The first lines of a book are crucial to the impression the reader will have. They can determine whether a book will be bought or put back on the dusty shelf.
This is why writers strive to find the perfect beginning, which is given the same importance as the last page.
In this article, I show you some of the Incipits that have managed to win over millions of readers and transport the following books to the best-seller list.
It ends with us
As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help but think about suicide
These few words transpose us into the serious atmosphere of this book. The book begins with the protagonist reflecting on her life, just before it is swept away by a catastrophe.
Book review: The popular “It ends with us” broke my heart
A Winter’s Promise
It’s often said of old buildings that they have a soul. On Anima, the ark where objects come to life, old buildings tend mostly to become appallingly bad-tempered.
This Incipit is one of my favourites. In fact, it opens up a world of fantasy and magic that is impossible to turn away from. Plus the ironic note on the first page is great for accompanying the reader in getting to know this particular character.
Book review: A Winter’s Promise is full of worldbuilding
The cruel prince
In Faerie, there are no fish sticks, no ketchup, no television.
This sentence is very simple and ironic but comes immediately after a prologue that is quite the opposite. In the first few pages we see the protagonist’s life destroy itself before her eyes.
Before we understand what situation she is in now, we get to know in a few words a totally different world from the human world of the 21st century.
Book review: ‘The Cruel Prince’ all you need to know
Divergent
THERE IS ONE mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.
Divergent begins by immediately presenting us with an out-of-the-ordinary situation. In just two sentences, the writer has managed to tell us about the faction and the strict rules that everyone must abide by even in their own homes.
Book review: “Divergent” full opinion of the whole series
Circe
When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist. They called me nymph, assuming I would be like my mother and aunts and thousand cousins.
Most people who start Circe know that the famous woman from Greek mythology is not human. In fact, the writer does not begin by giving attention to that but puts a poetic note. She has existed since the dawn of time, so far back that no words yet existed to describe her.
Book review: ‘Circe’ the great witch as you have never seen her
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