Hello, fellow readers and writers! I hope all of you are staying safe and well.
For those of you that followed this site’s blog for a while, you likely read my Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag post from last year. That one was so much fun to write that I decided to write another one for 2021!
If I’ve reviewed any books mentioned in this tag, all you have to do is click the links embedded in the titles. Here is the tag and my answers to it:
1. BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2021
Cover of “The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune.“The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune.
This was one of the best books I’ve read so far in 2021, for sure. The worldbuilding was amazing, the characters were awesome, the slow-burn romance was a great cherry on top, too! You’ll be able to read my review of this book on June 29th (a.k.a. later this month)!
2. BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2021
Cover of “My Room Is A Dungeon Rest Stop, Volume 3” by Tougoku Hudou.“My Room Is A Dungeon Rest-Stop, Volume 3” by Tougoku Hudou and Takoya Kiyoshi.
I know it’s technically the third book in the series, but it’s still one of the better ‘sequels’ that I’ve read this year so far. By this point in the series, it gives more information on Aria’s backstory, as well as introducing a few new characters and more worldbuilding on the world where Aria and Deet come from.
3. NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO
I have two books I want to read soon, and they are the following:
Cover of “The Siren” by Katherine St. John.“The Siren” by Katherine St. John
“The Siren” is about three women that are stuck on the same island as each other for the sake of shooting a film and trying to restart/revive their careers while uncovering some secrets. I don’t often read contemporary fiction novels, let alone ones involving a Hollywood-esque scenario, so I think it would be fun to read.
Cover of “The Witch King” by H.E. Edgmon.“The Witch King” by H.E. Edgmon
“The Witch King” is a fantasy novel. All I mainly know, from reading the summary, is that the book has transgender representation in its main character, as well as some romance. I haven’t actually read a lot of books with trans representation, and I haven’t reviewed a lot of fantasy this year so far (other than mainly the “Wings Of Fire” series and some of the other manga I’ve reviewed that fall into that genre), so I would be happy to pick it up and read it.
4. MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR
Honestly, I have no idea if I can really answer this question. I know that sounds bad, but given the backlog of books I already plan to read (see my reading list-related posts on Tumblr), I haven’t kept close track of what new books are coming out this year and so I can’t answer this question. Sorry!
5. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
The bad news is that I already have TWO big disappointments, and they are:
Cover of “Fantastica – Surreal Prose & Poetry” by Andrea Lightfoot“Fantastica—Surreal Prose & Poetry” by Andrea Lightfoot
This poetry and prose collection was disappointing in so many ways. From a lack of worldbuilding to underdeveloped characters in the short stories, I had no choice but to rate this collection 1 out of 5 stars.
Cover of “The Demon Lover” by Juliet Dark.“The Demon Lover” by Juliet Dark
This book was a letdown. From a badly-written main character, haphazard worldbuilding and an unconvincing romance with too many sex scenes, I had no choice to rate this book 1.5 out of 5 stars.
6. BIGGEST SURPRISE
Cover of “Where the Wild Ladies Are” by Aoko Matsuda.“Where The Wild Ladies Are” by Aoko Matsuda
This is a big surprise to me because I really enjoyed reading the concepts of this short story collection; Japanese folktales reinvented. Unfortunately, the execution of these concepts was not as great as I hoped. I rated this collection 2 out of 5 stars.
7. FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR
Junpei Inuzuka.
This is mainly because of their light novel series “Restaurant To Another World.” I’ve already read and reviewed the first three books in this series. I even gave them some glowing reviews! If you’re a lover of food and fantasy, this definitely a series you want to check out!
8. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH
None.
This might be due to me not reading and reviewing tons of fantasy and/or romance fiction for the first half of this year, but I really don’t have any new fictional crushes yet. Perhaps this will be different as the year goes on…
9. NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER
None.
Is this bad that I don’t have a new favourite character, despite reading a lot of books this year? I do think reading the “Circle” series might have ruined the opportunities to find favourite characters so far this year, but hopefully, by the end of the year, I’ll have a few new favourite characters to think about.
10. BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY
None.
Surprisingly, none of the books made me cry so far. I never really cry much when reading books, so it’s hard for me to answer this question as is.
11. BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY
Cover of “Restaurant to Another World (Light Novel) Vol. 3” by Junpei Inuzuka.“Restaurant To Another World, Volume 3” by Junpei Inuzuka.
If you’ve read my book reviews for the previous two books before this one, you’re well aware that I really enjoy reading this series. From all the tasty food descriptions to fun characters and background side plots going on, it’s an overall heartwarming light novel series to read. Hopefully I’ll be picking up the next volume in the series to read sooner than later!
12. FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION
None.
I haven’t watched any book to film adaptations this year. I don’t actually watch films that much in general, so that probably explains why I can’t answer this question.
13. FAVOURITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR
I know it’s a shameless self-promo for this answer, but definitely sharing news about my flash fiction piece being featured in the anthology, “Sensorially Challenged, Volume 3” is one of my favourites. I’m happy to have the opportunity to share this news with everyone. If you bought a copy of the anthology, I hope you enjoyed reading my flash fiction piece, as well as the other pieces featured in it!
14. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR
“The House In The Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune.
The cover is just as beautiful as its contents. Again, the review for this book will be coming on the 29th, so stay tuned!
15. WHAT BOOK DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR
“The Witch King” by H.E. Edgmon.
I really do want to read this book; not just because of the trans representation that I mentioned earlier, but also because of the fact that it’s in the fantasy/romance genres, and I want to read more of those going into the second half of this year if I have the chance.
Those are all my answers for the Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag!
I hope enjoyed reading this Book Tag. What are your own answers to this Book Tag’s questions? Let me know in the comments below!
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