Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag
- Shantall Vera
- Jul 17, 2020
- 3 min read
Its that time again! Middle of the year! I saw Whitney at BooksWhitMe and countless other bloggers do this Mid Year Book Freak out, so I wanted to join in on the fun.
Best book you’ve read so far
I can’t just chose one. These three are noteworthy for so many different reasons.
Best sequel you’ve read so far
I am not very sure if this counts as a sequel but it takes place in the same world as P.Djeli Clark’s A Dead Djinn In Cairo. It follows two agents of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities as they try to exorcise a possessed tram car but end up with a lot more than they expected. Even Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi, main character from A Dead Djinn In Cairo makes an appearance at the end which I loved.
New release you haven’t read, but want to
Most anticipated release for the second part of the year
Biggest Disappointment
For all the hype that surrounded this book, I just didn’t like it. I enjoyed the descriptions and some of the characters, but still can’t get over the fact that this entire book was supposed to be a letter to someone…. look, I penpal, I love writing letters but if I had asked a question in a letter and received this behemoth as your answer, I would be so upset.
I know lots of people loved this but it just ended up not being that great for me.
Biggest Surprise
I was expecting both of these stories to be great but instead got blown away with how above and beyond the storytelling went.
New favorite author (debut or new to you)
N.K. Jemisin,Silvia Moreno-Garcia aand P. Djèlí Clark have just blown me away with the worlds they create and their writing. I really love their works and they have become my automatic buy authors. Anything they release, you know I am there!
Newest favorite character
Steph from Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson. When the book starts you are at Steph’s funeral and you get to see how his death affects his sister, his best friends and everyone he knew at large. You soon become entangled in a mystery that he left behind that his sister and two best friends set out to figure out as they also plot to let the world hear his wonderful music. You get to meet Steph and know more about who Steph was in flash backs to a time when he was alive and through the reveal of what he was working on that led to his death. The fact that the things and words that Steph had done before he passed away still rang and resonated through his community, his friends and his family and was still able to change things even when he wasn’t around was beautiful.
Noemí from Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Noemí is so unapologetically herself and I loved that from her the moment we meet her leaving her date at the beginning of the novel. Granted she checks in on her cousin under self serving reasons but once there, she is headstrong and unable to let things go as she tries to figure out the mystery behind her cousins illness and the strange family she married into. She also wasn’t the typical heroine who keeps going despite all the hardships, no, she knows her limits! And that’s all I can say without spoiling more about the story.
Book that made you cry
Book that made you happy
Favorite book-to-film adaptation
I haven’t seen any yet, I’ve heard of some coming up, such as the new modern Brave New World retelling, so time will tell. I am excited for the Disney+ Percy Jackson show though!
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Too many! ( see answer to new releases that I have yet to read, along with answer anticipated reads and my never ending TBR on Goodreads )
Favorite post you have done this year
Yikes, I have been lacking in the blogging department this year but have been trying a lot harder to keep up with it. I would have to say that my favorite post would be the one where I talk about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. It was a book that I was so excited to get that I had pre-ordered it and then even more excited when it turned out I got approved for an eARC and got to read it ahead of time. You can find it here.
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