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:

“The sun hummed above Zora that lurid June afternoon. It was so bright that she shielded her ten-year-old eyes beneath emerald branches crisscrossing overhead. She sprinted along the golden-lit trail, her beaded braids clacking behind her in air so muggy it had to be gulped. Pine stuck to Zora’s pursed lips and then on her tongue when she couldn’t lick it away. On an ordinary day, she wouldn’t’ve noticed it. It would be a minor nuisance. But that day, the sweet-laced woodsy sap was an invasion curling down her throat. Her mouth softened, sinking into a frown.”

This one drew my attention pretty quickly, and leaves me with questions that need answers. Where is Zora going? What makes today different from an ordinary day?

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is an upcoming horror release.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It is written by Beatrice Winifred Iker.

The First Lines Friday book is:

I’ll Make a Spectacle of You.

About the Book:

• Title: I’ll Make a Spectacle of You
• Author: Beatrice Winifred Iker
• Page Length: 417 pages
• Publication Date: November 18, 2025
• Publisher: Run For It

Synopsis:

This heart-pounding Southern-gothic horror debut takes readers to Bricksbury Mountain College, the oldest and most storied HBCU in the nation. But as one student is about to find out, with a long history comes a legacy of secrets.

Zora Robinson is an ambitious grad student in her dream program, Appalachian studies, at Bricksbury Mountain College. When her thesis advisor hands her a strange diary and suggests she research the local folklore about a beast roaming the woods surrounding the campus, Zora finds a community uneager to talk to an outsider.

As she delves deeper into the history of the beast, she uncovers a rumored secret society called the Keepers that has tenuous ties to the beast…and to Bricksbury itself. Zora soon finds herself plagued by visions of the past, and her grip on reality starts to slip as she struggles to uncover what is real and what is folklore. But when a student goes missing, Zora starts to wonder if the Keepers ever really disbanded.

There’s something in the woods, and it has its eyes on Zora.

Links: Goodreads     

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.