Books I’ve loved this year and other things I liked! // Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2.0 – 2017 Edition

Thought of the day: We’re halfway through the year, HOW???

I can’t be the only one who thinks someone fast-forwarded through this year? If someone did can I ask them to fast forward to future book release days thanks.

Sooooo we’re now at the end of June, halfway through the year, and I thought it would be fitting to do the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag! I did one for last year I think? I wasn’t tagged by anyone this time but psh, rebel here.

Oh and I’m also going to be linking up with this week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt for “Best Books You’ve Read in 2017 So Far”!

LET’S DO THIS.

Best book(s) I’ve read so far in 2017

*Brb, gotta go check my Goodreads reading challenge tracker.*

BACK! I’ve read 35 books so far this year which is decent considering my months of slumps and work! I’m hoping to get more reading done over July and August though. Here are some of my favourites (that you MUST READ IMMEDIATELY obviously):

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis (4.5 stars): This was my first read of 2017! And it did not disappoint at all, it was such a hard read at times but it was so worth it. Trigger warning for rape though!

Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown (5 stars): Ahhh SO GOOD. This was like a sci-fi/fantasy and half dystopian all in once? Usually something like that becomes a mess of an identity crisis but it was actually so amazing and I loved it so much. ❤

The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski (5 stars): The finale to the Winner’s Curse series was SO GREAT! I’m so happy with how it ended, it was action-y and although I think the second book was my favourite, this is a really great end. ❤

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (5 stars): Adam Silvera is one of my favourite authors ever!! And this book, was nothing less than what I’d expected. It’s emotional, it’s messy as hell (seriously these characters are FLAWED to the max haha) but that’s a form of life, isn’t it?

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (5 stars): CAN WE JUST. SQUEAL. OVER. THIS. MASTERPIECE. Absolute perfection and everything I wanted and moreeeeee. ❤ My precioussss children omg.

A List of Cages by Robin Roe (5 stars): Ahhh I almost forgot how much I loved this book!! (I have horrible memory remember) But it is amazing, SO HEARTBREAKING and emotional but so utterly perfect. It does heavily feature child abuse, but there’s also a focus on friendship and has a sort of brotherly relationship between Adam and Julian and AGH. Read it. Just read it. I have no other words.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh (5 stars): This is marketed as a retelling of Mulan, which is what initially drew me to the book apart from the author, and although it’s not really a retelling, just inspired and similar in the girl-disguises-as-boy element, it was still such an incredible read! I loved Mariko, the action, reading about the Black Clan, I can’t wait for the sequel!! (A YEAR GOSH.)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (5 stars): Readitreaditreaditreaditreadit!!! You MUST have heard of this one, it’s been everywhere and my praises are endless! SUCH a phenomenal read and so heartbreaking but also so full of hope and an amazing representation of the Black Lives Matter movement occuring today. Starr, her family, everyone is just so dear to my heart.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (5 stars): Becky Albertalli is one of the best authors ever??! #fact I ADORED Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda when I read it last year, and this book was no exception! I will say I liked Simon a bit more, but The Upside was still such a lovely and adorable read!! I could relate to Molly so much and I LOVED the diversity. ❤

Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (4.5 stars): Eeeee such an incredibly heartbreaking but honest portrayal of mental illness and trauma! I felt SO BAD for the main character (Cassie was her name I think? Hi, I’m a goldfish.) and aghhhh. So much emotion and I thought it would be a cute read? I mean just look at the cover. BUT NO.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (5 stars): SO SO CUTE I love Peter and Lara Jean so much omg *cries* This finale was unexpected but so so perfect. Also more baking!! And it gave me an excuse to reread the first two which were PERFECTION (though I prefer the first book the best I think).

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (4.5 stars): I finally read it!! (Do I get a prize? No? How disappointing.) It was such an amazing finale as well, the first part of it kind of dragged for some reason but the ending was sooooo full of action I loved it!! All my precious children so fabulous! I also got the chance to reread ACOMAF which I think is my favourite of the series, but either way. ❤

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (5 stars, reread): Okay, fine this is a reread but I’m making an exception! It was utter perfection and I remembered how much I loved August, poor soul. I need to read Our Dark Duet though??! I read this like a week ago, I should be onto ODD by now, but no?? Idek why, I have the book! So…

Geekerella by Ashley Poston (4/4.5 stars): Ahhhh I am now convinced fangirl/geeky books are the best things ever and I am utterly in love!! This is a geeky retelling of Cinderella (in case you couldn’t tell lol) and it features the most amazing characters (though the side characters are kind of complete caricatures, but aside from that) and it’s basically a fangirl/fanboy appreciate book?? So YAS.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson (4/4.5 stars): I finally read it! And I am now a complete Morgan Matson fan. ❤ I did love The Unexpected Everything, but I forgot how much fun it was. This one was so sweet and so much fun as well and someone just give me all her books? I need to read them all now.

