Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag

After watching and reading a lot of these, I’ve decided to do the mid-year freak out book tag. This tag was originally created by Chami. I wasn’t tagged by anyone but that’s ok! Here it goes anyway…

I’ve read 64 books so far in 2021, a great start for my goal of 100 books for the year.

1 – Best Book You’ve Read so Far in 2021

This was really hard but I decided to go with Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This was my second read of 2021 and one of my only 5-star fantasy reads of 2021. I love fantasy and just haven’t been having good luck with new ones in 2021. I loved this one and it’s totally unfair that I have to wait until 2022 for the second book. Full Goodreads review is here.

2 – Best Sequel You’ve Read so Far in 2021

I admit it, I love ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses). I was so excited for A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas and it didn’t disappoint. It was all of the fairy smut I wanted and this time following Nesta and Cassian. Oh, it was a weekend well spent cuddled up with this one.

3 – New Release You Haven’t Read Yet but Want to

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I have three new releases sitting on my shelf to be read in the next couple of weeks. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a very anticipated release of mine after loving Evelyn Hugo although I admit, I’m a little scared after the initial reviews I’ve read and I didn’t love Daisy Jones. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston sounds adorable. My library hold came in too late for pride month but will be reading it in July. Lastly, The Soulmate Equation by Stephanie Laurens is only #2 on my TBR. I have heard great things and have really enjoyed their books in the past.

4 – Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune sounds delightful and I’m so excited. September is too far away!

5 – Biggest Disappointment

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I couldn’t pick between these two. Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas is the third book of the Throne of Glass series. I loved the first book, I really liked the second book, and then I nearly DNF’d the third book. It was a nearly 600 page training montage that made me want to scream and throw the book across the room. I was so excited and this was so terrible. I trusted the book community and continued and the series did get better but this series is really uneven for me, I’ll finish it but definitely nowhere near as good as ACOTAR so really glad I read that first or I may never have picked it up. I think my 50% update on Goodreads really sums it up: “I am so bored. This is really a terrible book and nothing is happening, it’s like an intermission turned into 247 pages and maybe twice that if something doesn’t happen soon. I don’t want to read it, but I loved the first two books in the series and everyone says the next one is the best and this one is the worst. I will finish but I plan to complain about it a lot.”

Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S Bryce was really a case of having too high expectations. People compared it to Evelyn Hugo, the blurb sounded awesome…..I was SOOO bored. I was totally and completely ready to name this book a new favorite and best of the year, it was a horrible disappointment and I knew it after under 100 pages, it was totally not worth the initial hype. It wasn’t terrible, I gave it 3 stars as a solid debit but oh man, not at all what I expected. Full review is on Goodreads.

6 – Biggest Surprise

I decided to trust booktube and read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo despite my dislike of poetry. It totally blew me away, one of the easiest 5-star ratings I’ve given. It was wonderful and I’d highly recommend it to anyone with a slightly open mind about reading a novel in verse.

7 – Favorite New Author

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Not a totally new author but I read The House in the Cerulean Sea in 2020 and then the two Extraordinaries books in 2021 plus a reread of Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune is amazing. His books make me happy, his characters are amazing, his books are about hard topics without you even realizing it. I’ve read three and plan to go back and read everything he’s ever written in addition to whatever he writes in the future.

8 – Newest Fictional Crush

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I’m going to cheat a little on this and go with a 2021 reread that I originally read in 2020. I don’t normally get crushes on fictional characters but Paul Markov from the Firebird trilogy by Claudia Gray, I just love him. He’s sweet and nerdy and oh so wonderful. I love so many of the different Pauls from this series but real Paul and Lt. Markov have my heart.

9 – Newest Favorite Character

I love Felix Love from Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. He’s strong, vulnerable, loving, kind, artistic, just overall wonderful. I loved reading about his journey and have found myself thinking about him frequently ever since.

10 – Book That Made You Cry

I haven’t cried much in 2021 but The Momentous Expiration of Tremmy Sinclair by Michael F. Stewart totally snuck up on me and I ended up getting teary over Tremmy. Full review on Goodreads.

11 – Book That Made You Happy

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If we’re counting rereads, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune left me with a big smile on my face for the second time. For new books. If the Shoe Fits by Julia Murphy was a delight and left me smiling ear to ear. This one will be published in August and is an adorable Cinderella retelling, see full review on Goodreads.

12 – Most Beautiful Book Bought This Year

I don’t buy books, I’m a dedicated library user. So I went with most beautiful book I’ve read so far this year. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta is gorgeous. The picture, the gold foiling, it’s beautiful and I loved the story so even better. My full review is here.

13 – What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?

I don’t like to think of “needing” to read anything, I read what I want and I read for fun. I guess I need to read my remaining NetGalley ARCs and there are some books I really want to read but that’s it. Reading is supposed to be fun and I like to keep it that way. I am trying to continue/finish some series so I guess I’ll go with that:

• The Block (Loop trilogy #2) – Ben Oliver
• Obsidio (Illimunae Files #3) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Thunderhead and The Toll (Arc of the Scythe #2 and #3) – Neal Shusterman
• Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #6 and #7) – Sarah J. Maas