First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created 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!
This week’s lines are from a middle grade fantasy series:
They would have said it wasn’t possible: the chaos and the mayhem she caused. They would have said she didn’t have it in her.
It was in her, but deep. What’s under your house, if you were to dig? Mud and worms. Buried treasure. Skeletons. You don’t know. The girl dug into the depths of her heart, and there she found a hunger for justice and a thirst for revenge.
Mrs. Richmond’s wedding gown was itchy, for one thing.
So what’s the book?
The Poisoned King (Impossible Creatures, #2) by Katherine Rundell
Release date: September 11, 2025
304 pages
Synopsis:
Return to the magic of the Archipelago in the dazzling sequel to the runaway, #1 New York Times bestseller Impossible Creatures, hailed as “an instant classic” (Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan)!
Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons.
But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice.
Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with more than fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.
Sound like something you’d enjoy? (If so, be sure to start with the first book, Impossible Creatures!)
Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!
Bookshelf Fantasies 