Hey bookworm friends! I’m coming to you with a bonkers idea that I recently had out of the blue when thinking about bookish first lines. A couple of years ago, I made a tournament to help me pick my top book of the year. What if I made a similar tournament to find the best first line out of the books I’ve read in 2026? I loved this idea so much that I sat down to plan how to make it happen even though the year isn’t over yet! And that’s actually a good thing because it means I get to break up this massive endeavour into several parts. I’m calling it Battle of the First Lines and ‘summer division’ means I’m only pulling from books I read in January through June. First, let me explain the rules and then we can dissect some quotes!
How I Picked Which Books to Include
As a game-obsessed reader, I always care about the fairness of my made-up games so I came up with a couple of ground rules for myself.
- The aim is to find the best first line by its own merits, not the book I liked the most.
- Only include books that I overall enjoyed. In practical terms, those I rated 3 stars or more.
- Include: Novels, Novellas, and Light Novels
- Include: Any age category counts; MG, YA, Adult
- Exclude: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Picture Books or Short Stories
- The title says ‘First Lines’ but it’s more like ‘First Ideas’. Some first lines are too short and don’t give much without the context of the second line. I’m allowing myself to include two lines if they share a complete idea together. No more than that.
Tournament Structure
Following these rules, I collected 24 first lines from books I read in the first half of the year and the tournament will work as follows:
- In the first round 12 pairs will face off and the matches will be randomized with a wheel picker.
- The 12 winners from these pairs will face off in the quarterfinals.*
- The 6 winners from the quarterfinals will face off in the semifinals*
- The winners from the semifinals will produce a top 3 from which I will select my winner*
- For extra fun, the audience can also vote for their favourite among the top 3. That way we can see if my pick and the audience favourite is the same or not. (I will give you a chance to vote before revealing my personal winner) *
- At the end of the year, I’ll repeat the same thing for the ‘winter division’ with the books from July-Dec!
*Please note: In this post I’m only sharing the first round. Next week I’ll post the results for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals (including the fun audience vote).
First Round – 12 Matches
Alright, now that the boring rules are finished let’s get to the juicy bit! Ding ding!
Match 1
1A
He was born with an eleventh finger.
1B
Crowhurst G: Perhaps we should get proceedings under way? Miss Donnelly is the video feed operating at your end?
1A manages to, very succinctly, create a mystery and I want to know more. 1B is clearly part of a conversation. There are questions but they’re not exactly thrilling and it feels too clunky for a beginning that grabs my attention.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
1A is The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. 1B is Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.
Match 2
2A
Niall walked through the ruins of the tattoo shop.
2B
The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin.
2A is rather simple but it does put us into a clear setting right away. Isolated though, it’s not very compelling. 2B, I love the use of language here, it paints such a humorous picture that tickles me every time I see it.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
2A is Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr. 2B is Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.
Match 3
3A
There was a boogeyman in my closet. Again.
3B
I should have known something was dangerously wrong long before I did.
3A, well that’s strange should I be worried? Is the boogeyman friendly? Why, again? The almost sassy tone of this has me in its clutches. 3B hints at future trouble and at regret which is intriguing but it’s also pretty vague.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
3A is The Stone initiation by Debbie Cassidy. 3B is Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton.
Match 4
4A
Zee grunted. “Deeper.”
4B
Thick snowflakes drifted through the air, concealing the sprawling wilderness of the frozen north.
4A starts shocking and in the middle of action. It’s not what you think but it’s definitely a double entendre. 4B is a beautiful description of the setting which feels epic and immersive. I’m right there.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
4A is SOS Hotel: Sleep With Us (SOS Hotel #3) by Ariana Nash as Adam Vex. 4B is Cursed Cocktails by S. L. Rowland.
Match 5
5A
The scent of freshly cut grass and campfire smoke teased my senses, pulling me out of what felt like a very deep sleep.
5B
“Is there no other way?” asks a horrified Niema Mandripilias, speaking out loud in an empty room.
5A I like really descriptive first lines and this one feels very atmospheric. It’s also a little bit curious in the way it words things. 5B The main thing question that sticks out to me is why is the character horrified?And then why is she speaking into an empty room? Again, it feels too vague to truly make me curious though, I need more specific details to latch on to.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
5A is Slime Sweets and Dungeon Treats by Pandora Pierce. 4B is The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton.
