2020 mid-year freak out!

Hello bookworms!!

A couple of weeks ago, the gorgeous duo of Marie and Nyx @ Drizzle Hurricane Books tagged me to do the mid-year freak out book tag. And I’m late to the party because I seem to be late at everything lately… Also, I don’t like to do this until after we hit the mid-way mark of the year because I’m a freaking rule-following Ravenclaw… (Also, posting schedule? What posting schedule? *throws desk planner diary out the window*)

So, let’s get started!! Disclaimer: I will not be using any rereads to fill the prompts. Newly read books in 2020 only!!

Best book you’ve read so far in 2020

Oooh, this is a toss up… I don’t know how to pick between my fave contemporary and my fave fantasy of the year… However, after coming back to this later, my fave contemporary book is actually taking out TWO categories below, so for now, please enjoy me screaming about why I didn’t read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir earlier. Because seriously, WHY DID THIS TAKE ME SO LONG?!! And I am so very excited that I’ll be able to tear through books 2 and 3 in time to read the final book in December after its release!!

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2020

I 100% believe that The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord is the best sequel I’ve read so far this year. It’s the sequel that I didn’t even know that I wanted, which makes it even better!! If you have read The Start of Me and You, then you really need to read this, and if you haven’t, then you should definitely read both!! And, just putting it out there: If Emery Lord decides to write another book I won’t be sad at all!!

New releases you haven’t read yet, but want to

Uhhhh… where to start?!! Ok, on order and ‘winging their way to me’, I have:

• You Should See Me in a Crown – Leah Johnson
• Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender
• Loveless – Alice Oseman
• Love, Creekwood  – Becky Albertalli

Books on my shelves that are shaming me right now include:

• The Extraordinaries – TJ Klune
• Spellhacker – M. K. England
• Crescent City – Sarah J Maas
• The Shadows Between Us – Tricia Levenseller
• Wicked As You Wish – Rin Chupeco
• Bone Criers Moon – Kathryn Purdie
• Girl, Serpent, Thorn – Melissa Bashardoust
• The Fascinators – Andrew Eliopulos

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

Hollowpox: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. I have been waiting for this book to be released for so long that if we get another push, I might actually cry. I’ve already ordered two copies of this, plus I’ve requested the ARC. I might cry when it finally comes out anyway. If you want to read an amazing middle grade fantasy series, this is the one you have been looking for.

Biggest disappointment

Ooof. This one makes me so sad because I was genuinely looking forward to a Beauty and the Beast retelling set at a boarding school… but it goes to Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon. Trust me when I say I wish this wasn’t the case, but alas, here we are. The book itself could have been amazing, there was just a lot left to desire in the execution… maybe it was too many tropes all in one book?

Biggest surprise

For 2020, it definitely goes to It Sounded Better in my Head. This amazing debut novel by Aussie author Nina Kenwood almost took out my response for best novel of 2020 (so far), and has one more category below to hold dominion over. I’m gonna get real for a moment. I deliberately put off reading this book because I work with a girl who is good friends with the author, and it came highly recommended to me. To be completely honest, I didn’t want to have the awkward conversation if I didn’t like it. (Sorry Cath!!) So it took me six months to pick it up. And now I’m sad because it is SO FREAKING GOOD and I could have read it last year.

Favourite new author (debut or new to you)

I’m going to hand my award for this one to Beth O’Leary, albeit tentatively. I absolutely adored The Switch by her. O’Leary’s writing is amazing and the story of hers that I have read is both brilliant and soul-crushing… which, is the best type of story in my books. It’s a tentative at the moment though as I’ve only read one book by her. So, Once I squeeze The Flatshare into my TBR, I’ll be able to either confirm or deny!!

Newest fictional crush adoptive children

I’m changing this one up because I’m definitely more of an age where I could be the YA protagonist’s mother, as opposed to girlfriend, so I feel like this response is far more appropriate. Honestly, I just want to adopt characters and raise them in a loving, caring and supportive environment where they can be whoever they want to. So, characters I would absolutely adopt:

• Kai from Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
• Randy AND Hudson from Camp by L. C. Rosen
• Charlie from Heartstopper Vol 3 by Alice Oseman
• Princess Flora from Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
• All of the kids from Hawk by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Basically I want to protect all my poor, sweet gay babies.

Also, if it’s life or death situation and I HAVE to choose someone to date, it will probably be Dex from Under Locke by Mariana Zapata. I like bad boys. Fictional ones, anyway.

Newest favourite character

I haven’t really thought about this… and I just stared at my spreadsheet of read books for 10 minutes thinking about them all… Maybe Finian from Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff?  I do like a good smart ass and he seems a little bit sweet as well. Actually, yeah, let’s go with Finian. I am not eagerly anticipating reading Aurora Burning because everyone who I know of that has read it screamed for about 16 hours straight when they finished… so, imma wait until the third book is out, thanks. To be fair, I would also adopt this queer boy.

Book that made you cry

For the last time (I think) this post, let me scream to you about It Sounded Better in my Head by Nina Kenwood. I was trying SO HARD not to double up books in this, but it honestly cannot be helped. I love this book. I tabbed like 50 pages when I was reading it. I read it in one sitting (that went over midnight, hence the 2 days in goodreads). I bawled my freaking eyes out. I wanted to reread it as soon as I had finished it. I can’t NOT put this here. Go read this book.

Book that made you happy

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert has made me the happiest Meeghan in existence. Seriously, this book is so freaking adorable, and I LOVED it. I read this one in January and it’s another one that I want to reread already. If someone could just figure out a way to pause time so that I can go back and reread all my faves without eating into  ‘new book reading time’ that would be amazing.

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

I’m going with a 2019 release that I finally got this year. Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon. I just really love this cover. It’s so simple, yet the art is so gorgeous, and I just really love it.

Special acknowledgement to the FairyLoot editions of: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer; Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust; and Bone Criers Moon by Kathryn Purdie.

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

Ahhh… I’m just going to copy and paste the same answers as the last two years, and my start of 2020 list… because I have made very little progress on them (this is not for accountability, just for a giggle)… I will add extra books though. You know, so I definitely don’t read them as well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2018 list:

• Stormdancer – Jay Kristoff
• Kinslayer – Jay Kristoff
• Endsinger – Jay Kristoff

2019 list: (so proud that I’ve read two of these)

• Grishaverse trilogy – Leigh Bardugo (1/3 ✅)
• The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
• Superman: Dawnbreaker – Matt de la Peña
• Strange the Dreamer duology – Laini Taylor
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
• 99 Percent Mine – Sally Thorne
• Shadow of the Fox – Julie Kagawa

Previous 2020 list:

• A Darker Shade of Magic – V. E. Schwab
• Wintersong – S. Jae-Jones
• Letters to the Lost – Brigid Kemmerer
• Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo
• The Wicker King – K. Ancrum

New 2020 list:

• I Wish You All the Best – Mason Deaver
• Spellslinger – Sebastien de Castell
• I Was Born For This – Alice Oseman
• The Extraordinaries – TJ Klune
• The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary

So… this was fun!! I’m only feeling slightly guilty about all the books I haven’t read… and also all the ones I have that were mediocre when I could have been reading books on my actual TBR… ? But it’s FINE!! I still have another 5.5 months, right?!

If you haven’t done this yet, you really should – it’s heaps of fun!! So, this is me TAGGING YOU. With love ?