I sometimes feel self conscious when I do book tags because I lowkey don’t want to be dragged for my taste in books. But I trust you guys to not to make fun of me 😂😅.
Read my past posts on my book blog PoetryBooksYA.com from 2021, 2020 and 2019.
Let’s continue with this year’s Mid Year Freakout Book Tag!
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2023
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. This was very surprising because when Talia Hibbert first debuted with her novels, Get a Life, Chloë Brown, Take a Hint, Dani Brown, and Act Your Age, Eve Brown, I didn’t like the first book of the series. So I decided to give her other books a try, and I’m so glad I did because this book was phenomenal!! The story is about two best friends who become enemies when they battle for the top scholarship program’s camping expedition. So it’s best friends to enemies to friends to lovers haha!! It’s weird but it’s also super funny and charming. I’ve always found UK humor to be very on-the-nose, very posh but not abrasive or mean like the US is. Where the Brits speak so properly that you don’t know if they’re trying to read you or not 😂😅. I just loved Celine and Brad’s chemistry and banter in this book.
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023
skip because I haven’t read any sequels this year yet
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.
skip. I don’t keep up with new releases lol. That’s why I’m late to everything. I don’t catch a good book until everyone else has read it. Plus, it doesn’t help that I’m a moody reader.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
skip for reasons above.
5. Biggest disappointment.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas. I read this for my YA Reading & Literacy class this past semester of grad school, and it wasn’t bad, but I wish it had more. I don’t fully remember what it was about, but I do remember not liking it as much.
6. Biggest surprise.
(graphic novel) The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle. Another book I’d read for my YA class in school this year. This was actually surprising because it’s marketed towards teen, but it’s also catered towards adults. It’s also catered to younger kids who may be having issues with bullying, making new friends, moving, but there’s also themes of disordered eating, self-harm, and gender identity. I didn’t expect so much material in a graphic novel.
7. Favorite new author. (debut or new to you)
The Moth Girl by Heather Kamins. I got an A on my YA class assignment because of this book. I was so passionate about the discussion of readers who may experience social isolation from chronic illness. The Moth Girl describes a teenage girl who is diagnosed with lepidopsy, a disease that has symptoms reminiscent of moths. Floating, hallucinations, sensitivity to light and sound, and craving sugar. Throughout the book, I could feel Anna’s pain about feeling isolated from her friends, family, even herself. That made me think of the many readers with their own chronic illnesses who may have felt the same things.
8. Newest fictional crush.
Synn from Androphobia (Wattpad). I know this is a Wattpad entry, but Synn is fineeee as fuck in this story!! He’s dangerous, wild, unpredictable, but he’s also kind, sweet, funny, loyal, and fiercely protective of his girl Thea and wants more out of his life than being in the London Mafia. Yes, the Mafia!! If you haven’t read it on Wattpad, please go check it out.
9. Newest favorite character.
Thea from Androphobia (Wattpad). Thea is technically not new to me because I’ve read the original story on Wattpad a year or two ago, before the author decided to revise and re-release the story. But nonetheless, Thea is still one of my absolute favorite characters! She’s so kind, sweet, naive to the world, but also open to anything. She’s a little naive, but it’s because of her innocence and sheltered lifestyle. And that’s what makes her the perfect protagonist because she’s not jaded towards the world, yet. And throughout the story, she goes through a lot!! Emotionally, mentally and spiritually and culturally.
10. Book that made you cry.
Spare by Prince Harry and M is for Monster by Talia Dutton, and Abuela Don’t Forget Me by Rex Ogle.
All these books made me cry in different ways. Spare made me cry when Prince Harry discussed the exact details of his mother’s death. M is for Monster made me cry in many ways because the graphic novel is about family, loss and sisterhood. Abuela, Don’t Forget Me reminded me of my own relationship with my late grandmother. Both of my grandparents, really, because my grandfather died from Alzheimer’s in 2011, so this book brought back many emotions and memories.
11. Book that made you happy.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. I keep talking about this book, but that’s because it made me so happy!!!!!! I don’t know how else to explain it. After reading it, I felt unexpectedly warm and relaxed, like being hugged by your best friend.
12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received) – ??? Skip. I don’t own any books I’d consider beautiful at the moment lol 😆
13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
– Pretty much everything on my Goodreads Currently Reading list that needs to be finished! I have this bad bad habit of starting books that I don’t finish. And I’m a procrastinator, so when it comes to books, I have to really want to read or feel sucked into a book to finish it. Like, I finished Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute in 2 days! That’s because I was so sucked into the mess that is Celine and Brad’s rivalry that I couldn’t put it down! All of this to say that I have many books to finish this year.
- Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham
- Spare by Prince Harry
- Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
- Better Together by Christine Riccio
Comment below: Have you participated in the Mid Year Book Freakout Tag? What books made you laugh, cry, favorite characters, etc.?
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