Welcome to another Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag 2023 edition! That's right, we're already here again; the year has flown by. This year I've already read 101 books so far, which means it was pretty tough to narrow down the choices for the questions (especially since I've had 25 five star reads this year). As with previous years, I will not be mentioning any re-reads here because they're generally books I've already enjoyed or talked about. Also, it's worth saying that I've generally picked more than one book per answer because it was too difficult to choose just one book. So, let's get on with the questions!
1. Best Book You've Read so Far in 2022?
Yellowface R.F. Kuang or Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I genuinely couldn't just pick one book for this.
Once again, Taylor Jenkins Reid has made me care so much for a fictional band and characters that never existed to the point where I wanted to look them up and start listening to their music (although thankfully it has a TV show so it's bit easier this time). I was worried at first that Daisy would end up being a manic pixie dream girl type character, but instead we see someone who is both truly, authentically herself, but also struggling with a severe drug addiction. The way the book handles drug addiction from two different perspectives is also beautifully handled and I thought it was so well done to see how Billy and Daisy responded to their situations. I loved the whole group and their dynamic; the tensions, the cameraderie, the undercurrent of everyone thinking something different about the exact same event. The female friendships in here were so well done too; there was so much power between them, even when they didn't agree about how to do something, there was no tearing each other down at all. An easy 5 star read. To see my full review on this - check out my May Wrap-Up.
And then we have Yellowface. Unlike Kuang's previous works, this is an adult contemporary/thriller following two authors: Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu. They were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song - complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. This book has left me speechless, to be honest. I read it in one sitting because I could. not. put. this. down. It's definitely not a thriller in the most conventional sense, but it's definitely filled with tension from start to finish. It was also incredibly different to her other fantasy books; she is clearly not limiting herself to one genre and we should all be thankful for that because her writing is amazing. Again, another very easy 5 star read. To see my full review on this, check out my June Wrap-Up later this week!
2. Best sequel you've read so far?
The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercombie
This was, thankfully, an easy one for me. I cannot believe how much I ended up loving the entire First Law trilogy; I didn't have particularly high expectations going in, but now Abercrombie is one of my favourite fantasy authors. I won't say too much about the plot of this book, but I will say that I loved the direction the story went. It was perfectly paced and not once did it feel like I needed more or less. In this trilogy we follow: Glokta, a cripple turned torturer; Jezal dan Luthar, a paragon of selfishness and solider-to-be who thinks of nothing more than winning glory in the fencing circle; and Logen Ninefingers, an infamous barbarian that has finally run out of luck. They were all incredibly fascinating characters and it's amazing to see how far they come by the final book. Easily a 5 star trilogy for me. If you want my full reviews for these books check them out in my wrap-ups or on my Reviews page.
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to?
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I'm sure everyone has heard of this book by now and it's certainly doing the rounds on TikTok and YouTube. But if you don't know, it's a fantasy romance centring around a dragon training school. While the romance part doesn't interest me as much, the dragon training school is something that immediately caught my attention. If you know me at all, you'll know I love books with dragons, schools, or competitions, and this sounds like it has all three. I've not heard a single bad word about the book yet so I'm excited to read it and see where I fall.
In this we follow twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail, who was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books. Now, the commanding general - aka her mother - has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But her body is smaller and brittle and dragons don't bond with "fragile" humans. They incinerate them. She'll need ever edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
I had to pick Sword Catcher for this one. I grew up as a teenager reading the Mortal Instruments as they came out and I used to love them. While I'm not as invested in the Shadowhunter world anymore, I do still find Cassandra Clare's writing addictive and interesting. And this is her first book that isn't connected to the Shadowhunter world. It's an adult fantasy set in the vibrant city-state of Castellane, where the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill. Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword-Catcher—the body-double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are close as brothers, but Kel knows he has one destiny: to die for Conor. No other future is possible. Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community who still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls in the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend Mariam without access to forbidden knowledge.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. It sounds very interesting to me and I'm really intrigued to see if I'll enjoy this as much as her other books.
5. Biggest disappointment?
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
Sadly, I've read a lot of 1-2 star reads this years, so I have quite a few choices for this. I've listed a few here and I'll just give a quick rundown of why I found them disappointing. It's worth saying that just because I found it disappointing, it doesn't always mean I found it bad, just that I expected more of it.
