A great hook is funny:
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Joost had two problems: the moon and his mustache.
We don't know why the moon is a problem but it's big, floats in the air, waxes and wanes, we could see why someone (particularly a werewolf) may have an issue with the moon. But a mustache? If his only problem was the mustcahe it wouldn't have been as funny, but the fact that he puts it right up there with the moon is funny, surprising and very intriguing. And like all good opening lines, it makes the reader want to read on.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World. I'm sixteen now, so you can imagine that's left me with quite a few days of major suckage.
This opening line is intriguingly hilarious. Right off the bat we know we're going to be reading about a very quirky character who has a lot of adventures.
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
They say death aims only once and never misses, but I doubt Ty Yorkshire thought it would strike with a scrubbing brush.
No, not many people do! Why this is so funny is because death is such a serious issue and scrubbing brushes are not! We also have many questions: Why did death attack Ty with a scrubbing brush? How many times? Did death succeed? Presumably not! But we have to read it to find out.
Silent in the grave by Deana Raybourn
To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.
We are very generous with the word 'hysterical'. Anything that makes us crack a smile is rewarded the term, but this line literally made me laugh out line when I first read it. The main character's tone of voice is very proper and serious, which is what makes the whole thing so hilarious. And naturally we are also intrigued—who is Nicholas Brisbane? Why is she meeting him over her husband's twitching body? Why is her husband about to die? What will the relationship be between her and Nicholas?
A great hook is ironic:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone by J.K. Rowling
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
By stating the pride the Dursley's take in being perfectly normal tells us right away how very un normal they are while hinting at far more abnormal (in their minds) things are to come.
The Dursley's are so proud of their normalness and spend most of their time trying to stay away from anything strange or mysterious. Unfortunately (and this is where the irony comes in!) having Harry Potter in their home (even if he mostly lives in a cupboard under the stairs) makes this quite an impossible feat. But still, the Dursley's fight the nonsense of magic until the bitter end! It's a losing battle against Harry though, isn't it?
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family.
The irony in the narrator's voice is just dripping. From the very first line we know we are about to uncover a lot of ugly secrets about the Sinclair family, who will very likely keep their polished smiles on throughout as they welcome us in.
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Hook Your Reader
Non-Fiction[ON HOLD] Nobody will ever know how incredible your book is if they don't read it. And for that you need a hook. A unique opening line that touches the core of the story, that temptingly hints to what they'll find inside, that compels your reader...
