Hello fellow readers! Somehow we’ve made it to the end of June, which means we are already halfway through 2025! And that it is time for the Mid Year Freakout book tag. I’ve done this challenge for the last two years and am back for a third year to share with you my answers to this viral book tag.

1. How many books you’ve read so far. 24

2. Best book you’ve read so far this year. This is a tossup between two wintery thrillers I read in the beginning of the year; The Gathering by C.J. Tudor and Dead of Winter by Darcey Coates. While they were both distinctively different, both enraptured me and I’m sure both will somehow end up in my top 10 best books of the year, unless this second half of the year has a whole lot of five star reads.

3. New release you haven’t read yet but want to. The answer to this question actually came to me just recently. As many of you know, M.L. Rio has written one of my favorite dark academia books, If We Were Villains, and her novella, Graveyard Shift, was fantastic. In 2025 she is releasing her second novel, Hot Wax, and while I have no idea what it is about, you better believe I will be picking it up when it is released in the fall and will read it before the end of the year.

4. Biggest disappointment. Unfortunately, I have had a couple of disappointments this year. But the one that hurt the most was Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. I really thought this was going to be a five star read but it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be.

5. Biggest surprise. I’m going to have to say Lisa Jewell’s None of This Is True. I suspected this one was going to be good but the fact that it kept me guessing until the end made it a very welcome surprise, especially after how dismal my spring reading journey went.

6. Favorite new author (debut or new to you). Darcey Coates. After reading Dead of Winter I will be reading more of her works in the future.

7. Newest fictional crush. Going to have say no one. I don’t have many book crushes, I need a visual.

8. Newest favorite character. Likewise, there hasn’t been a new character that I have come to adore. I did admire Carrie Soto from Carrie Soto Is Back so I’ll go with that.

9. Book that made you cry. I haven’t had a good book cry yet this year though the closest came in Carrie Soto Is Back. 

10. Book that made you happy. I mean, who can read a Finlay Donovan book and not be happy?

11. Favorite book to film adaptation that you’ve seen this year. I have no answer for this one. I haven’t read any books that are have been adapted. That being said, I do hope to get to The Thursday Murder Club this summer before the movie drops on Netflix.

12. Most beautiful book you have acquired this year. I did acquire the stunning, special edition of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It has sprayed edges and amazing artwork inside the book itself. Simply gorgeous!

13. Best sequel you’ve read so far. I have only read one sequel this year and that is Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun. 

14. What books do you need to read before the end of the year? Quite a few but I am prioritizing Hot Wax by M.L. Rio, This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead, and the newest releases from my fellow indie writers.