorite of the year. I also liked your review of the book.
Thank you! It was a great read.
I knew this one yay! lol
I’ve seen a lot of great reviews about this book, and I enjoyed the first line. I have this one on my wishlist. 🙂
It’s sooooo good!!
My greedy, gluttonous, overstuffed kindle thanks you. Lol
Lol You’re very welcome! 🙂
These are always fun, though I can never guess the book, even for books I read.
I rarely guess them either! lol