Tis' the middle of the year (well kind of since this is a month late), summer has begun, exam week is over, I read 9 books in June, and it is prime time for reading babyyyy!! Thus we shall commence the mid-year book freakout tag. (my goal for this year on Goodreads is to read 52 books and so far I am ahead of schedule by 5, so I have quite the selection to discuss!)
1. Best Book You've Read So Far in 2019?
Well, very recently I finished The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and it was really just so great. I bought it having heard nothing about it at the Goodwill Bookstores (where books are only basically $2 instead of nearly $20) and I only bought it because The Evolution of Mara Dyer was there as well, so I wouldn't have to come back again to get the sequel. I also only really got it because typically I use my school's library (which is my favorite place in the whole entire world), BUT at the time I read this, it was the last week of school, past exam week where nobody is really on campus, I had to start buying my own books. I basically just got it to get a book, finished reading all the books on my shelf and was like... well... I guess I have to read this now. I opened it late at night and couldn't put it down until VERY early in the morning. It was an incredible, entertaining, and fast paced read. Right up my ally in terms of a mixture of fantasy, science fiction (kind of), and thriller! I have a better review of it on my list of favorite books so go check that out because I don't think you want to read a 5 page essay about why this book is so good. It's truly just -for lack of a better word- cool. The plot goes in a very unexpected way and it is a cool dynamic when you are hesitant to even trust the narrator. There were absolutely some things that weren't totally great about this book, and perhaps this isn't the best book I've read all year. If you check out my good reads I have read many-a-5 star rated books this year, but right off the top of my head I would say this is it. I hold this book near and dear and have reread it many times over, so it is a 10/10 recommend! There are so many great books I've read this year though, so I do have to give a shout out to The Mortal Instruments series as well as the Selection Series. The Selection series is what I give credit to for inspiring me to make this blog (because it just demanded discussion), kick my reading into high gear, start making time to read instead of reading in my free time, and just straight up marathoning books.
2. Best Sequel You've Read So Far in 2019?
The Fates Divide in the Carve the Mark duology was great, it was a prefect conclusion to an exciting fast paced first novel, I would even argue that The Fates Divide was even more action packed... In fact I totally would say that and stand by that. I absolutely fell in love with Cyra's character development and the wickedness of Ryzek and the ending took a turn I never expected, just when I thought one crazy thing was the twist the twist was twisted even twist-ier and my brane became a pretzel. Another really impressive sequel was Scarlet, the second book in the Lunar Chronicles. Marissa Meyer is such an impressive writer and that is something I really appreciate about her books. A cool story is always appreciated either way but when it is written in a noticeably excellent way, I think there's a lot to say for that. I also loved that she took the sequel in a direction I have never seen a book taken in a universally beloved series, taking a major risk by introducing an entirely new character and story line, centering the book nearly entirely around that. Scarlet wasn't as cool as Cinder and I never liked Wolf, always got the feel that he was sketchy, but Cinder is a tough act to follow and the trick Marissa Meyer played on all the readers with who Wolf truly was straight up insanity!
3. New Release You Haven't Read Yet, But Want To?
So incase you couldn't tell by the amount of Mara Dyer series related content on this blog, I am quite the fanatic when it comes to it. I read the first book in the companion series, The Shaw Confessions, The Becoming of Noah Shaw, and The Reckoning of Noah Shaw came out last year and I fully intend on reading it, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I suppose it isn't that new of a release but it is the newest one on my TBR. I just finished the Infernal Devices series recently and read the Mortal Instruments series far earlier in the year and although I haven't even started the Dark Artifices, the final book in the series, Queen of Air and Darkness came out very recently as well and I absolutely MUST read this book (and the rest of the series certainly)!
4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2019?
Eh, I don't really know I have so much on my TBR already, like literally so so so many it is hard for me to keep up with everything that is coming out soon. The final book in the Shaw Confessions comes out in October which I obviously am greatly anticipating but all in all I'm just focused on what is readily available for me right now!
5. Biggest Disappointment?
Matched. That is nearly all that needs to be said. The good reviews this book receives are. not. deserved. I read it with all the hopes to enjoy it and trust me my dudes I am no picky reader but this was almost insultingly bad. The plot? Promising. Execution of said plot? Deplorable. The characters? BORING. Did I get through it? Barely. Should you? NO!
6. Biggest Surprise?
I was very strictly a member of the the fictional/ fantasy/ YA reader only club, but I had to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand for my AP Lang class and I really fell in love with historical books. It is the story of Louie Zamperini's life going from an Olympic runner to surviving a plane crash and being stranded at sea, and his journey as a POW in Japan during WW II. Although this specifically is a true story, I also really became obsessed with historical fiction. For example, All the Light We Cannot See and The Book Thief. Both of these books were written beautifully and have amazing stories. I would recommend The Book Thief to literally everyone in the world. It is told from the point of view of Death and it is incredible!
