So the time has come AGAIN for the Mid Year Freak Out Tag!! I canNOT believe that this is my third year blogging, and thus my THIRD mid year freak out tag! My tag from 2018 is here (cringe) and 2019 is here, and now it’s time for 2020!
In typical Kay fashion, I wasn’t actually tagged by anyone but I’m taking initiative to tag myself because I think this tag is such a great way to check in on yearly reading!
I’ve currently had 47 out of 75 books, so I’m 10 books ahead of schedule so I’m chilling. But also I think I’ll probably increase my goal because I have so much time… when I set my reading challenge I was planning on studying at college and working instead of sitting around my house quarantined…
Also low-key I looked around and I’ve found, like, three slightly different variations on this tag? I guess it’s like a giant game of telephone lmao so I’m just doing this one version.
Best Book You’ve Read This Year?
I read Harley In The Sky in January and I knew that it would be my best book of the year and here we are six months later and it’s still my favorite book of the year and yep I’m calling it now that in December I’ll still be gushing about how much I love this book. The rep really meant the world to me, and I loved Harley so much. I loved reading about the circus, the group of friends, the family relationships, the swoony romance… I just love this book with my whole heart.
Best Sequel You’ve Read This Year?
A Heart So Fierce And Broken is a phenomenal sequel! I absolutely adored Grey, and I loved Lia Mara too! There were high stakes fantasy and I was on my toes for the entire novel, and I absolutely can’t wait to read the next book!
New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To?
So many! If I had to choose just one I’d probably say The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes because hello, Hunger Games?? I’ve read some mixed review for this, but overall it seems people like it and my twelve year old self is dying to see what exactly is happening. Also I’m like hope #12 at the library so I’ll get to read it someday lol.
Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year?
I’m honestly not really on top of what’s releasing this year lmao 2020 has been a wreck and it’s hard for me to stay organized within that. I do know that Marissa Meyer is releasing a new contemporary (!!!), Instant Karma, in November, and she’s my number one auto buy author I love everything by her so yeah I’m excited to love this one.
Biggest Disappointment?
Frankly In Love was a huge disappointment because I’d heard such amazing things about it and then I ended up hating it! Frankly… Frank Li is a horrible person and I hated reading from his perspective. Also the author tried to do way too much and shove way too many themes and messages in there and in the end none of them were done well and I just wanted to punch Frank that’s all.
Biggest Surprise?
I can’t think of any I was super surprised by (I guess this has been a boring reading year), but I was pleasantly moderately surprised by Under A Painted Sky! I usually dislike historical fiction and I don’t think I’ve read a book set on the Oregon Trail before so I was apprehensive going into this, but I ended up really enjoying it! There’s a wonderful found family, and it’s so great to see Asian rep in historical fiction.
New Favorite Author (New To You Or Debut)?
I know I’m a year late since everybody one read Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim last year, but listen, better late than never right? I love the beautifully crafted, beautifully written store, and I can’t wait to read her next book!
Newest Fictional Crush?
I just realized I haven’t really read any swoony worthy book boyfriends this year?? Sad. I did really love Nash from What I Like About You because, let’s be real, a book blogger? A book blogger boyfriend?? Someone who appreciates us for our crazy book blogger-ness? I love how nerdy he is and cute and seeing him open up and be vulnerable I need to give my cinnamon roll a hug.
Newest Favorite Character?
I didn’t want to use this book again since I’ve already used it once but in this case I absolutely can’t resist! I have to gush about my fave, Harley from Harley In The Sky, because I swear she is literally me. I’ve never related to a character more and I just loved her so much and wanted to hug her and wanted her to achieve all her dreams. She’s definitely inspired me to go after mine ❤
Book That Made You Cry?
Five Feet Apart definitely doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a tearjerker and boy did it make me weepy. I just felt so sad reading about Stella and Will and all the struggles they have to go through, especially know that cystic fibrosis is real disease and there are so many people struggling like them and wow was this book beautiful but sad.
Book That Made You Happy?
