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?

The Rules:

• 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 Lines:

“A woman had been crushed by a goal that fell from the sky.”

This might just be the best first line of a book that I’ve ever read. It absolutely makes me need to, not just want to, but actually need to find out what happens next in this story, and what the deal is with falling goats.

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is a recently released fantasy.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It’s written by Amy Leow.

The First Lines Friday book is:

The Scarlet Throne.

About the Book:

• Title: The Scarlet Throne
• Author: Amy Leow
• Series: The False Goddess #1
• Page Length: 392 pages
• Publication Date: September 10, 2024
• Publisher: Orbit

Synopsis:

POWER IS EVERYTHING. SHE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO KEEP IT.

Binsa is a “living goddess,” chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne. But her reign hides a deadly secret. Rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbors a demon.

But one cannot remain a living goddess forever. When her temple’s priests decide that Binsa’s time in power has come to an end, a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position as goddess. But Binsa refuses to be discarded into a life of uncertainty as a young woman, and she strikes a deal with her demon: She will sacrifice her people’s lives in order to magnify his power, and in return, he will help her seize control from the priests once and for all.

But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade for the sake of ambition? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.

A dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy by debut author Amy Leow—full of scheming demons, morally grey heroines, talking cats, and cutthroat priests—The Scarlet Throne is a delicious tale of power and corruption.

Links: Goodreads     

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