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:
“When I open my eyes, I don’t know where I am, only that I’m lying on a bed of velvety moss over a black stone floor as smooth as glass.”
Do you recognize the lines?
Here’s a hint:
It’s a romantasy.
Still not sure? Here’s another hint:
It’s by Adrianne May.
The First Lines Friday book is:
Exquisite Ruin
Title: Exquisite Ruin
Author: Adrianne May
Series: The Labyrinth #1
Page Length: 384
Publisher: Gallery Books
Synopsis: In this deadly maze, the most dangerous thing may be the passion between them.
Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.
Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes—and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can’t explain.
As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra … or even herself.
Have you read Exquisite Ruin? What do you think of the first lines? Comment below!
Oh, I love that first sentence! And the cover is gorgeous as well~