First Line Fridays #11

Hello friends! Today’s I have another First Line Fridays post.

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? If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

1. Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
2. Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
3. Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

(I do not do this meme weekly)

“Each icy gust bit me to the bone. A Day-dream of roasting next to a fire in the kitchens while eating fistfuls of hot, flaky bread made the cold feel even harsher, the wind wetter and my stomach all the more empty. But the thought of death made me coldest of all.”

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I know that I’ve yet again wrote down more than the first sentence, but these first 3 sentences are pretty intriguing, don’t you think?

The title of this work is: Kingdom of Ash and Briars, by Hannah West.

Bristal, an orphaned kitchen maid, lands in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she is an elicromancer with a knack for shape-shifting. An ancient breed of immortal magic beings, elicromancers have been winnowed down to merely two – now three – after centuries of bloody conflict in the realm. Their gifts are fraught with responsibility, and sixteen-year-old Bristal is torn between two paths. Should she vow to seek the good of the world, to protect and serve mortals? Or should she follow the strength of her power, even if it leads to unknown terrors? She draws on her ability to disguise herself as a man to infiltrate a prince’s band of soldiers, and masquerades as a fairy godmother to shield a cursed princess, but time is running out. As an army of dark creatures grows closer, Bristal faces a supernatural war. To save the kingdoms, Bristal must find the courage to show her true form.

Building on homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen’s Emma and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a spectacular debut.

Kingdom of Ash and Briars hasn’t actually been on my TBR for that long. From what I remember, how I came across Kingdom of Ash and Briars was actually via the second book. I had found the sequel to Kingdom of Ash and Briars at the bookstore by just browsing covers. And since the cover to the second book is absolutely beautiful (especially in-person!), I decided to check out the series.

The cover for Kingdom of Ash and Briars is super pretty too.

Thus, I found Kingdom of Ash and Briars. I’m quite looking forward to reading KoAaB. I’m not thinking about what might happen within the story since I wanted to be able to read Kingdom of Ash and Briars with no initial predictions.