Mid Year Freak Out Tag

“Dima heard the barn doors slam before anyone else did.”

First line in King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Hi, fellow readers. It’s June. It’s summer (although I live in Denmark so not really). It’s time for the popular tag: Mid Year Freak Out Tag. I’ve never done it myself before, so it should be exciting.

I’ve read 30 books so far this year and my Goodreads goal is 55 so it’s going great. 30 books for 15 questions means there are some books I mention twice but I really tried to pick different answers. Here is a list of a few stats to give you an impression of how I’ve been liking the books I’ve been reading:

• Four 5-star books (although two of those were rereads)
• One 1-star rating. The book was Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart.
• My most popular rating was 4 stars (12 books).

That’s it for the stats. Hope you enjoy the tag.

Best book you’ve read so far in 2019

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m really trying to do a post without mentioning this book but what can I do. It’s the best book! It’s a character-driven story that takes place over a period of about 30 years. I loved seeing how the characters developed over such a long time and then it’s just a book that hits you right in the feels.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019

I’ve read quite a lot of sequels, so this question was almost impossible to answer but I’m going with Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. This sequel is the reason I consider the series to be one of my all-time favorites.

New release you haven’t read yet but want to

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. So much hype is going around this book, but I believe it’s genuine and it sounds awesome. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping my library will get it soon. Otherwise I’ll have to buy because I must read it.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I need to mention two here. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (September 24^th) and Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (November 5^th). My expectations for these sequels are way too high but I need them right now. 

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Biggest disappointment

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. This was the book that was supposed to be similar to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo but it was so far from being that. A critique I often see of this book is that it’s confusing which I 100% agree with. I had no idea what was going on. Also, so many inventions that didn’t make sense but seemed to exist purely because the characters needed an invention like that. The book had potential but didn’t live up to it.

Biggest surprise

I didn’t have an obvious choice here, so I went with Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare. I started reading her books back when The Mortal Instruments was published, and I just can’t stop. I don’t enjoy them as much anymore, but I need to know what happens to the characters. I ended up flying through Queen of Air and Darkness mainly because I really liked all the side-characters. Now I’m almost excited for her next series.

New favorite author (debut or new to you)

There was a contest here. Neal Schusterman won. I’ve read both Scythe and Thunderhead by him this year and I found that I really find his writing style captivating. I’ve decided that I need to read more of his books. If anyone knows where to start, please let me know in the comments.   

Newest fictional crush

Do I have one? Maybe Nikolai Lantsov from the Grisha Verse by Leigh Bardugo because who doesn’t have a crush on him.

Newest favorite character

Locke Lamora from Gentleman Bastard by Scott Lynch. I’ve read the first two books in the series this year, and Locke is just a cool character. He might sound like a stereotypical character that you’ve read about so many times before: thief, bold, smart, sort-of-bad-guy-but-we-love-him type. Lynch has just managed to make him so layered and charismatic that I can’t help but find him fascinating.

Book that made you cry

I’m sorry but the only book that made cry these past six months was A Little Life. It’s the saddest book I’ve ever read.

Book that made you happy

Not quite sure about this one. I haven’t really been reading any “happy books” this year. The closest to it would be Radio Silence by Alice Oseman because it had a sort of feel-good vibe to it that I enjoyed. It put a smile of my face at least.

Favorite book to film adaption you saw this year

How am I supposed to remember this? I saw a Danish adaption of a childhood favorite of mine, The Shamer’s Daughter, but that was truly horrible. I’m going to go favorite book to TV adaption instead and say The Magicians by Lev Grossman. A situation where I actually prefer the TV show because the two are very different and I didn’t care so much for the books.

Favorite review you’ve written this year

As this is a new blog, I’ve only managed to do two reviews at this point. My favorite of those is probably my review for The Binding by Bridget Collins because I felt I had a lot to say about that book.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year (or received)

I bought the collector’s edition of Six of Crows and that is just beautiful inside and out. It even has these cool illustrations of the characters at the back.

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What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I’ve started The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski this month, and I would like to finish all seven books before the TV show starts. That’s highly unlikely so I’ll be happy if I just manage to read two more, but we’ll see how it goes.

A lot of answers about my reading these past six months. I hope you were inspired to read some of the books I liked. If you’ve already read them, tell what you thought of them.

Happy reading,

Line