The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag

So, half of the year is over, and I think this gif easily explains my feelings: 

I’ve been failing on everything reading so far. I haven’t finished one series, and I’m not anywhere close to reading 200 books (I’m pretty sure I’m going to shorten it to 100 this year), and whatever other goals I had, I probably am not close to accomplishing as well. So, yeah. 2017 has been a pretty rough year for reading. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be doing this tag, though!

I was tagged by Marija over at Inside My Library Mind – you can check out her post here! I was going to do this one anyway, whether I was tagged or not, so let’s get right to it!

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2017?

Aw, that’s cute, you thought I’d be choosing one book. Let it be learned that I cheat on tags. Like, all the time.

At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson – This is the first book of his I’ve read, AND I NEED TO READ ALL OF THEM. The perfect blend of contemporary and a little bit of magical realism and science fiction. Also, was that the best or worst ending I’ve ever experienced? I still don’t know.

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel – SO DARK. SO TWISTED. SO AWFUL. But it was oh so good. This was one of the best thrillers and books featuring a small town that I’ve read so far. I only hope that Engel continues to write more thrillers in the future.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – BECAUSE DUH. But it was also extremely relatable, an overall powerful book, and Starr is a character that will always manage to stay in my heart.

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera – THE MAN IS A GENIUS. Once again, I read this book in a day (during a SCHOOL DAY, no less), and was on a rollercoaster of so many emotions. It was just a beautiful, raw story.

Final Girls by Riley Sager – I’VE BEEN WAITING 84 YEARS TO RAVE ABOUT THIS BOOK. This was actually the first ever e-ARC I received from Netgalley, and one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I’d like to thank the publicists I talked to who were kind enough to give me a copy even though I literally had, like, twenty blog followers. But, seriously, this book was fantastic, tense, addicting, and had such an incredible plot twist. I loved it.

2. Best Sequel of 2017 So Far?

Okay, admittedly, I haven’t read many sequels so far this year (I say as I anxiously look at my half-read copies of A Conjuring of Light and A Court of Wings and Ruin), but I read Gemina at the beginning of the year, and even if I had read a lot of them, it’d still take the cake. It dealt with the coolest sci-fi concept, and, personally, I thought it was better than the first book. I can’t believe we have to wait SO LONG for Obsidio.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?

A LOT OF THEM. I’m not even going to bother to answer this question because I have failed on every level to read any of my most anticipated releases. I’M SORRY.

4. Most Anticipated Release of the Second Half of 2017?

After getting so many amazing ARCs of pretty much all of the books I’m anticipating for the second half of 2017, it’s really hard to choose just one, but if I had to, it’d be They Both Die At the End. I’m a masochist, and I enjoy getting my heart crushed by Adam Silvera twice in less than a year.

UPDATE: I have read this book, and it has crushed me; 10 out of 10; would like to feel all those emotions again.

5. Biggest Disappointment?

Ugh, it’s terrible that I had so much to choose from. I’VE BARELY READ ANYTHING THIS YEAR, PEOPLE.

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle – This one ended up just being pretty boring and nothing like I’d expected. Also, it was annoyingly racist in some parts. So, there was that.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich – Ugh, it sucks to say this about one of my most hyped and anticipated releases of the year, but this one ended up just being meh. Not enough of the romance I was hoping for, the premise definitely didn’t reach its full potential, and the ending was sloppy and didn’t make sense. I saw his second book had been bought, though, and I’m still definitely going to read it, damn it!

Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen – Another thriller with an awesome premise that totally fell on its face. Some parts just didn’t make sense at all, and the ending just had too much going on that I couldn’t keep up.

Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger – Yeah, this was a big pile of nope. Eric, one of the main characters, was a douchebag, the romance was so insta-lovey, I just couldn’t deal with it, and it was just plain unrealistic, especially when it came to the needlessly complicated ending. Not impressed.

Frostblood by Elly Blake – Another book I was really hoping I’d like, but this managed to just be pretty much every fantasy book that has ever come out in the last couple of years combined. Nothing really original about it, and it was super boring to boot.

6. Biggest Surprise?

Frost by M.P. Kozlowsky – I really didn’t expect much from this book, but I ended up really enjoying it and finding it entertaining. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I really liked it!

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough – THAT ENDING THOUGH. Not to mention that the entire novel was just completely fascinating filled with characters I hated and so many twists and turns. I had so much fun reading it.

