A Tag: Mid Year Book Freak Out

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

So I recently watched BooksandLala's video where she did the Mid Year Book Freak Out tag (originally made by IsThatChami and Earl Grey Books, both on YouTube) and the questions were really cool and definitely encapsulated my current thoughts about reading and books in general. Here goes nothing!!

1. BEST BOOK YOU'VE READ IN SO FAR 2018 

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. This was one of those books that I really thought I was going to hate, partly because I don't think it's blurbed particularly well (at least, not for my reading tastes). But I bought it because I love and trust John Green basically! It was exceptionally good - you can read my full review here.

2. BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2018

I don't read a lot of series. I think this is probably because my favourite genre by far is contemporary fiction, and there generally tends to be far less contemporary series than say, fantasy or dystopian. However, the sequels I've read and enjoyed the most this year (they got around 3.5-4 stars, so still not incredible ratings) would probably have to be The Elite and The One by Kiera Cass, books two and three in The Selection series. I did also give a similar rating to Jojo Moyes's Still Me.

3. NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO

I have heard the most FANTASTIC things about Ashley Herring Blake's Girl Made of Stars. I absolutely cannot wait to read it.

4. MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

There are SO many releases due in the second half of 2018 that I am extremely excited about and I really had to give this answer some serious thought, but I think, ultimately, I'm probably most excited for Adam Silvera & Becky Albertalli's joint YA novel, What If It's Us. Simon vs. the Homo Sapien's Agenda, History Is All You Left Me & They Both Die At The End were some of the best books I read in 2017 and I cannot wait to see the results of this collaboration. Adam and Becky, in my opinion, also write the BEST male POV's.

5. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Now, having just gushed about Becky Albertalli, I'm gonna have to say that Leah On the Offbeat was a bit of a bummer for me in the end. Initially I rated it four stars, then after a little thinking time I dropped it to 3.5 and now I think it sits somewhere between 3-3.5. I was also pretty disappointed with Alice Oseman's I Was Born For This, because her previous two YA novels were, like, completely sensational, five-star reads, and this was just a kind of "meh" three stars, sadly.

6. BIGGEST SURPRISE

As I said before, I was hugely surprised by how much I utterly adored Turtles All The Way Down, but for the sake of variety, I also want to mention Cecelia Ahern's Flawed. I thought I was so done with dystopian fiction (and I kinda-sorta am, still), plus I had seen some of my most trusted reviewers really bashing this book, but I just ended up being so entertained whilst reading it and just generally enjoying it a lot. I plan to continue the series, too!    

7. FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR (DEBUT, OR NEW TO YOU)

I have a feeling that Francesca Zappia may become one of my new favourite authors - her YA novel Eliza and her Monsters was my first five-star read of 2018, and probably my second favourite of 2018 so far, and I have her novel Made You Up just sitting, waiting to be read - I really hope it's just as amazing. I also discovered Nic Stone this year, through reading her novel Dear Martin - I cannot wait to read more of her stunning work.

8. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

I am usually the sort of reader to fall in love with characters. Absolutely. Buuuuuut, I have to admit, whilst going back through my read books of 2018, I couldn't think of a single one...yet!! 
    

9. NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

I think my favourite character of 2018 so far is probably a combination of Aza and Daisy from Turtles All the Way Down; Aza was so gorgeous and sympathetic and well-written and Daisy was just plain hilarious. I also totally adored Zorie and Lennon from Jenn Bennett's Starry Eyes.    

10. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

I read a LOT of upsetting stuff this year so far, because of my research for my dissertation (about rape  & rape culture) but I think the YA book, read in my spare time, that made me cry most was absolutely Sarah Crossan's Moonrise...I have not ugly-cried like that since reading John Green's The Fault in our Stars for the very first time.

11. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I feel like I've read more sad/serious books than I have happy ones so far in 2018 (which isn't surprising, I do tend to gravitate towards darker topics often I think) but the experience of reading the anthology Meet Cute was certainly a happy one!! The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love was my favourite story - so many smiles and swoony bits!

12. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT (OR RECEIVED) THIS YEAR

The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill is probably the most beautiful book of all time, period!! Some of her other front covers are kinda creepy/weird, which makes sense, given the topics of said books, but this...so gorgeous!!!    

13. WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

I know for sure I need to read Victoria Aveyard's War Storm, the big Red Queen finale - I am SO intrigued to see how it all ends!! I also really want to get to Kiera Cass's The Heir and The Crown - after enjoying books two and three so much, it feels only right that I finish off the series this year!

So those are the awesome questions - I'll definitely be making this a regular annual fixture on my blog, because I think it sums up that halfway-mood so well! I'd love anybody reading this to answer these questions, too, so tag, you're it!!

Till next time

Katie