Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag

 

It's that time of year again to reflect back on what I've read so far this year and all that jazz! This year I am borrowing the images from Susan @ Bloggin' 'bout Books! This tag was created by Ely @ Early Grey Books and Chami. This version was of topics was used by Susan, who borrowed it from Leslie @ Books are the New Black! 

As of writing this post I just finished my 46th book! For a goal of 50 I am kicking butt! Lol! Although there were at least 2 graphic novels in this count and about 5ish books that were under 300 pages! Which used to be so average for page length but now feels so minimal! Lol. What's happened to me?

I've cut back on the challenges I participate in over the years. I've actually always tried to make sure I only do ones that are doable for me. Nothing extra fancy or anything, basically reading what I want to read and trying to hit a certain goal! I joined a discussion challenge where I surpassed my original goal and now put myself up to 41 posts for the year and currently sit at 35 so I doing good there!

My other challenge was to read 20 and then I upped it to 30 TBR books, so anything dated before 2025 and I currently sit at 33! So that one's completed and I may or may not change it again to make it higher. I don't like to stress myself out too much throughout the year so I try to keep my numbers manageable. 

I have to go with Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber! This was my MOST anticipated read for 2025 and I was blessed with an ARC and it was my everything! I only wish that it was longer because omg I just NEED MORE!

I would say Shelby Mahurin's The Shadow Bride! I got approved for the ARC of this just before it came out and just as I was wrapping up The Scarlet Veil, so perfect timing really and if I recall I think I was either finished or nearly finished with it when Shelby came here on tour which I think was the tour kickoff! So yes, it was amazing!

So I scrolled through my recently addeds on Goodreads and saw these and stopped because I could keep going and show you my entire list basically! Lol! I added Stacia Stark's This Vicious Dream to my TBR first as I saw it somewhere on Instagram and loved the sound of it so I ordered it stat! Then The Midnight Pack by Jasmine Kuliasha came across my emails and then it was on sale with the ebook so I bought that! Then Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush was an impulse choice after I read a review that had me thinking I would LOVE it because spookiness mixed with thrillers are my fave!

Well, since I read my MOST anticipated late 2025 book already, the next one definitely is Tricia Levenseller's adult debut, What Fury Brings! I LOVED her YA books...still need to read the latest one. So I suspect I am going to LOVE this one too!

I mean I guess I'd have to say it was Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson. My beef with it was that it read mainly like a contemporary romance with just the occasional odd or off thing happening here or there. It wasn't until the last 20-30 pages where things finally got good! That was where creepy and chilling vibes were in full and I just wish it didn't have to take that long. Still gave it 3 stars though! :)

I'd say Megan Lally's That's Not My Name! I kept thinking something was weird with this one but could never quite pin it down right or get my thoughts in order so the shocking reveal was definitely a surprise and I LOVED IT!

I mean I have added quite a few new to me authors to my list already this year, but I think Megan Lally really has to be at the top because these thrillers are sooo twisty and I LOVE THEM!

I think I have to go with K.A. Linde's Graves. I mean, he's flawed, he's made some mistakes in the first book but in this sequel, he owns up to them and is really trying to change! That right there is just sexy. Lol. Yeah, it's weird, but I find that so refreshing where a guy is actually trying to do better after doing wrong. And the wrong was mainly secret keeping, nothing like cheating and lying about it secrets, just secret keeping about other things outside the romantic part of their relationship.

Another double back, but I think Kierse might be a new fave! I love that she's a strong chick who had to work hard and overcome so many challenges after the world around her changed, quite a few times when you count personal things!

I think I did get a little weepy in Enchantra when the magical animal like creature got hurt. I mean he's basically a spirit like animal and not true animal, but still. He got hurt, but our kickass heroine saved him!

I mean obviously! But also, I really enjoyed Alchemy of Secrets! It was very mysterious and I am dying to know more and it's hard to say why because the book is not even out yet! Lol. This is the downside of reading ARCs that no one really tells you about!

Ack! So hard to choose! I went with Nightweaver by R.M. Gray because the cover is just stunning! And there are sprayed edges with art on them that is just gorgeous as well! I can't tell if this is a duology or if it will be longer or not so I haven't read this one yet. The sequel comes out in November so I am floundering between should I read it or wait? How long is it going to be?! Things I don't know. Maybe I'll ask the author later this month at the event I plan to attend! Holding out to read completed duologies is just better for my sanity which is better for everyone! Lol.