Boy Robot by Simon Curtis – I ended up reading this entire book in a day, completely glued to the pages. I loved the characters, felt all the feelings, and it ended on such a cliffhanger! I demand all the sequels, like, right now.

My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry – When I started this one, I didn’t really know how I’d feel about it, but I really ended up loving it! It definitely had an interesting story-telling style that I enjoyed, and I just couldn’t tell where the book would go next, up until the very end. And this one also had characters that were super fun to hate.

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs – Such a brilliant, addicting sci-fi that delivered so well on its concept and had a completely mind-blowing ending that I really enjoyed. Can I have the sequel now, please?

7. Favorite New Author (Debut or New to You)?

For debut, it’s definitely Angie Thomas. The Hate U Give was absolutely brilliant, and I can’t wait to read another book from her! And for new to me, it’d be Shaun David Hutchinson. I will read the rest of his books, damn it!

8. Newest Fictional Crush?

Bring me August from This Savage Song and Nik from Gemina to life, and I will be a very satisfied girl.

9. Newest Favorite Character?

Starr from The Hate U Give because she was just so damn relatable and wonderful. Cassian from the A Court of Thorns and Roses Series because he is sweet and funny and tragic, and I don’t remember being so in love with him in the second book (but this could also go for Mor, Azriel, Amren, and Lucien, because Sarah’s characters give me life)? And Ella from Gemina, because she is one badass fifteen-year-old girl.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

 The closest to making me cry was History Is All You Left Me during the eulogy scene. TEARS IN MY EYES. Oh, and They Both Die At The End made me cry for real. ARE YOU PROUD, ADAM SILVERA? ARE YOU PROUD?

11. Book That Made You Happy?

“But, Mikaela, didn’t you say that you still haven’t finished this book?” YES, YES I DID. But what I’ve read from it has made me smile so much. I just can’t help but feel happy whenever I read a Maas book. They never fail to brighten my day. Also, Genuine Fraud because I’VE FOUND A GOOD YA THRILLER. PRAISE BE THE GODS.

12. Favorite Book-to-Movie Adaptation You’ve Seen This Year?

“But, Mikaela, this isn’t a book-to-movie adaptation.” First off, IT TOTALLY COUNTS. I’m sure there are X-Men or Wolverine comics out there somewhere, and the movie takes place in that universe, so there. And, second, because I’ve watched Logan THREE TIMES already, and it’s still one of my favorite movies of ever and I love it and it gives me life. Like, I hadn’t even watched any Wolverine or X-Men movies before this, and I still loved it (but I did watch the other Wolverine movies after it. Not as great, but entertaining, and the Wolverine is now one of my favorite superheroes, so yeah). If you haven’t watched it, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WATCH IT.

And, okay, if you want a legit answer, then 13 Reasons Why. Even though it’s a TV show adaptation. And I haven’t read the book. But who cares because I loved it. GIVE ME SEASON TWO, PLEASE.

Oh, and I watched Brokeback Mountain yesterday. And it was actually a novella before it became a movie. So, I guess it counts. That movie was an emotional roller coaster, and I was definitely not crying at the end (okay, I was; I’m weak).

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?

Even though I don’t like writing reviews, I will say, my one-star reviews of Frostblood and Follow Me Back were fun to write (and surprisingly, two of the more popular reviews I posted). For something on a more positive side, my review of Follow Me Down was great as well because I got the opportunity to interview the author, Sherri Smith, who was so sweet and so amazing! That was my first author interview, and I hope to do more in the future!

14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought or Received So Far This Year?

I haven’t bought or received too many books this year, so I’m just going to include some pictures of some 2017 releases with stunning covers!

15. What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?

SO MANY. Definitely A Conjuring of Light and A Court of Wings and Ruin because I refuse to go into next year with half-finished finales (I already have too many unfinished books on my plate). And, also, pretty much my rest of my Bookcon haul, which I’m very excited to dive into!

And that’s it for the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag! 

Hopefully you enjoyed that and you’re doing ten times better at your reading goals for this year than I am! Please don’t follow my terrible example of “blogging so much, you forget what even is reading.”

Also, I don’t specifically tag people to tags, I just let anyone who’s read it be tagged! So if you haven’t done it yet, and you’re reading this, you’re tagged! But I’m late, so you’ve probably done it already.

Do you agree with any of my answers? What have been your favorite and least favorite reads of 2017? How has your reading gone this year? 

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