Tweet Cute was such an adorable book how can you not smile and be so happy reading it? I loved reading about Pepper and Jack and seeing their interactions and twitter warring and I just smiled all the way through this book.
Favorite Book To Film Adaptation?
PS I Still Love You! This movie isn’t great, and I definitely didn’t love it and am not likely to watch it 6 times in a year like I did with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, but it was still super cute and fun to watch and I really enjoyed it ❤
Favorite Post You Have Done This Year?
I have a few! I made an original tag, The Bookish Baking Tag since I’ve been doing so much baking and I loved pairing my favorite baked treats to books! Although the subject is rather unfortunate, I liked my discussion on Separating JKR from Harry Potter because I loved the conversations I had in the comments with people and seeing their perspectives. And I’ve been screaming about Percy Jackson since March so I loved all my PJO related posts, especially my Review/Favorite Moments from the original PJO series ❤
Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year?
To be honest, I have not bought one single book this year. That’s perfectly normal for me of course, I’m not a book buyer, so I’d better share the most beautiful book I read this year (before returning to the library so someone else could admire its beauty).
I love the cover for An Enchantment of Ravens! Margaret Rogerson really gets the most beautiful covers and I love them so much and would read them for the covers alone (but the books are amazing too so its a win win situation)
What Books Do You Need To Read By The End Of The Year?
There’s a ton of books I want to read! I’ll just list a few! I really want to read The Betrothed, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Loveboat Taipei, You Should See Me In A Crown, The Henna Wars… how about these twenty books I listed for my summer tbr 🙂
Tagging
Sofi // Nish and Ngoc // Aria // Annie // Holly // You!
As always, no pressure to do it if I tag you and you don’t want to, and feel free to do it even if I didn’t tag you!
Let’s Chat
How has your reading been this year? What’s your favorite book so far? Have you read any I mentioned? I’d love to chat in the comments below ❤
Ahh, Harley in the Sky is high on my TBR! I’m excited to hear you loved it! And Instant Karma is one of my most anticipated reads as well💜
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It’s so amazing ahhhh I hope you love it ❤
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I’m so excited to read Harley in the Sky!! 😍 I’m super glad that you felt represented through it, and ahhh, the cover is just so pretty. I’m also curious about Instant Karma. I have a love-hate relationship with Marissa Meyer’s books, but she is a very good writer, and I’m excited to see her write in the contemporary genre. Hope the rest of your reading this year goes well!!
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It’s such an amazing book ahhhhh ❤ I hope your reading goes well too 🙂
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Thank you so much for the tag Kay 💜💜 I can’t wait to do this tag. All of this was really fun to read 🙂 I saw you mention the Henna Wars, and you will love it so much if you read it 💕 It’s amazing 😉
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Of course ❤ I can't wait to read that book ❤
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Tweet Cute sounds so amazing!! So excited to get to that one. I’m currently reading The Lunar Chronicles (Scarlett) by Marisa Meyer and I feel like her writing would be so good with a contemporary! The cover is also so cute.
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Tweet Cute is adorable! Ahh the Lunar Chronicles are soooo amazing ❤
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Just started Tweet Cute and it’s so good!! I ended up ditching Scarlett to start it though oops – I might carry on with The Lunar Chronicles at some point, we’ll see!
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I’m so glad to hear you loved A Heart So Fierce and Broken because I heard some mixed reviews on it, but I can’t wait to read it! Margaret Rogerson definitely has the prettiest covers. Tweet Cute was adorable and I’m so looking forward to Instant Karma too. What I Like About You is on my TBR, so ready to read about a book blogger 🙂
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AHSFAB is amazing ❤ I can't wait for literally anything Marissa Meyer writes haha. Yesss reading about a book blogger was amazing ❤
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Haha, I’m in the same boat where I just tagged myself. AND it’s my third year of blogging. AND I’ve read about 45 books this year. WHAT ARE WE, SEPARATED AT BIRTH OR SOMETHING???
P.S. Added Instant Karma to my tbr because, duh
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Tagging ourselves is really the best lol. aHH we really are reading blogging twins ❤
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Ooh Under a Painted Sky wasn’t on my radar before but I might have to check it out now! That cover is gorgeous.
