So it’s still the 30th for me, but I started reading a holiday read in the hopes I could use it for this post, but I gave that novel two stars, so that plan went out the window. My current read has some potential, but I have more than 200 pages left, and I need to do this post now, or I fear it won’t happen. I’m choosing between two that I rated highly. One is about two generations of a family set in WWII and the post-war period. The other is a cult thriller that kept me on my toes. Both novels I couldn’t put down, so I will list the one I didn’t use at the end. I’m curious if, by reading the first few lines, you could guess which one I’m talking about. 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!
Yes, I bent the rules, but ok.
First Lines:
The air in The Inferno wasn’t just breathed; it was worn. A thick, greasy coat of stale cigarette smoke, sweat, and the cloying sweetness of spilled liquor. It clung to the back of the throat and settled deep in the lungs, a permanent souvenir from a place no one was ever just visiting. The bass from the speakers wasn’t music so much as a physical presence, a dull, rhythmic thud that vibrated through the sticky floorboards and up into the bones, trying to mimic a heartbeat for a room that had none of its own.
Goodreads Blurb:
She was Wife Six.
Now she’s the only voice left to tell the truth.
Nora never asked to join a cult. But when her father disappeared and her mother surrendered to a faith that called obedience “love,” Nora was given a new name, a number, and a to serve.
Inside the isolated compound of the Doctrine, girls are married off by ranking, silenced by rituals, and punished for doubt. For years, Nora obeyed. Until the night Elise burned—and everything changed.
Now, hunted by the man who claimed her body and soul, Nora must choose between survival and justice. With the help of a rogue boy, a broken witness, and a legacy of women who dared to resist, she sets out to shatter the system that built her cage.
The other book I was talking about is Those Missing Years by Jenny Rea
Alex
Mybookworld24 