The opening sentence....

" I struggle to my feet............ straighten my back, lift my chin, then...he hits me again"

The author stated that her idea for this book began in 2011 with a writing contest that had a cap of 1,500 words and an opening prompt of ......."I struggle to my feet..."

How powerful was that opening sentence? Did it whet your appetite to read on? Grab your attention? How did it follow through in the plot line as well as with the character of Sadie Blue?

I thought there was such an immediacy to this opening sentence! I was immediately pulled in to Sadie Blue's story and felt like I was rooting for her from the beginning. I also think one of the themes in this novel is of overcoming hardships - when I reread this opening sentence now I can see how Weiss was setting the stage for the rough lives of her characters. So it is both a compelling first line and a very suitable one.

The first sentence took us right into the book. We immediately wanted to know what was happening to Sadie Blue and why was she being so abused. The use of the word struggle is important because all of the characters we will meet in the novel are facing their own struggles. I think it was a great opening sentence.

With this, we immediately see not only the violence so present in Sadie's life but also are the sense of the strength that is being born within her young body.

Very powerful and compelling as an opening sentence, it immediately gets the reader involved in the character's story.

This book caught me right away with the opening sentence.

I was pulled in immediately by the opening sentence. I think it's one of the best opening sentences I've read. It's powerful & attention grabbing & empathy inducing.

The opening sentence is what grabbed me about the book. It’s a harbinger of the violence and suffering that follow. The book is full of negative emotions and difficulties. All of the characters lead troubled lives and suffer as a result.

The opening sentence drew me in. I wasn't all that interested in reading the book right now but once I read the first sentence I was hooked. I wanted to know more about Sadie. The book was filled with people's struggles and hardships, the first sentence could have gotten lost if placed anywhere else.

So... powerful and tragic and hopeful and intense and HARD!

The opening sentence did was supposed to do - it drew me in. Considering that it's said that the likes of Steven King spends an extraordinary amount of time crafting his opening sentences, it well serves all authors to do their best to craft their best opener.

The opening sentence caught my attention and I wanted to know the rest of the story.

The first sentence captured my attention because I could see that Sadie Blue had fight in her. She had dignity and resolve even though she knew he was going to punch her again. I wanted to learn more about the spirit of someone who had such strength.

Domestic violence is a major crime in our society. I knew that reading this story would not be pleasant, due to dealing with that abuse, but wanted to know how the story would play out and if the victim would end up the winner.