Match 6
6A
Frobisher, L: “…over seven hundred thousand employees across dozens of colonized worlds. Is it that difficult to believe?
6B
“Moving pictures are the future,” Daisy declared, “and I want to be in one.”
6A drops you in the middle of a conversation which I don’t love but then the scope of “dozens of colonized worlds” is so huge that it automatically grabs my attention. What’s going on here? 6B situates you into a specific time with its wording which I appreciate.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
6A is Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. 6B is The Medici Manuscript by C. J. Archer.
Match 7
7A
The woman crouching under the desk near my feet expelled an unladylike snort of derision.
7B
Depending upon your temperament, you may be either pleased or puzzled to see that I have chosen to include my time upon the Baslisk in my memoirs.
7A, there’s already a woman causing mischief and the story has barely started. I like it. 7B, The author of this story is talking directly to their readers which I sometimes enjoy although this type of comment doesn’t reveal much more than that.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
7A is The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C. J. Archer. 7B is The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan.
Match 8
8A
What I wouldn’t give for some good street-stall meat skewers.
8B
She didn’t belong in a junkyard.
8A, there’s so much longing in this one sentence. It also brings to mind questions of why is this person day dreaming of food? The fact that it’s street-stall food specifically gives us a tiny detail about this character. 8B, who is she? No one belongs in a junkyard so it’s already kind of a shocking sentence, and it’s also mysterious.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
8A is The Apothecary Diaries Vol 1 (Light Novel) by Natsu Hyuuga with Touco Shino. 8B is Please Return to the Lands of Luxury by Jon Tilton.
Match 9
9A
Thilly slipped outside the library with impish intention in her wry smile.
9B
Kiela never thought the flames would reach the library.
9A is a very character focused first-line, it gives us the first peek into the MC’s personality. 9B The words ‘library’ and ‘flames’ should never be in the same sentence unless you want to scare a bookworm. I’m paying attention and immediately invested.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
9A is The Vale of Seven Dragons by Jendia Gammon. 9B is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst.
Match 10
10A
The crawl space behind the hotel walls was barely wide enough to wriggle through, but as Claymore was still missing, someone had to fix the leaky pipe.
10B
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate.
10A Ok, I feel like this first line has a LOT going on. Someone is in a crawlspace, there’s still a missing person, and some maintenance tasks need to get done. 10B This morbid line is so mysterious. I immediately want to know who Brisbane is and why meeting him is important. And why is there a dead body?
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
10A is SOS Hotel: Friendly Sanctuary for the Fiendishly Fabulous (SOS Hotel #2) by Ariana Nash as Adam Vex. 10B is Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn.
Match 11
11A
Some days are easier than others. Some days he doesn’t see her at all.
11B
I adjusted my tie, using my reflection in the whiskey bottle sitting on the bar.
11A This beginning resonates emotionally and creates mystery at the same time. Is not seeing ‘her’ a good or a bad thing? 11B The vignette this line creates is very entertaining to me, and it sets the tone of the story well.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
11A is That Which Follows You Home by Josiah D. Blizzard. 11B is SOS Hotel: For A Supernaturally Safe Stay! (SOS Hotel #1) by Ariana Nash as Adam Vex.
Match 12
12A
My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance.
12B
“Eighteen!” bellowed Viv, bringing her saber around in a flat curve that battered the wight’s skull off its spine.
12A another line where the story is talking to the audience directly. A simple but effective. I think it’s more impactful upon a reread though. 12B this is a clever first line because if you know this character you’re happy to see her again right away in the middle of action. It’s also reminiscent of LOTR as she’s counting her kills which I appreciate.
Click to reveal, winner is marked in green.
12A is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 12B is Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree.
And this is where we leave off for this week! With a several question marks to be revealed… Remember, next week I’ll be sharing the results of the remaining rounds of Battle of the First Lines (Summer). So please keep an eye on that if you’re interested and see you then 😉!
Let’s chat in the comments!
Did you recognize any of these first lines? Or, was there a first line you particularly liked and why?
Wow, cool idea! I love matches like this but I’ve never seen it done with first lines. I do love seeing a Spellshop quote😁 Can’t wait to see what happens next!
Thanks so much, Tammy :D… I really can’t help turning everything into a sort of game😂. I’m glad you like the Spellshop quote too! I’ll post the next part next week :)!