Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag!
reflections on the 30 books i've read so far this year
This post is a petition to bring old booktube tags to Substack please. If people are already doing this, please direct me to them, I want to be friends.
Anyway, if you don’t already know it, the mid year book freak out tag is a series of questions to wrap up the first half of the reading year— bests, worsts, disappointments, surprises, reading goals for the rest of the year etc.
What Is the Best Book That You’ve Read So Far in 2025?
Ship of Magic - Robin Hobb
I read the first instalment of the Liveship Traders in the beginning of this year, and haven’t stopped thinking about it for a moment. Hobb is just pure magic. This book had my emotions all over the place, even compared to the Farseer trilogy which I love, this book made me feel so viscerally. I am deeply in love with these characters, I felt their sorrow, their triumph, and their frustrations almost overwhelmingly. Frankly, I was so emotionally affected by this book that I haven’t picked up the sequel yet because I feel like I need to be in the right headspace for it.
Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, we follow sailors, pirates, sea serpents, and sentient ships through an epic journey of family drama and politics. This book is honestly darker than the Farseer trilogy, and the multi-pov means that it's incredibly fast paced, but honestly no less interior than Farseer.
Even just writing about this book has my emotions all over the place. No writer can affect me emotionally like Robin Hobb.
What Has Been Your Favourite Sequel of The First Half of The Year?
The Atlas Paradox - Olivie Blake
I have read a few sequels this year, but it has got to go to The Atlas Paradox. If for no other reason than the fact that I found the first book so emotionally confusing that I still haven’t rated it, and the second book was a solid 4 stars.
This series is dark academia meets urban fantasy, where a group of 6 prodigal magical initiates are brought into the fold of the secretive Alexandrian Society, which promises power and knowledge like no other. I found the first book to be almost painfully predictable, far too interior, and oftentimes flat out boring. The thing that propelled me to read the second book was the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, and I must say that the second book delivered completely on that.
The second book benefits from having a central mystery that actually propels the plot forward, and makes the interiority of the novel feel like it has a greater purpose. I was thoroughly invested from start to finish, and was very into the explorations of fate and time in this novel.
Is There a New Release That You Haven’t Read Yet, but You’re Really Excited To?
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - V.E. Schwab and The Knight and the Moth - Rachel Gillig
V.E. Schwab is one of my favourite authors, so it will come as a surprise to no one that this is a recent release that I am so excited to pick up. It feels like this book was released just for me, seeing as I am very much on a vampire literature kick at the moment. I have been hearing Schwab describe this as her toxic lesbian vampire book for like a full year at this point, and I am so unbelievably excited.
The novel follows three women, born (and turned into vampires) at three different points in history: 1532 Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1827 London, and 2019 Boston. It is a novel about hunger and immortality, and wanting, and queerness, and I am so excited to pick it up!
I read Gillig’s One Dark Window duology last year and loved it, despite usually being very much not into romantasy. This novel follows Sybil, part of a coven of women who have prophetic dreams (Diviners) who has to work with a reluctant, heretical knight in order to find out with her fellow Diviners are going missing. Thinking of saving this book for autumn.
What Is Your Most Anticipated Release for The Second Half of The Year?
Eternal Ruin - Tigest Girma
Immortal Dark was the first book I read this year, and I was obsessed. It was so dark and twisty, Kidan was truly one of the most flat out insane protagonists I have ever read, and the sentient houses, Ethiopian vampire lore aspects of the story had me hooked. I am also historically incredibly picky about romance in my fantasy novels, and found this romance plot to be compelling; the ratio of sexual tension to genuine suspicion/ hatred of each other was perfect. I thought some of the internal logic of the story fell apart a little and was rushed near the very end, but otherwise was a really impressive debut from this author.
I’m hoping that Eternal Ruin is going to be even more character development, sexual tension, and unique developments of the magic system/vampire lore. This sequel is coming out November I believe, and I am so excited for gothic, sentient house autumn.
What Is Your Biggest Disappointment So Far?
War Lords of Wyrdwood - R.J. Barker
I LOVED Gods of the Wyrdwood, the first instalment in this series. I thought it was so incredibly creative, and was completely entranced by the supernatural forest, and our anti-hero anti-chosen-one, Cahan, but something about the pacing of the second novel just made it all fall apart for me.