I also loved Spin the Dawn, and I can’t wait for the sequel 😀 And Tweet Cute definitely made me happy too!!
Good luck with your reading in the second half of the year – I hope you find many more amazing books
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The cover is so beautiful ahh! I hope you have amazing reads too ❤
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I recently read the Balled of Songbirds and Snakes and I found it so interesting. I hope you like it!
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Glad you enjoyed 🙂 I can’t wait!
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I read Spin the Dawn this year too and it was so good!! I also tagged myself for this because it’s so fun to do! ❤️
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It’s so amazing ❤ yay!
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Kay, thank you so much for tagging me, I did it just a few days ago I and it’s a lot of fun, I adore it!🥰 I loved reading your answers, I have to prioritize Harley In The Sky!! I’ve heard good things about it and I’m happy to see is your favorite so far, and I also want to read The Ballad Of Songbirds soon, I’m excited.😍
I hope you have an incredible last half of the year ❤️
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Yesss Harley in the Sky is the BEST I love it so much I will shout my love for it forever ❤ ❤ I hope you have a great rest of the year too 🙂
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I tagged myself too. Haha. An Enchantment of Ravens looks so pretty.
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Haha yay 🙂 it’s gorgeous ❤
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I still need to read Spin the Dawn so I always get really happy when I see that other enjoyed it so much. Instant Karma is also on my list and I am interested what Marissa Meyer plans for that one.
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It’s amazing, I hope you love it ❤
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Ahh thank you so much for the tag Kay!! I loved reading this, there are so many books on here that sounds so good. I’m also very excited about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I haven’t really seen any reviews for it so far and don’t actually really know what it’s about, but my brother got a copy and liked it I think, so I’ll probably read it soon!
I felt the same way about the PS I Still Love You adaptation—the book was better of course, and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first movie, but it was still fun to watch, and I loved Jordan Fisher in it. (I was always Team Peter when I read the books, but this movie lowkey made me want to switch to Team John Ambrose, though I think that was also partly bc they made Movie Peter much more of a jerk than Book Peter.)
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Of course ❤ Eee I'm so excited to read Ballad, I hope we both love it ❤ Glad you agree about PSISLY! I was Team Peter when I first read the books a few years ago but when I reread them in preparation for the movie I changed to Team John haha, and the movie cemented that. Jordan Fisher was aMAZING I was skeptical of the casting when they announced they recast the dude from the credits of the first one lol but Jordan Fisher won me over 100000% fine Lara Jean if you don't want him then let me have him ❤
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Harley in the Sky has been on my TBR but I’ve been putting it off. I’m glad to see you liked it so much, I’m going to have to read it asap. I randomly picked up Starfish, by the same author, because she graduated from the same university I did and I really enjoyed it. Adding the Marissa Meyer book to my list, too. Didn’t know she was releasing a contemporary!
My 12 year old self was also super hyped for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I will say that it was interesting and entertaining despite all the mixed feelings.
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Harley In The Sky is so amazing! That’s so cool that you went to the same school as Akemi Dawn Bowman haha I stan her so much I would be shouting it from the rooftops if I went to her school. All of her books are so amazing ❤ I'm glad you found Ballad entertaining, hoping I'll enjoy it for 12 year old Kay 🙂
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Oo I have been dying to read Harley in the Sky!! I love Akemi Dawn Bowman’s books, so I’m really happy to see you loved it! Tweet Cute was such an adorable read, and I think The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is interesting to read, even if you don’t end up loving it! It definitely gave a lot of background for The Hunger Games, and I’m glad I read it 😊
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Akemi Dawn Bowman is absolutely incredible and I love all her books most especially Harley in the Sky ❤ 3 I hope you love it too! I'm glad you found Ballad interesting, hope I do too 🙂
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I still need to read a Heart so Fierce and Broken!!! And I loved Sorcery of Thorns so An Enchantment of Ravens is also on my tbr 🙂
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Those two books are wonderful ❤
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Thanks so much for tagging me!!
