Not the come-on type. I'm speaking of the first lines in the book you are reading. First lines are among my favorites, closely followed with final lines once the plot has been gone through.
Shall we see if they measure up?
"Ana's new hair shone as thick and black as an android's blood." - Game Time, Mary Ann Chulick
Catchy, curiosity inspiring. I'm wondering how she knows what android blood looks like and because she knows, has she "killed" many androids lately? Interesting. I'll have to read on.
"I'm upping the ante. Bring underwear." - Strip Poker for Two, April Ash
I included the second sentence because it is actually a semi-colon type work up in that it completes the thought of the first sentence. This catches my attention. Clearly the ante before had never required underwear, most likely because it had not been taken so far. Now that it has, I'm wondering what changed and can I watch?
"Shana held up the turquoise to the bright desert light." - Rain God, Amy Ruttan
Nope. Leaves me without interest. I neither like turquoise, nor do I see anything to immediately strike me with curiosity.
"He scented her the moment she entered the smokey club." - Feral Moon, Regina Carlysle
Yes. Without the title I could still tell you this is a shifter of some kind and that his senses are keen to the point where even smokey bar smells couldn't keep him from recognizing her impact on his future. Or she stinks. Since this is a romance, we'll go with the former.
What are you reading and does it grab you?
3 comments:
HA. Color Me Surprised to see the 'first line' from Feral Moon!!! It's a funny thing about first lines. Sometimes the hook just comes easily and sometimes I'm left floundering. Suspect we all go through that a bit.
Oh, yeah. First lines can be tough. And I find that last lines/paragraphs are incredibly important to me.
I love first lines. I so love them. They don't make or break a book for me, as a reader, but they can hook me. Sometimes I'll run into a book with a great first line and then a sucks eggs story. The opposite is also true - an okay first line and a compelling, can't put down, read.
I like writing my first lines. I do think they are important for setting tone.
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