Mid Year Freakout Tag (where i do, in fact freakout)

hello hello hello, it’s well past june but in my defence i was (i) preoccupied with exams (ii) very keen on procrastination so here’s a post that’s definitely not five months late!

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU READ?

this time last year, i had already read about 70. am missing those times 🥲 i am less stressed about reading though, and that i definitely do not miss!! i hope the second half of the year is a lot more vibrant, because the way my current reads are, i don’t feel like picking them up. have been in a horrible slump since the start of the year.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING?

absolute garbage
i have been pretty consistent with fantasy, so the 48% was expected. i have barely touched contemporary, which is surprising, since i love it so much!! my genres are a bit more diverse this year, which is lovely 😌

as for star ratings, yeah we’re lacking here a bit 😂 i consider 3 stars to be average, 2 to be dislikes and 1 stars as just, horrible. 4.5 and 5 are reserved for the Exceptional books (six of them, so far, out of which 3 belong to a series and one was a reread)
just… crossed fingers for the latter half of the year!

BEST BOOK READ SO FAR IN 2023

i’ve had a rather underwhelming 2023 but i discovered some life-obsessions and am very pleased!! Last Tale of the Flower Bride was so dark and unsettling with gorgeous prose; still thinking about it 6 months later. and Young Elites was my inevitable, No. 1 fantasy obsession of 2023. vicious, morally grey, immersive and utterly ruthless.

BEST SEQUEL READ SO FAR IN 2023

this feels a bit like cheating, since one is a novella and the other isn’t even a sequel- just set in the same universe😂 but i’ve read a grand total of 10 sequels, out of which 4 were series-enders.
Darkest Part of the Forest was a stunning creepy fairytale- holly black never disappoints! twisty faeries, rotted ruinous forests, soft siblings, stabby girls and healing boys. ticked all my boxes 😩🙌🏼
i wasn’t expecting much from Last Violent Call but chloe gong DELIVERED.

NEW RELEASES YOU CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO 👀

hahahaha this is just for me to call myself out. have no good reason, just CHAOS.

ANTICIPATED RELEASE(S) FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

why is it that the books i don’t have seem more appealing than the ones i do??
eagerly anticipating these titles, 11/10 would sell my soul to get an arc. HEAR MY PLEAS @ publishers. am also ok if the manuscript gets leaked..

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

had zero expectations for boyfriend material and still, they managed to be dragged through the mud. legend & prodigy were your 2011’s dystopian and while that might work for others- it wasn’t my cup of tea.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

definitely did not expect to love legends and lattes so much!! maybe family is a gruff hob-builder, a quiet rattkin and chef genius, a terrifying cat, an ogre on the path to healing and her succubus girlfriend.

UNDERRATED GEMS

i have a ridiculous amount of (complicated) emotions about dorley hall, but can’t deny, it’s an incredible piece and also super compelling. unravel was an excellent twisty NA romantic suspense, it’s best to go in without any prior knowledge. one for my enemy is so dense, but compelling. it’s romeo and juliet but make it russian folklore, with a witchy aesthetic and a+ angst.

REREADS OF THE YEAR

i love that the colour palettes for ascendence and trylle are the exact same, just in different order 😂
i’m a bit surprised that i’ve reread *only* seven books. i rediscovered ascendence and sage is a sarcastic little shit, i adore him. tobias is an anxious wreck, so 100% relatable & roden is an idiot but we love him.

OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

am going to point to dorley hall again. initially, i wasn’t going to read tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, but the hype won me over. i have zero interest in gamers or video games. while i don’t regret reading it- it didn’t add anything either. so mixed feelings on this too 😭
so glad i read sweet bean paste. emotionally devastating, soft and tender. 100% recommend.

BOOKS THAT MADE YOU LAUGH

the false prince never fails to make me laugh!! obsessed with the characters and their uselessness. THESE PRECIOUS KIDS!! sage is absolutely unhinged and i love him for it. politically correct stories is a satirical retelling of much-loved fairytales. it doesn’t take itself seriously and is such fun brain rot.
…just read these snippets.

Red Riding Hood screamed, not out of alarm at the wolf’s apparent tendency toward cross-dressing, but because of his willful invasion of her personal space.

and

He burst into the house and ate grandma, an entirely valid course of action for a carnivore such as himself. Then, unhampered by the rigid, traditionalist notions of what it was to be masculine or feminine, he put on grandma’s nightclothes and crawled into bed.

BOOKS THAT MADE YOU CRY

happy place was extremely average tbh, until the last 20%. couldn’t care less for the romance, but the friendships!! the found family!! the promise of staying in touch even though the world is crumbling and death is inevitable!! hell yes!!
sadie was emotionally devastating and i’m not ready to talk about it 😭
midnight star was the Perfect end to the trilogy. incredibly cathartic conclusion and the characters!! am willing to fistfight the moon for them even though they’re absolutely horrible.

GOALS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

well this seems a bit useless considering there are only uh, two weeks left. but i’d definitely like to hit my reading challenge (81/100 hahahaha) and try to post a bit more??? latter seems in vain though 😂

HOW WAS YOUR YEAR? HAVE YOU HIT YOUR READING CHALLENGE OR ARE MISERABLY FAILING IT LIKE ME 👀

please feel free to drop short book recs, i am desperate.

thanks for reading!
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-ash ❤