First Lines Friday

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?

• 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!

Caidyn will be in blue.
Chantel will be in purple.

You may think you know the story.

Oh, heard that one, have you? Well, we say it again: you may think you know the story. By all accounts it’s a good one: a penniless, orphaned young woman becomes a governess in a wealthy household, catches the eye of the rich and stern master, and (sigh) falls deeply in love. It’s all very passionate and swoonworthy, but before they can get married, a — gasp! — terrible treachery is revealed. Then there’s fire and despair, some aimless wandering, starvation, a little bit of gaslighting, but in the end, the romance works out.

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This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. It’s a book that’s kind of a series, but also isn’t because there are no characters that are the same through all the books. It’s written by three people, too!

I’m pretty sure that everyone knows what book I’m talking about, so it is…

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Caidyn: Today is a very special day for me. That being, it's the third anniversary of the day I changed my name. Why is that such a big deal? Because I'm trans and that means I no longer had to go by my dead name. That day was so special and I'm so grateful that I had the ability to do it. Not all transpeople have those resources. . So, in honor of this day, I'm reading some of my highest anticipated reads! One, obviously is My Plain Jane. I had my first every @owlcrate box and I am so glad I own this book! I loved My Lady Jane so I'm excited. . I'm also going to read The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by @themackenzilee and Bedfellow by @jeremycshipp ! . #bookstagrammer #transman #transvisibility #myplainjane #bedfellow #theladysguidetopetticoatandpiracy

A post shared by Caidyn (@whatcaidynreads) on Jul 24, 2018 at 6:13am PDT

As I said, I’m super excited for the book because I loved My Lady Jane. It was such a fun and good book, so I’m really looking forward to what they do with this “retelling”!

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The afternoon my parents died, I was out shoplifting with Irene Klauson.

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Sometimes, the first lines are straightforward and present a vivid picture of what a story is going to be like. Normally, I struggle to find first lines worth mentioning because oftentimes they don’t stand out. At least to me. This line hooked me immediately and kept me reading despite being tired at the time. Sometimes, a first line can be forward and tragic. I get the feeling this book will hit me hard in the feels. 

So, which book am I talking about??

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danford

I’m not great at keeping up with queer YA that was released after I graduated high school. If I had been in the know then like I am now, I’m certain I would’ve inhaled this book. It is a popular book about a girl who gets sent away to be “rid” of her sexuality. It’s sad that these things still happen, that things like conversion therapy aren’t banned everywhere. It damn well should be. 

I decided to pick this up because the film adaptation will be released soon. Though it probably won’t be as widely released (and certainly not widely publicized) as Love, Simon, but I would love for Hollywood to start acknowledging that queer stories need to be told and there will always be an audience for those stories.

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Have you read any of The Lady Janies books? What did you think?

If you have read Cameron Post, what did you think? 

July 27, 2018July 27, 2018 by bwreviews Categories: jointTags: book tag, first lines friday, lgbtq, lgbtq books, paranormal, retelling, ya fiction 6 Comments