2024 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

That time has once again rolled around for us. It's my favorite tag, and really the one I do every year. The Mid-Year Book Freakout tag is back!

1. What is the best book you've read so far in 2024? - My answer to this would have to be Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. The first book where I immediately had to go get the sequel to it because I had to know what was happening with the characters and I am excited to know who they really are. 

2. Best sequel that you've read so far in 2024? - Hands down, This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero. Read it in April for Orilium Readathon, and while it's technically a standalone set in the same universe, I'm counting it. It was hilarious and I loved everything about it. 

3. What is a new release you haven't read yet, but really want to? - Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. I'm not usually a dark romance reader. Not that I have anything in particular against the genre of course. I've just never really picked it up. I was surprised by how much I loved it and how quickly I read it. It was beautiful.

4. What are your most anticipated releases for the rest of the year? - Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews which looked amazing when I read the synopsis and I had to preorder it immediately and probably In the Days Before by Renee Shantel, it looks great and I'm curious about the way she gets herself out of the problem she seems to have found herself in. 

5. What was the biggest disappointment of 2024 so far? - Return of the Shadows by Donald L. Marino. The idea was great. I just wished it were executed better. There was promise for a huge, sweeping epic fantasy series and we got some absolute garbage. I met the author and he wants to know what I think, but as a voracious fantasy consumer...I think I'll end up hurting his feelings if I tell him how I feel. It was the only book I've read to get less than 2 stars.

6. What was the biggest surprise of 2024 so far? - That might actually be Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer. I borrowed this book from my father, who is an avid crime/thriller reader himself. So this was definitely a surprise that one he read it and that I liked it enough to borrow the second book in the series. I remember texting him to ask if he was sure he'd read the book, because it was so far out of left field for him. 

7. Who is your new favorite author? - Hannah Kaner. I loved her first book she put out and I'm very excited to read the next one. And really anything she puts out. I was so engrossed in her first book that I'm not sure I will be able to resist buying anything else she puts out. 

8. Who is your newest fictional crush? - I don't have one. I'm not the kind of reader who crushes on fictional characters. I like them, but I don't get any kind of feelings for them.

9. Who is your newest favorite character? - Never really put any thought into it. Maybe Skedi from Godkiller? I don't know. I'll have to actually work on this for next time, though. Think of a favorite and make note of it!!!

10. What book made you cry so far in 2024? - Again, none of them really made me cry. I don't exactly get emotional while I'm reading? I suppose it's my analytical brain at work. It's also how I can read smut with a straight face in public. 

11. What book made you happy so far in 2024? - Define happy? I mean, This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us made me pretty happy, but so did Godkiller? Different reasons though. 

12. What is the most beautiful book you've gotten so far in 2024? - I've gotten so many that picking just one is hard. I love Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang....there's so many that are gorgeous that I don't know which one I'd even pick. 

13. What books do you need to read before the end of 2024? - I really need to get to Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews and In the Days Before by Renee Shantel before the end of the year. Both look really good and both are ARCs coming out within a week of each other in October. I am desperate to get to them before the end of the year.