So, the one I didn't like was The House Across the Lake. Okay, where to start with this one? The first thing I'll say is that I like Sager's writing a lot; I've loved two of his other books. I also liked the isolated lake setting and the descriptions of the area. However, that's probably the only good thing I do have to say. The majority of the plot in this one was quite boring; it was just a lot of Casey sitting, drinking, spying (very Woman in the Window vibes), and not really anything else. Casey herself is quite an unlikable, but equally boring character, and her unreliable narration wasn't really handled in the best way (especially because it linked to one of the major plot points of the book that I guessed quite early on). However, the thing that really dragged this book down for me was the supernatural aspect. One of the most interesting parts of reading a thriller is the guessing as a reader, but can you really guess literally anything if something supernatural comes in out of nowhere? It completely changed the genre of the book and it absolutely isn't what I read Sager's books for.
Next up we have The Starless Sea and Five Survive. These 100% weren't bad books, but they just weren't for me. Let's start with the controversial one: The Starless Sea. Let's start with what I liked. I loved the discussion of story and especially how they relate to video games. As someone who works in the video games industry, it was really fascinating to see someone studying that in a book. Morgenstern is also a beautiful writer; there were so many individual lines that will stick with me because of how well they were written. Honestly though, I was more interested in the book within the book and those stories, rather than the main plot with Zachary. When we get to Katrina's point of view, I found it the most compelling part of the whole book; I kind of wish the whole book had been about her looking for Zachary. I will say that the start of the book was a bit of a struggle for me. I couldn't quite keep all the characters aligned whilst also trying to figure out how the short stories connected to the main plot. Sometimes it felt like entire scenes were missing, and there was so much abstract description that I really struggled to picture anything, despite the beautiful writing. The vague, speculative magic just wasn't for me either unfortunately. I would say that if you enjoy lyrical, magical writing and speculative fantasy/fiction, then definitely give this a try. Sadly, it just wasn't for me.
Aaand Five Survive: The premise of this is great: eight hours, six friends, one sniper. I liked the build of tension and how quick to read this was. I also really liked Red as a character and her jumping thoughts. However, this definitely requires you to suspend your disbelief a lot and , if you're able tog et past that, we also then have a group of friends that we don't really get to know well enough to care too much about the reveals. I spent the entire book just despising Oliver. He is the worst human being I've ever had the misfortune to read about with not one likeable quality. We also don't get to see enough of him beforehand which means I'm sat wondering why this group of people ever made friends with him/dated him to being with? Because of my focus on Oliver, I kind of cared less about the actual whodunnit. And once we found out what the situation was, I was kind of disappointed by it. Even Oliver's secret was kind of more interesting. It's a trope I don't like in many books for one thing and it all felt either unrealistic or plain weird. The romance was also very wedged in once the situation was revealed and didn't feel necessary. I did like that it tied multiple mysteries together at the end and I also loved that certain characters got their comeuppance too. Overall, this was a fine YA thriller. I think if it's one of your first thrillers, you'll probably enjoy it more.
6. Biggest surprise?
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig or Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman
Again, a couple of answers for this one. The Midnight Library was a huge surprise for me because, although I love Haig's non-fiction, I've always found his fiction to be so-so for me. But this was just so poignant and beautifully written. It very much has a mixture of A Wonderful Life mixed with The Butterfly Effect. I love seeing the What Ifs of parallel universes and this book truly delivered on that front. We first see Nora in the life she's struggling with, and then we get to see the infinite possibilities of the ways her life could have gone. Not only that, but we get to see her discover new things about herself and her life that she was never able to see previously. I feel like this is such a short book that I don't want to talk much about what the various worlds were, but I will say that I'm glad we got to see the multiple extreme possibilities for Nora. The dive into depression, addiction, and anxiety is incredibly well done, and Nora becomes such a relatable character. While the ending wasn't at all surprising, it was heartwarming and everything that I wanted it to be. I highly recommend this to anyone that needs an uplifting book, but I'd definitely read the trigger warnings before you go into it.
And Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, although I'd heard good things about it, I didn't have high expectations for this fantasy middle-grade because I'm not a huge fan of unicorns; however, this blew me away. Instead of pink rainbow unicorns, we get bloodthirsty creatures that wield elemental magic - yes! I love elemental magic and this book uses it perfectly. I liked that the power of the magic came with the bond to the unicorns too, and it was dependant on their control of their unicorn. This really mixed some of the best elements of Eragon + magic school and it worked so well for me. The world was cleverly created; it was great seeing it set in the UK, but also within a fantasy setting. The school is amazing and my only gripe was that I wanted to see more of it. It made me wish Skandar had an easier time in the school so we as the reader could enjoy it more with him. The descriptions were beautiful and I felt like I could picture everything. I will say that Skandar's decisions weren't always the best, but I love his three friends and I feel like they kept him grounded (no pun intended!). Mitchell, Bobby, and Flo were so sweet and the way their relationships grow and thrive throughout the book is great to see. Skandar's relationship to his sister was one of the most heartwarming sibling dynamics I've seen in a middle-grade and it made my heart happy. I also didn't really see the twist coming at the end, and it's definitely a story I want to continue. Sure, it had a lot of tropes, but I feel like they worked well together and made me really enjoy the story.
