Mid Year Freak Out Tag

We’re in August now so we’re way past the mid year mark but I’m always late with these things so here I go.

Best book you’ve read yet in 2018

The Fifth Season by N.K.Jemisin

This will be in my top 10 books of the year. There’s no doubt in my mind. Not only does it have very queer themes and main characters who are queer but there’s also background characters who are queer too. I listened to the audiobook and the performer was so good. This was written in a really weird way that could have been terrible but the author pulls it off. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where one of the viewpoints is in second person.

It’s not a happy book. This world is hard and cruel and all the characters suffer. I was going to say there’s a lot of violence but looking back I don’t think there is. It’s just that there’s so much emotion to the violence that those scenes stay with me. When her hand is broken at the beginning haunts me. I’m reading the sequel The Obelisk Gate and the violence in that one small scene is still having consequences and not just for her but other characters. That sounds vague but again spoilers.

 

On the edge of gone by Corinne Duyvis

This is own voices autistic science fiction and shows exactly why we need own voices. I’ve avoided books with main characters who are autistic because they’ve been bad. I’m autistic and I’ve never connected with an autistic character before. I recognise so much of myself in Denise but she’s not the stereotypical autistic character. She actually has a personality.

Add to that a whole load of family problems and a comet about to hit earth and make life a whole lot harder just to survive.

The book asks the question who deserves to be saved. Do you only get saved because you have value? Who decides who has value? Denise is a biracial autistic girl and her sister is a biracial trans woman and their mother is a drug addict. So the generation ship full of professional educated people who are mostly white and young probably won’t chose to save her family. Even though she helped some passengers get to the ship and saved their lives.

 

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2018

House of binding thorns by Aliette De Bodard

I haven’t read many sequels but even if I had I doubt any of them would be better. This does what a sequel should do. It takes everything built in the first book and expands. This is set in a different house to Silverspire.

 

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

There before the chaos (The Farien War #1) K.B. Wagers out 20th September

This continues the story of Empress Hailimi as she tries to stop another war. It doesn’t look like there’s an audiobook version out at the same time which is a shame because I love the narrator but I’ve already preordered the ebook.

 

Biggest disappointment

There were so many disappoints and for so many different reasons.

The left hand of darkness

To be fair I knew this wasn’t for me going in. I’d tried to read it before and I didn’t get very far. I kind of hoped that if I put my mind to it and actually concentrated I’d get more out of it. But that didn’t happen. I’m glad I read it but I wouldn’t read it again and I’d think twice before reading anything else by the author.

I can understand why it’s a classic and why other people like it (I like reading the five star reviews of it) but I struggle with old books. I find it hard to get into them. I like character driven stories and this was more of a world driven story. The planet is the protagonist and the star of the book.

 

The song of achilles by Madeline Miller

Everybody seemed to love this book and I let the hype get to me. My expectations were way too high and I should have known better because I struggle to like Young Adult.

But I do like greek myth and epic fantasy so I thought that might make up for it. It didn’t. There was a distance with the characters, even though Patroclus is telling the story in first person. I never really got into his head. I think it was too much metaphor and flowery language.

It also took them way too long to get to the war and then they just sat in front of Troy for years. Which I knew was going to happen but it felt so long. It felt like someone should have been doing something. Why are all these soldiers just sitting here? Not to mention Achilles was way too concerned with his fame and honor and pride and bla bla bla. I don’t care.

 

Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo

This is why I hate young adult. I don’t think I can pinpoint why I hate this so much (although I’m going to try in a review).

It might have been that the audiobook had six different narrators for every point of view and it pissed me off every time when they switched because I was just getting used to one voice and then there’d be another voice doing the characters differently.

I also couldn’t take Caz seriously. I think he was meant to be like 17 years old but he acted like he was 50 and I wanted someone to punch him in the face. I didn’t buy that he was that young for a second.

The rest of the characters were pretty intolerable as well. Which is a problem for an ensemble like this where the characters playing off each other is meant to be the good part.

I don’t know why I originally gave this 2.5 stars. The more I think about it the more I hate it. How did I not DNF it?

 

Station eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

There were so many reviews praising this book and I love post apocalyptic books. Unfortunately there was barely a plot and the characters were boring. Not to mention we kept flashing back to some famous actor. I don’t care about celebrities that are alive now.

The only character that I thought could have been interesting was Frank. I thought it would be interesting to follow a disabled character through an apocalypse because I’ve never read that before.

He kills himself because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to survive and his brother doesn’t protest. That was when I stopped reading.

 

Satellite by Nick Lake

This book is for kids who haven’t read a lot before. The main character is very sheltered and comes across a lot younger than he is. The twist is painfully obvious and none of the characters have that much personality. The only thing driving the plot is the question of if they’re going to survive on earth and I almost stopped caring as the middle of the book dragged on. The last scene between Leo and Orion did move me though and the ending was good but they needed way more interesting stuff to happen in the middle.