How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake (5 stars): Read this!!! SO important, oh my gosh. Ft. Bisexual main character (who’s comfortable with her sexuality!!) and a biracial female love interest, but more than that, an utterly heartbreaking (and unhealthy) mother-daughter relationship. GAH. I HAD TOO MANY FEELINGS.

OH and a couple others that I didn’t get to add to the gallery include If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (ft. transgender rep <3) and Tiny Pretty Things by Sana Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton (such a vicious but diverse and intriguing read) AND also my Six of Crows reread!! To anyone who hasn’t read Six of Crows: READ IT!!! It garnered a reread from me even though I don’t do rereads for finished series? That’s how fabulous it is. ❤

Best sequel of 2017 so far?

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab (5 stars, reread): SO MUCH LOVE. ALL AROUND FABULOUS omgggggg V.E. Schwab is literally one of my favourite authors ever and I love this series so muchhhh. Kell and Lila and Rhy and Alucard and even Holland are all sooooo precious and this book was so good!! ❤ ❤

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars, reread): I reread this one in prep for ACOWAR and AGH. THE FEELS!! It was just as how I remembered it. I loved seeing Feyre’s character grow and her relationship + banter with Rhys was A+!! Also the Inner Circle is actually the bestttt *cries* ❤

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

UM was this supposed to be only one book?? HAHAHAHA.

Our Dark Duet: I. Must. Read. This. I even reread This Savage Song to prep??? LIKE.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue: This just released today!! SO EXCITED oh my gosh.

Queens of Geek: GEEK is in the title and also there’s bi rep + autism rep + POC main characters? GIMME.

When Dimple Met Rishi: I JUST KNOW I WILL LOVE THIS ONE GUYS. *cries* I neeeeeeeeed it.

Saints and Misfits: This one sounds so good! I haven’t read a book with a Muslim MC.. ever? SO YES.

Lord of Shadows: I’M SCARED GUYS. This book will destroy me? Or perhaps the wait for the next book will? (2 YEARS WHAT)

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Pff I remember why I struggled with tags so much. Why am I so extra guys somebody stop me??? IT ASKS FOR ONE. Oh well.

Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic (Aug. 15): Magic! Possibly forbidden love! Sisters! Other stuff!

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo (Aug. 29): Wonder. Woman. Leigh. Bardugo. Must I say more?? I am currently rereading the Six of Crows series even though I hardly ever do rereads unless the series is unfinished. SO YES I KIND OF ADORE HER??

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller (Sept. 5): Genderfluid MC in a fantasy novel? Sign me up!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (Sept. 5): It’s Adam Silveraaaaa!! And another heartbreaking title and synopsis, of course I have to read it.

Warcross by Marie Lu (Sept. 12): Okay, I’ll hold back on the cover because it’s Marie Lu!! I loved her past books (still need to finish The Young Elites series whoops) and this sounds so good!!!

Invictus by Ryan Graudin (Sept. 26): Adored both the Wolf by Wolf duology and The Walled City! I have high hopes for this one AGH. ❤

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo (Sept. 26): Another Leigh Bardugo book YAY!! It’s like a collection of short stories I think? And they’re set in the Grishaverse SO YESSSS.

Wild Beauty by Anne-Marie McLemore (Oct. 3): Oooooh pretty cover and also DIVERSE, featuring POC main characters as well as bi rep and I heard it has an amazing bookish family?!! I NEEEED. ❤

27 Hours by Tristina Wright (Oct. 3): SO. MUCH. DIVERSITY.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (Oct 10): Maggie! Stiefvater! DONE.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao (Oct 10): I looooooove the idea of this!! An East Asian retelling of the Evil Queen? GIRL PLEASE.

This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis (Oct 10): I loved Mindy McGinnis’ The Female of the Species, so I was so excited to see she has another book coming this year!

Renegades by Marissa Meyer (Nov. 7): I will read anything Marissa Meyer writes! ANYTHING.

