In 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', 'I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.' This line is quite effective as it sets up a contrast between the ordinary and the extraordinary. It makes the reader anticipate the extraordinary things that are going to be described in the story.
Take 'The Fault in Our Stars'. 'Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.' This longish opening line gives a really detailed picture of the main character's state of mind and situation. It makes the reader instantly feel like they know a lot about her and want to know more about how she got to this point and where she'll go from here.
Well, 'Divergent' has a great start. 'There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs.' This simple statement creates a sense of mystery about the setting and the world Tris lives in. It makes you wonder why there's only one mirror and what significance it might have.
In 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins, the line 'When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.' is great. It's simple yet it creates a sense of unease and makes you wonder about the character's situation and the world they live in. It draws you in right away as you start to question why the bed is cold and what might be wrong.
One great opening line is from 'The Hunger Games' - 'When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.' It immediately sets a mood of unease and draws you into Katniss's world. It makes you wonder why the bed is cold and what's going to happen next.
Often, great opening lines in YA novels introduce a unique concept or situation. Consider 'I'm a walker, a last - chance insurance policy against the monsters that infest our world.' This kind of line not only makes you wonder what a 'walker' is and what these monsters are, but it also gives a sense of the character having a special role or power. It makes the reader eager to explore more about this world and the character's place in it.
One more notable opening line could be 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' from 'The Great Gatsby'. This line makes the reader curious about what that advice was and why it has been on the narrator's mind for so long. It gives a sense of a story that has been brewing in the narrator's head for a while.
One of the best is 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' from George Orwell's '1984'. It immediately sets an off - kilter, dystopian mood.
The opening line 'Call me Ishmael.' from 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville is also well - known. It's a simple yet powerful way to introduce the narrator, making the reader curious about who Ishmael is and what his story will be.
A great opening line is 'All children, except one, grow up.' from J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'. This line is simple yet very effective. It makes the reader wonder about that one special child and why they don't grow up like the others. It also gives a sense of mystery and the promise of an adventure.
One of the well - known opening lines is 'Call me Ishmael' from 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville. This simple yet powerful line gives the character a voice right from the start. It's like an invitation for the reader to follow Ishmael's story. It's also a bit mysterious as we don't know much about Ishmael yet, but we are intrigued to find out more about him and his adventures.
They can also set the tone. In '1984' with 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' This opening creates an immediate sense of unease. The abnormal 'clocks were striking thirteen' gives a feeling that this is a world that is different and perhaps dystopian. It's a very effective way to start a story that is about a totalitarian regime.
The opening line 'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice' from 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'. This complex line jumps through time, giving a sense of the non - linear nature of the story. It also creates an air of mystery and doom, as we start with the character facing a firing squad and then go back in time. It's a very effective way to start a novel that is full of magic realism.