7. Favorite New Author?
Cassandra Clare! I just started the Moral Instruments in March and just finished the Infernal Devices series today, actually! I have all the rest of her books on my TBR and intend on reading them at the pace that parallels a cheetah! None of her books have ever disappointed me and the Shadowhunter world, I feel, is entirely immersive and she has done a magnificent job at building this universe. She is a fantastically impressive author.
8. Newest Favorite Character? Colin from An Abundance or Katherines was a pretty cool dude. You don't see many characters like him in young adult books. This book I blew through in one day. It's not very long though so I don't know if that says all that much. Nonetheless, trust me, it's worth the read. Colin is also a character I owe to a fun habit I have developed, that is making anagrams. If you have read this book, you know that one of the things Colin can do very easily in his head is make anagrams, taking letters out of words to make different words from them. It is something I do all the time now when I'm bored on the Lifeguard stand or when I'm at swim practice and have been looking at a blue like for 2 hours straight! So ya, I really enjoyed Colin!
9. Book That Made You Cry? I'm still not over it... City of Heavenly Fire FULLY annihilated me. I cried a lot for a long time about this book because it was so amazing and tragic. It was the ending of a legendary series, one of the best I have ever read and the actual conclusion just tugged on the heart stings. Nay, it yanked off my heart strings. I know in the epilogue it is kind of redeemed but it just hit me really hard in the emotions. I also heard that in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, it goes more into how things get better after word for the whole gang, but I am yet to read it so I cannot confirm nor deny that judgement. SPOILER ALERT! Anyways, the specific line that broke me, metaphorically crashed down my tear gates, was when Simon tossed Clary the faerie ring. When they were explaining how the demon would be stealing his memories, yeah, that was really sad, but when Simon tossed Clary basically their strongest most obvious tie as best friends, knowing that this would be the last time he would recognize her... the fact that he couldn't say goodbye but just tossed her the ring DESTROYED ME. Something I really value in stories is the strong themes of friendships. One of the biggest reasons why I love Harry Potter so much is because it taught me that friends are what will get you through some of the hardest trials, that you always need them. The fact that Simon and Clary had been best friend for virtually their whole life, and in the end of it all when they thought they beat all the bad guys, that the demon would take all his memories of the shadow world and everyone involved in it away, including Clary, is just straight up the saddest thing in the entire world. Their lives probably will never go back to the way they were before and after six amazing books that is HEARTBREAKING!
11. Book That Made You Happy? The Selection (really the entire series but specifically this one made me the happiest), I've said it before and I will stand by it till the end, I read books as a hobby and I want to have fun with my hobbies. Sure, this book doesn't have the deepest themes or any big underlying meaning but it is entertaining and exciting and fast paced and fun. Sometimes that is just what you need!
12. Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year? The book is always better than the movie by 10 fold, yet I recognize this is not the question. Nonetheless, I don't have an answer because I haven't watched any movies based on books recently. However, I have read the spider man comics quite some time ago and although not really based on the comics at all, Spiderman: Far From Home is one of the best movies I've ever watched. I am one of the biggest fans of the Marvel universe you will come across and boy oh boy they outdid themselves with this one. Spiderman has always been my favorite super hero and this movie was everything and more!
13. Favorite Review You've Written This Year? I like my addition of the sweet song of the month in my less bookish areas, however in terms of bookish, I am a fairly big fan of my TMI vs TID Tag as they were both phenomenal series and Clockwork Princess was such a spectacular book. At first I was hesitant to read The Infernal Devices because I already had such a positive opinion on The Mortal Instruments and I didn't want it to be ruined, but I read it anyways, and obviously I loved it because how can you not love a Cassandra Clare novel. I digress, since I am so passionate about those books I had a great time writing the review as I just always have so much to say and nobody to really talk to about it--as my friends aren't huge reader dudes-- so blogging about my love for books is such an amazing privilege!
14. Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far This Year? Well, the hard cover without the dust slip of The Fates Divide is beautiful. I usually don't buy hard covers because they are so expensive but my mom bought it for me as a surprise which was super cool and it was GORGEOUS. Also, the cover of Cinder I find super sick. I just bought Shatter Me and Red Queen; I haven't read either yet buy both are probably my favorites thus far because they are such a clean design but also really powerful (I am on yearbook at my school so I can really appreciate a good design when I see one) but I feel like it's wrong choosing those since I haven't actually read them yet.
15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? It is almost stressful talking about this because I want to read so many books and I have such little time... but I will just list my top priorities and exclude the ones I have to read for school.
- Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi (as well as the rest of the series)
- Red Queen- Victoria Aveyard (as well as the rest of the series)
- The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening/The Struggle- L.J. Smith
- Heartless- Marissa Meyer
- Cress- Marissa Meyer (finish the series)
- The Dark Artifices- Cassandra Clare
- The Cruel Prince- Holly Black (I HAVE TO READ THIS!!)
- Six of Crows- Leigh Bardugo
- The Reckoning of Noah Shaw- Michelle Hodkin
etc., etc., etc.
That is not even a fourth of my TBR on the list on my phone... I have lots of reading to get to, to say the least.
So I will leave you with that my bookish bros! Have a very bookish following five months (sorry this is a month late).
- C8 ;)
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