7. Favourite new author? (Debut or new to you)
Jenn Lyons
For this, I would have to say Jenn Lyons (I would say Joe Abercrombie, but I don't want to repeat answers if I can avoid it!). Lyons wrote A Chorus of Dragons; a five book series which I am 1.5 books into and really loving. Her writing is humorous and the worldbuilding and characters are incredible.
8. Newest favourite character?
I didn't want to repeat books in my answers but I definitely have to repeat them here because Glokta from the First Law trilogy is definitely one of my new favourite characters. He is morally grey to the extreme and I always weirdly wanted to root for him, even when he was doing terrible things.
9. A book that made you cry?
Trial by Fire by Scott James
It's always the non-fictions that make me cry. I decided to pick up this True Crime book after seeing it on Books of Amber's channel. This book follows the tragedy of the Station Nightclub fire that happened in 2003. In only 90 seconds, a fire in the Station nightclub killed 100 people and injured hundreds more. It would take nearly 20 years to find out why and who was really at fault. In this book Scott James investigates all the central figures, including the band's manager and lead singer, the fire inspector, the maker of the acoustical foam, as well as the brothers. Drawing on firsthand accounts, interviews with many involved, and court documents, James explores the rush to judgement about what happened that left the victims and their families, whose stories he also tells, desperate for justice.
As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult read and heartbreaking read. However, James covers the story so well and with a lot of compassion. He also delves into every area of the story, revealing things that were previously unknown and shed more light on who was responsible. I will warn that this book talks in great detail about the fire, the injuries, and the deaths that occurred, so if you don't feel like you can read that, then maybe skip this book. It also references a video that was taken at the time of the fire, which is still viewable on YouTube; the video is graphic and I recommend viewing with caution. Overall, this book was incredibly well researched and written, but it was also a very difficult read and it's haunted me to this day.
10. A book that made you happy?
Orange by Ichigo Takano
I've been hearing about this YA sci-fi/contemporary manga for years now and I thought it was about time that I finally picked it up. On the day that Naho begins 11th grade, she receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. At first, she writes it off as a prank, but as the letter’s predictions come true one by one, Naho realizes that the letter might be the real deal. Her future self tells Naho that a new transfer student, a boy named Kakeru, will soon join her class. The letter begs Naho to watch over him, saying that only Naho can save Kakeru from a terrible future. Who is this mystery boy, and can Naho save him from his destiny?
Let's start with the premise. I love the idea of changing the past to affect the future in media, so this book is right up my street and it's fascinating seeing how the future is obviously changing as the book moves along. The main thing I want to talk about though is this group of friends. They are the most incredible group of friends I have ever read about; not only are their dynamics realistic and funny, they are so kind to one another and seeing them all stick up for each other was heartwarming. I love that they pull Kakeru into the group and he fits in seemlessly with them. I also loved the dynamics between Naho and the other girls in the group; they stick up for her all the time. Naho is such a sweet person too. She cares about everyone around her so much. My only frustration is when she still refused to do what the letter said sometimes, even though she knew it would help. I do get it though, she's 16 after all. Suwa is probably the most kind and incredible person in this manga. The fact that his future self once to change what happened despite what he has is unbelievably selfless.
This book deals with a lot of heavy topics including suicide and the death of a parent; however, it also handles these difficult topics so well. Kakeru's struggles are clearly so huge and it's so lovely to see this group of friends rally around him to help. This is a very character-focused story and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a contemporary manga with a twist. It's heartwarming, will probably make you cry, and will definitely make you want to pick up the next volume.
11. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year?
This is book to TV Show but I'll definitely say Daisy Jones and the Six. The TV show was incredibly well done, despite the changes made, and I loved hearing the music!
12. Favourite review you've written this year
I don't really feel like I have a favourite review, but I have written a review of every book I've read so far this year, so I'm happy with that!
13. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)
Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
Age of Myth inaugurates another six-book series set in Elan. Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever. Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.
The plot sounds super interesting and the cover is gorgeous, in my opinion, so I'm looking forward to reading this.
14. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
As always, there are so many books I need to read by the end of the year. I've chosen five that are my highest priority because I've had them on my TBR for a while now:
So that was the Mid-Year Book Freakout tag! There are obviously tons of other books that I've loved this year, but I can't list them all here. If you want more of my thoughts on any of the books I've read this year, then check-out my wrap-ups or my Reviews page where you can find the full reviews! Let me know if you've read any of these (especially the ones I still need to read) and if I should prioritise any of them. Also, if you've done this tag, link it below and I'll check it out.
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