I feel like I am doing pretty good with reading and books and challenges this year! Only one challenge remains incomplete but still have 6 months to go and my reading count goal is nearly complete as well! Prepare for bonus numbers! Lol.

Can't Wait Wedneday #204

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The finale in the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster trilogy from Vanessa Len—which New York Times bestselling authors Holly Black, Chloe Gong, and Stephanie Garber called “delightful,” “captivating,” and “unputdownable”—will take Joan into the darkest timeline in the monster world, as she fights to restore the world she remembers.

Joan has failed to stop Eleanor.

Now, Eleanor rules over a cruel new timeline where monsters live openly among humans, preying on them and subjugating them.

Nick – once a hero to humans, and Joan’s first love – is tormented by the choice he made to save her over the timeline itself. And Aaron – the ruthless heir to a powerful monster family – now finds himself a world where monsters have power beyond imagining, while his feelings for Joan grow.

But, wrenched between love and rivalry, the three of them must negotiate their fractured pasts to survive the new world and restore what was lost. Because only they remember that there was once a better timeline.

To save the world they love, they’ll have to outmaneuver an all-seeing queen who controls time itself. Lethal consequences await any failure in this final breathless race against time.

The unstoppable love and high stakes of Divine Rivals meets the intricate worldbuilding and propulsive thrills of This Savage Song in this high-octane, cross-genre finale to the Only a Monster trilogy—where a breathless race against time and an all-knowing enemy is the only chance for Joan, Aaron, and Nick to restore the world they love.

I STILL need to start this series but the premise sounds intriguing and the covers just get more gorgeous as they go, so here's hoping that we're a perfect match! Lol.

TITLE: Once a Villain
AUTHOR: Vanessa Len
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: August 19, 2025

A mysterious and magical holiday novella set in the romantic, Gothic-infused world of Belladonna, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace.

Something strange is happening at Wisteria Gardens, the manor that Blythe and Aris call home. All they want is a peaceful holiday season with their family, but a group of restless spirits is determined to threaten their festivities. With a new mystery to solve, Signa, Death, Blythe, and Fate must uncover what happened to Wisteria’s ghostly inhabitants and help the spirits move on…before it’s too late.

 

 

 

 

 

SUPER excited for this one too! I just finished the trilogy last year and loved it so I can't wait for this holiday addition!

 

TITLE: Holly
AUTHOR: Adalyn Grace
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2025 

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker. 

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

I more than likely finished this book already but since I anticipated having a busy weekend I decided to draw a teaser from here instead of panicking about finding one in the book I started either Sunday or Monday! Lol.

"'First a murder, then a fire. Truly, I'm having a wonderful day.'" p 343

TITLE: The Hemlock Queen 
AUTHOR: Hannah Whitten
PUBISHER: Orbit
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I'd Like to Re-Read (submitted by Becky @ Becky's Book Blog)

*in no particular order

10. IN EVERY GENERATION by Kendare Blake--this was one of the best Buffiverse books I've ever read! Granted other than Kiersten White's the rest were media tie-ins, but still this was EPIC!
9. HOUSE OF ROOTS AND RUIN by Erin A. Craig--that ending still has me reeling!
8. THE DARKEST STAR by Jennifer L. Armentrout--thinking mostly in the future for whenever the series gets its final book I might need a re-read of the series, I still never picked up the third book because of the fourth one's delay.

7. OLD MAGIC by Marianne Curley--one of my all time favorite reads! I used to re-read this one a lot back when I didn't have a TBR pile. Strange days those were! Lol.
6. ECHOES by Alice Reeds--one of the most twisted and delightful and eeriest books I've ever read!
5. THE NAMED by Marianne Curley--this is actually on my "docket list" to re-read with the rest of the series as Marianne wrote a fourth installment a few years ago...that I still need to read!

4. HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost--another favorite of mine! I actually did re-read this one at least once right before a TBR pile started to form! Lol.
3. DEMON IN MY VIEW by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--another classic and favorite of mine! My first vampire book! I could really re-read this one in a day if I ever had time...or knew where it was in my storage unit!
2. ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART by Stephanie Garber--naturally. So you pretty much know what's next!

1. CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber--yup! I'd love to re-read this series again! I know I just did another re-read of it last year, but if I had time, I'd really like to do it again! Lol.

ARC Review--Fateless by Julie Kagawa

 

Deep in the forgotten city of the Deathless Kings, an ancient relic of untold power waits—for one bold enough to steal it.

When seventeen-year-old Sparrow joined the Thieves Guild she made a vow of binding loyalty to their cause. So when a mission comes along from The Circle, a group of mysterious, dangerous beings who control the Thieves Guild from the shadows, Sparrow is determined to cement her place in the guild.

What ensues is a death-defying adventure that has Sparrow and her band of thieves venturing into the heart of the forgotten city of the Deathless King. The fate of Sparrow, her companions, and Raithe, the enigmatic yet alluring assassin Sparrow is forced to join forces with during their quest, all hang in the balance as they find themselves battling ancient forces within the tombs and facing the unwavering hold of fate.

Perfect for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Sabaa Tahir, this new fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa will sweep readers into a bold and exciting new world, where a twisted game of destiny has far-reaching consequences.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Julie Kagawa returns to the fantasy genre with her latest release, Fateless! In this entirely new series, we are presented with a world that is reminiscent of her favorite videogame, Assassin's Creed. While I have never played it myself, I found it easy to believe that this book was inspired by the game! Throw in magic, a cast of wonderful characters, action, and you pretty much have the perfect Julie Kagawa novel!

Sparrow is the best thief around in the Thieves Guild, having been raised by the leader, Vahn, when she was a baby and her mother died in a tragic accident. Raised to be the very best, she gains the attention of an elite group, The Circle, that is so secretive that no one knows much about them. When she receives their request to steal an item to prove her worth, she accepts.

But it's not long before things go terribly wrong. She soon learns that she was betrayed and that the Circle isn't just a super secret group, they are powerful and plan to resurrect the Deathless King and bring about chaos and destruction onto the world and Sparrow helped them in their task.

It's then she meets Raithe who comes from another kingdom who was sent to prevent the Deathless King from rising, but when things have already been set into motion, he's now dutybound to help Sparrow stop it. Gaining new allies, Sparrow and her companions set out to find a way to put a stop to the Deathless King, but Sparrow is being hunted by the very being she is trying to run from and she will play a critical role in the grand scheme of things.

This book was pretty exciting! I will admit, it took a bit for me to get into it. I'm not a videogame person, but I was vaguely familiar enough with Julie's favorite game to see some of the nods to the game throughout the story. We are also treated to a great action packed adventure set in a fantasy world where there are plenty of creatures who want to kill you just for breathing! It was a read that kept me turning the pages.

I really enjoyed these characters as well! Sparrow meets Halek and Raithe who couldn't be more opposite if you tried. In fact, they kind of reminded me vaguely of Puck and Ash respectively. More in the sense that you have Halek as a comedic relief and Raithe is the silent and broody type who doesn't say much. I don't think we're headed into love triangle territory again, but it's too soon to tell at this point. I'm thinking no, just based on how the story went, but it really is just too soon to tell!

That being said, the romance between Sparrow and Raithe was very subtle and sweet. You can tell it was coming really, but the gradual development made it melt-worthy! I do suspect--from experience of reading too much--that there will be some kind of wedge to come between the two in the next book though. It just feels like the kind of thing that is meant to happen at this point! Another thing we will have to wait and see what will happen!

The pacing to this one was spot on! With so various missions and goals, the characters are set off for adventure and danger galore! It was a read that kept me turning the pages, eager to see what the final outcome would be. I knew it was a trilogy going in, so I was more so wondering how far we'd get into said adventure. There was plenty of excitement to be had throughout and plenty of puzzles to be solved for the future. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what the final outcome will be after that explosive ending!

Julie Kagawa has been one of my favorite fantasy authors since the very beginning! Her books are always filled with a perfect balance of action, adventure, humor, romance, magic...pretty much everything I look for in a read and it always turns into a favorite read and Fateless is no different! I cannot wait to see where she will go with this new series!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Fateless releases July 15, 2025