First Lines Fridays – 22nd August 2025

Welcome to my very first entry for First Lines Fridays! Every week (or whenever the mood strikes), I’ll be sharing the opening line of a book—no title, no author—just the first sentence that sets the whole story in motion.

I’ve only just discovered this myself so for any newbies (like me) out there, First Lines Fridays is a weekly post hosted by Wandering Words. In this post, instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines.

To do this simply:

• 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 line:

“Revolution tastes oddly… sweet.”

Do you recognise what line this book is from?

Okay, here’s a hint for you… it’s part of a popular fantasy series.

Still unsure? Here’s your last hint… it’s written by Rebecca Yarros.

Keep scrolling down for the BIG REVEAL!

Goodreads

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s wondering how she’ll get through it. It’s not just that it’s gruelling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is—unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body is weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she has her wits—and a will of iron. Leadership forgets the most important lesson Basgiath taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But determination to survive won’t be enough this year, because Violet knows the secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

[Did you guess right?]