It’s that time of year again, we’re at the halfway mark of 2025. We all know what that means right? Yes, this means it’s time for the Mid-Year Freak Out tag. But really, where has this year gone so far? I mean, it flew by so fast! Unlike last year, I’ve read less. When I’m writing this post, I’ve just finished my reading challenge by meeting my reading goal of 50 books. I’m not increasing my goal, I just set one for the stats anyway. I also had a few DNF’s this year. Well, let’s take a look into this first half of 2025 with this Mid-Year Freak Out tag!

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2025?

I thought that this would have been a tough choice, because I’ve read several promising ones. I also anticipated many of these promising ones. But I have to choose one right? Then I’ll definitely pick Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. I had no doubts that I would love this, but it’s still nice to get the confirmation.

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2025?

Okay I really, really had to dig deep for this question because I can’t remember reading any sequels this year. I mean I did, but they are more of the companion novel kind of sequels. However, I managed to pick one in the end and that was my first read of the year. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett. This was a really surprising sequel as I thought the first book was just okay. The third and final book in this series is unfortunately another story.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli! I was looking forward to this, and I also expected to have read it by now, but I still haven’t. Oh well. I also have some newer releases on the list, but they are too new, and I therefore haven’t had a chance to read them yet.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2025?

I told myself to not anticipate new releases anymore, because I often end up not reading them till years later. However, I have several books I’m keeping an eye on, and you can find them in this list. However, I realized that Katabasis by R.F. Kuang is getting a Dutch translation as well, something I wasn’t aware of. Kuang’s books are a hit or miss for me and this definitely has to do with the language being quite academic. English is not my first language, so I struggle with these books a lot.

5. Biggest Disappointment?

Like last year, I’ve read several books that disappointed me in the past six months. However, Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao is the biggest of them all. I never expected for this to end up on the DNF pile, because its predecessor was a good one which positively surprised me. Another disappointing read and therefore DNF is Phantasma by Kaylie Smith, everyone seems to love it, but I obviously didn’t. Oh and Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu, never expected this! So as you can see, it’s hard to pick just one.

6. Biggest Surprise?

I think I have to pick Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian for this one. This book has been on my TBR since 2018, by far the longest. I never expected to even read this, but I eventually did and it’s a very decent YA! Trigger heavy though, so if you’re sensitive to triggers please consider carefully.

7. Favorite New Author?

I again won’t pick an author here as I always want to read more books by an author before considering them a favourite. I’ve read lots of books by different authors, so this question remains unanswered!

8. Newest Fictional Crush?

Like I said last year, I don’t do fictional crushes.

9. Newest Favorite Character?

Like last year, I don’t have a new favorite character either. Oops. Many characters feel so generic to me lately and I don’t know why.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

I still am not a book cryer.

11. Book That Made You Happy?

Last year I wrote the following and it still stands. I have read several 5-stars so far, but most of them are rereads. So I actually knew the storyline already. And I’m just not the type for plain happy books, they feel so shaloow to me. I need an emotional ride with depth.

12. Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year?

I haven’t seen any movie or show this year, so I can’t answer this question. I just am not interested in them and don’t have the patience for them. TV is SO boring.

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?

I have been feeling a bit stuck with my reviews this year, but lately I have been changing my review formats. I think I’ll pick reviews for books that were actually 3-star reads, but where I chose another format than I usually do. Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill and Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry are examples of such reviews. There are more on their way.

14. Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far This Year?

I don’t buy physical books and I just can’t judge books by their covers due to my visual impairment.

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?

Well, these are again a lot. I don’t mention any here because I’m the absolute worst in sticking to reading plans, so I don’t want to jinx it LOL. Same answer as last year actually.

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Oh wait, that’s it! How has your first half of this year been? You can take this tag if you want to, because I’m not taggging anybody. This tag is very popular, so I don’t know who is planning to do this themselves or already has done it.