After our anticipated releases post last Wednesday I realised I had some eARC’s that were featured in our list. So I decided to take a look at the first sentence of them and wanted to share the start of I Kissed Shara Wheeler with you all today.

This meme was created by Rose City Reader. The idea is to post the first sentence or so of the book you’re currently reading. After that you talk about your initial thoughts about the sentence, book or anything to do with that.

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stopand Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need…

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

HOURS SINCE SHARA WHEELER LEFT: 12
DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION: 42

Chloe Green is going to put her fist through a window.

This book did not start the way I was expecting it to start! I love the little countdown at the start of the chapter. It’s the little things that count and it’s just something that makes me really happy. I also immediately read the first two chapters because the writing was really addictive. Admittedly I was a bit scared for this to be another Paper Towns but after the first two chapters I have higher hopes. Like I said, the writing is addictive and I like our MC.

Sometimes you’re in a mood for a YA contemporary and this will be the first one I’ll read for sure. I might even continue reading it right away as it started off really strong. And since there is a little bit of a mystery element, it’s already more my kind of book than other contemporaries.

What do you think of the first sentence(s)? Did they grab you? Or would you pass based on this start? I would love to hear from you in the comments!