First Lines Friday 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:
“On a Thursday afternoon, around three o’clock, the Pickled Gargoyle is alive with scholars.”
Do you recognize the lines?
Here’s a hint:
It’s a new romantasy.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s written by Rachel Greenlaw.
The First Lines Friday book is:
The Ordeals
Title: The Ordeals
Author: Rachel Greenlaw
Page Length: 384
Pub. Date: Oct. 7, 2025
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis: Twenty-year-old Sophia DeWinter has only known life bound to her cruel uncle, the Collector, thanks to a blood bond he exacted from her as a child. When she learns of Killmarth College, an elite academy for magic wielders outside of the Collector’s control, she knows it is her only chance to finally break free. But to gain entry, she will have to compete against other illusionists, masquiers, botanists, and alchemists in a series of brutal trials that many hopefuls don’t survive—the Ordeals.
Sophia knows her skills as an illusionist are weak; she only makes it through the first challenge by teaming up with a powerful (and insufferably sexy) botanist, Alden Locke. To make it out alive, she will have to hone her magic and learn to identify who is a rival, who could be an ally, and who is a murderer.
Because now, not only does she have to protect her heart, but her very life. Hopefuls are being viciously picked off one by one between the challenges. In her haste to escape the Collector’s trap, Sophia may have fled straight towards her own death sentence.
Have you read The Ordeals? What do you think of the first line? Comment below!
I love the name of that bar. This sounds like a fun story. I hope you enjoy it.