I wanted to like this book so badly, the introduction of the new magical elements was so whimsical and compelling, and I loved that the second book was taking a darker turn, but something about the actual writing and pacing of the wider action vs. Cahan’s character arc felt so disjointed to me. I really thought that this could have been a god tier fantasy series for me, but this second book was unfortunately a big disappointment. I DNF’d this book about 60% in, after a full month of trying to make progress :(
What Is Your Biggest Surprise So Far?
The Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
I read the first book of the Raven Cycle in 2018, prepared to be obsessed and literally found the book to be pure gibberish, like was confused from start to finish. This series to so beloved that this year I wanted to give it another shot, but was worried that
a) i would find it to still be very confusingly written
b) that being an adult would render the Y/A of this book less charming, and more cringe/ second hand embarrassment inducing.
While I do still think that the first two books suffer from some stylistic writing choices that hinder the clarity, the Y/A-ness of this series actually ended up being one the things I enjoyed the most. Maggie Stiefvater just gets the crux of what it means to be a teenager: feeling isolated and wanting to be part of something, but also desperately wanting to be uniquely your own person. Writing from this point of view makes her characters feel not only incredibly real, but also makes their struggles feel universal.
The books only get better and Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue in particular was the absolute perfect mix of myth, magic, and teenage angst. This series is overflowing with atmospheric writing, yearning, and magic.
A Book That Made You Cry?
Juniper & Thorn - Ave Reid
Not a book crier, however, Juniper & Thorn got me pretty close. The novel is a gothic horror retelling of fairytale, The Juniper Tree, and follows Marlinchen and her two sisters, Oblya’s last true witches, who live under the oppressive and abusive hand of their wizard father.
It’s a very dark and heavy read, but is also wrapped in a bewitching strangeness, from its magical creatures, to its world, to its characters. The ending of this novel made me feel such emotional relief and triumph for the characters, that I could have cried.
A Book That Made You Happy?
Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins
Is this a crazy take? I know that this book emotionally destroyed people (and yes, it was very sad), but mostly reading this book made me feel intense 2012 nostalgia (non-derogatory). I remember so vividly devouring the Hunger Games, and other popular dystopian novels, with my friends in middle school and eagerly awaiting the movies. The Hunger Games craze was truly unparalleled, and it was so fun to see a version of that same craze playing out on tiktok with Sunrise on the Reaping. As someone who is not majorly into the genres and books that tend to blow up on the internet (read:booktok), its so fun to feel in on the internet hype.
It helps that I thought this book was genuinely an incredibly strong addition to a great trilogy (I did not and will not read Songbirds lol). Haymitch’s backstory is tragic, and the insight into him as a character makes several moments in the original trilogy pack even more of a punch. While I think the whole Suzanne Collins ‘only writing something when she has something so say’ is an overhyped shtick, I feel that this book really did have something to say and that it executed said themes very well. It felt like this was a seamless addition, something that was always meant to be part of this story.
What Books Do You Want to Read by The End of The Year?
Too many books, too little time, but here are some of what I think are essential reading by the end of the year for me.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
I am obsessed with Piranesi, as anyone who reads this blog may know, and desperately want to pick up Strange and Norrell this year.
Our Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
In 2023 I set a somewhat delusional goal to read every Dickens novel by the end of 2025. That is very much not happening, but this year I have read Pickwick, and would like to read Our Mutual Friend as well. If I succeed, I will be at 7/14 Dickens novels, which I think is pretty good.
Twilight Saga
Once again, if you are a frequenter of this blog, you will know that I recently read Twilight for the first time, and finishing the Saga is top priority for me.
Malice - John Gwynne
John Gwynne is an author I know in my bones I am going to love, and I actually have a physical copy of Malice, the first book of The Faithful and the Fallen series. Other than Ship of Magic, I haven’t been reading a ton of epic fantasy this year, so this is definitely a big one.
If I was brave enough I would old school youtube style tag someone else here on Substack to do the mid year book freak out tag, but alas, I am not, so this is an open invitation for people to do this tag!