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❤ ❤
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i’m so glad you loved harley in the sky so much, and that you were able to find so much of yourself in harley!! i thought she was a great character too ❤ i'm so glad you read spin the dawn and enjoyed it so much — i hope you love the sequel equally as much!! great post 💞
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She’s such an amazing character! Ahh I can’t wait for the sequel fingers crossed ❤
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I loved reading this!! Happy reading for the rest of the year, Kay ❤️xx I really want to read Tweet Cute and Spin the Dawn! I also need to read Five Feet Apart, the movie broke me, so I can imagine the book will do the same. Ahh, I haven’t read the Hunger Games prequel yet either! I hope you love it.
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Yay I’m glad you liked 🙂 Tweet Cute and Spin the Dawn are Wonderful, and both the book and movie for Five Feet Apart absolutely broke me </3 Happy reading ❤
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I love this post! I’ve definitely added some of this to my TBR and I really want to read Harley in the Sky, Tweet Cute and Spin the Dawn. I still haven’t seen the To All The Boys I still Love film or read the book and I feel like a really bad book blogger! I hope you enjoy BOSAS.
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Yay glad you enjoyed 🙂 Ahh all those books are so amazing! ❤
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I think A Heart So Fierce and Broken would have been my fave sequel, but alas, I got an early copy and read it in December!! So glad you loved it!!
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Eee so lucky! Glad you enjoyed too 🙂
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Enchantment of Ravens is soo pretty! I love Margaret Rogerson, and especially loved Sorcery of Thorns from her!
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Margaret Rogerson is such an amazing author ❤
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I love reading this tag and the plus is I have so many new books to add to my tbr ! I really want to read henna war and he Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes .
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I can’t wait to read those two books ❤
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There’s a SEQUEL TO A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY?!?!
I mean I probably already knew that BUT STILL?!?!?!
I wish I could do this tag, but sadly I am a month late 😔
I loved your PJO posts too! 🙂
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YES and it’s probably better than the first one so READ IT!! Haha I’m always late publishing everything I say go for it! thanks ❤ ❤
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I ended up doing it anyway (as you saw), haha
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Thank you so much for tagging us, Kay!
Omg I reaaaaally want to read Ballad of Songbirds but I’m so scared I won’t love it as much as the Hunger Games – my expectations are just way too high & I’m worried I’ll be disappointed 🥺 Awww I’m so sad you didn’t like Frankly In Love – I was actually just about to pick it up 😂 I didn’t cry reading Five Feet Apart but I lost it watching the movie – I’m such a crybaby! 🙈
Happy reading & hope you’re having a great July so far!
💛 Ngoc
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Of course ❤ Ahh yeah I've heard such mixed reviews about Ballad and I hope we like it 🙂 Five Feet Apart was so sad ahh the ending broke me </3 I honestly hated Frankly In Love because I hated the main character so much lol but I know some people liked it!! Happy reading 🙂
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Really want to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes too. And I love the sound of tweet cute. I love the cover of enchantment of ravens as well!
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I can’t wait to read Ballad, and Tweet Cute and Enchantment of Ravens are so great ❤
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OMG, this was such a good post. I enjoyed it a lotttt.
Also, can you plz tell me how old you should be to read A Curse so Dark and Lonely??
I know you might say it depends upon someone’s maturity, but there are no really mature themes in it, are there??
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Also, I even agree about the cover for An Enchantment of Ravens though unfortunately I didn’t like it so I DBFed it. Lol😂
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I mean DNFed it.
I have just become a recent follower, I really enjoyed your posts
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Thanks, glad you enjoyed 🙂 It’s been a while since I read A Curse So Dark and Lonely so I’m not positive, but I think it’s fairly dark as retellings go, but there’s not too much violence and and nothing really sexual, so I would say it’s probably fine for a mature 12 year old or any 14 year old. Haha yeah An Enchainment of Ravens has an amazing cover, too bad it’s not as good on the inside. thanks so much ❤
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Ohh, hey thanks for the reply. Well, looks like I will give this book a try then. My pleasure
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