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?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• 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 (I cheat a little bit here *cough*)
• Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

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Hello, reader!

We’ve made it to the end of another week, which means it’s time for First Lines Friday! This week, I’m featuring a book that has been hovering around my radar since it was released. It finally got on my TBR after it was chosen as a book of the month for a Goodreads group I’m in. I’m excited to give it a read!

Now, time to read the first few lines and see if they ramp up my excitement even more.

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The Line(s):

“Long ago, when the gods were young and Asgard was new, there came a witch from the edge of the worlds.”

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The Hints:

This is a fantasy centered around Norse mythology.

It has a gorgeous cover which may be half the reason I wanted to read it.

It was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Fantasy last year.

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The Reveal:

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Click the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page

Goodreads Synopsis

When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.

Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.

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Did that first line capture your attention? Did it make you want to read the rest of the story? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!