The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin (Nov. 7): This is actually a spin off series on the Mara Dyer trilogy! I read those books a while ago but I loved them and I can’t wait to read this one!

Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza (Nov. 7): Anxiety + ADHD rep + fangirls?? I’ve read only a few reviews but they sound AMAZING and now I really want this book agh.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle (Dec. 26): Do I have any idea what this is about? Nope. Did I need a fourth book for my gallery yes yes indeed. It does sound good though! 🙂

Biggest disappointment.

UGH I hate that this was a disappointment!! Because I was looking forward to The Love Interest SO MUCH and it sounded so gooddddd. Agh. And although it was entertaining enough to read (I read it in like, a day) and the romance was cute, I feel like the characters could’ve been… more interesting, perhaps? Caden, especially, as the MC. Maybe if we had Dylan’s POV as well? I don’t know, the execution was just lacking something for me. 😦

Biggest surprise.

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton:  I did not expect how vicious it would be?? But also how heartbreaking? But like the characters are SO MEAN. Omg. But they have stellar backstory and they’re fleshed out? But still horrible? AGH. I need to read the sequel sometime…

Favorite new author (debut or new to you).

GUYS The Hate U Give is SO GOOD!! It’s Angie Thomas’s debut novel and aghhh it’s so fabulous and I can’t wait to read more of her books, she has become an auto-buy for me for sure!! If you haven’t read it: READ. IT.

Newest fictional crush.

Oooh I don’t know… I’ll go with either Darien from Geekerella or Frank from Since You’ve Been Gone!! Recent-ish books I adored and both are just so sweet. ❤ OH and Peter from the Lara Jean trilogy too oh my gosh.

Newest favorite character.

AHHHH SO MANY but I’ll go with Molly from The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli! I saw so much of my younger self in her and I loved her so much. ❤

Book that made you cry.

I didn’t actually cry reading Whisper to Me!! But I did not expect the amount of emotions I would have with this??? It was so good though and  it was SO EMOTIONAL at times gosh. So I remember I wanted to cry, which counts right? OH and A List of Cages too, gosh I think I actually did cry at one point for that one. My heart just hurts thinking about ittttt somebody comfort me. *cries* And most recently, How to Make a Wish for sure!! I did not expect the onslaught of emotions for that one either, Grace’s relationship with her mother broke me omg. I teared up at a couple of points?? And I hardly ever??? SO. (readitreaditreadit)

Book that made you happy.

OOOH that’s a comfort!! So many, Geekerella and Since You’ve Been Gone are two that come to mind (SO SO ADORABLE) but I’ll go with the Lara Jean trilogy because I already used the other two earlier and also because I need to shout some appreciation for this series??! I reread the first two and read the third this month and AGH so cute and I smiled and laughed so much reading it!! ❤

The covers just SCREAM HAPPY. ❤ (Even though she’s not smiling in any of them what’s up with that?? Talk less, SMILE MORE.)

Favorite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

Er… Does Beauty and the Beast count?? Because that one was AMAZING and hands down my favourite movie I watched this year, let alone book-to-film adaptations! It was.. inspired by a book?? Kind of? I mean the original Disney one was? Kind of? Shush, it counts.

Favourite* review you’ve written this year.

Okay, I wrote SO LITTLE reviews this year agh. *hides* But I did like the ones I did write? I think I’ll go with my review for The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz, simply because I tried out a new format and I really liked it ahah. I also loved writing my review for The Hate U Give!

*Can I switch this auto-correct dictionary thing to Canadian?? Please??! It’s constantly underlining my u in ‘favorite’ how rude

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

There are SO many more, but I went with the first few I thought of reading most recently haha. 😛

I’m not going to be tagging anyone, but here’s the list of questions without my answers if you want to do this tag!! (It was a pain to copy and paste these from my last post ugh so I’m saving anyone the effort haha.)

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2017?

2. Best sequel of 2017 so far?

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to?

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

5. Biggest disappointment?

6. Biggest surprise?

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)?

8. Newest Fictional crush?

9. Newest favorite character?

10. Book that made you cry?

11. Book that made you happy?

12. Favorite book to film adaptation you saw this year?

13. Favorite review you’ve written this year?

14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)?

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

What are your favourite books so far this year??! Which of the above books have you read? Come fangirl with meeee! OOh and tell me: What was the last book that made you cry and the last book that made you laugh? ❤ Let us compare books! 😉 Let me know your thoughts and feel free to do this tag as well, if you do, link it back to me so I can come check it out!