 

The court of broken knives by Anna Smith Spark

Oh god this book. It has so much flowery description it buries the characters and the plot. I kept forgetting where we were and what was happening. Everything seemed to have at least three words to describe it. Dark mud brown eyes. And that wouldn’t be the end of the description. It would circle back around to repeat the description again.

The worst part was when we got to the city and for some reason the author decided to repeat that the city was the richest city the world had ever seen multiple times within a few paragraphs.

I was listening to this and I swear the narrator kept repeating it over and over again. I didn’t get very far at all. If I had been reading I usually skip boring passages of description but I’m not sure I would have been able to.

Biggest surprise

House of shattered wings by Aliette De Bodard

I bought this in a 2 for 1 sale on audible because it had queer characters. I almost didn’t buy it because it was about angels and I can’t think of anything worse to read about. I guess it’s lucky that the queer options are so few that I had to buy this or nothing.

I was not expecting to like it. I thought I’d suffer through it and then return it. Instead I was hooked pretty much instantly. I loved the characters, the plot, the narrator.

I wanted to instantly listen to the next book but I have a rule about putting a few other books between sequels.

 

The Last Sun by K.D.Edwards

I thought this was going to be forgettable urban fantasy. Again the only reason I bought it was because of the lack of queer options in the 2 for 1 audible sale.

Instead I was hooked straight away. I don’t think there’s one character in this book that I don’t love.

Before I’d finished the book I was looking for the sequel and devastated to learn there is no sequel. Not until january 2019. I can’t wait that long for more of these characters. I may have to listen to this again between then and now.

 

Favourite new author

Aliette De Bodard

I will read anything she releases and I’m really hoping for another Dominion of the fallen book.

 

K.B. Wagers

I loved the Behind the Throne books and I will be reading There Before the Chaos when it comes out in september.

 

N.K.Jemisin

It’s really weird how much I want to finish The Broken Earth trilogy (even though I’m loving it so much) just so I can read other books she’s written. I’m so excited for those books and I haven’t got a clue what any of them are about.

 

Newest fictional crush/ favourite character

I found this question hard because of the next one that follows it. In my head crush and favourite character are the same thing. So I’ve mixed them together.

Nahri from city of brass

She is the best character in City of Brass and she is why I can’t wait for Kingdom of Copper. She’s a conman and a thief and with the way City of Brass ended I am so excited to see what she’s going to do in the sequel.

 

Hailimi Bristol from the Indranan War trilogy by K.B. Wagers

She’s an empress with green hair who used to be a gunrunner. What more can I say?

 

Iris from On the edge of gone by Corinne Duyvis

I was going to put Denise but I actually like Iris better. She’s politically active and she knows what’s right but she makes mistakes and is allowed to be human.

 

Rune and Brand from The Last Sun by K.D.Edwards

This might be considered cheating but it’s the relationship of these two I like. They’re not in a romantic relationship (yet) but I love the bond they share and the dynamic between them. Brand is so long suffering being Rune’s bodyguard. It’s such a cliche but I love it.

 

Phedre from Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

She is everything female characters from fantasy stories usually aren’t. She’s allowed to be feminine and not punished for it. She doesn’t learn how to fight and violence doesn’t solve her problems. Also she gets herself into lots of trouble but somehow always gets herself out of it. I love how everyone is amazed at what she manages to achieve.

 

Madeline from The House of Shattered Wings and The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette De Bodard

I didn’t realise how much I liked Madeline until she became the main character in the second book. She’s addicted to angel essence, terrified of Asmodeus and just trying to survive. Also she’s the last person you want to send if you need subtlety or political games but Asmodeus sends her anyway.

 

Book that made you cry

Does it count if you don’t actually cry but you feel so bad for the characters that it almost hurts.

Because The fifth Season is heart wrenching, especially towards the end with Esune. I don’t want to spoil it.

I really connected with Denise from On the Edge of Gone. I didn’t cry but the feelings were strong.

 

Book that made you happy

The High King’s Golden Tongue by Megan Derr

This was just a fun fantasy romance. It had some dark moments but it wasn’t overwhelming.

 

Heirs of grace

I really enjoyed all the odd magic items she kept finding in the house she’d inherited. And how she figured out how to use them. And the ending was just good.

 

Favourite book to film adaptation

I don’t think I’ve seen any this year.

 

Favourite post you have done this year

I like doing the TBR posts because I get excited about what I’m going to be reading and it makes me examine why I’m excited. Which can be a lot harder than it sounds but I think too much anyway.

 

Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year

The house of shattered wings

 

City of brass

 

The high king’s golden tongue

I love the detail in the cover. It reminds me of the farseer trilogy and that makes me nostalgic.

 

Havemercy

Even though the dragon Havemercy is barely in the book and so the cover is a bit misleading, I still love the simplicity of a black background with a steampunk dragon. I wish they had carried on the theme with the other books in the series.

 

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

 

There are so many books. So I’m going to limit myself to 10.

 

Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

Shadow Magic by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

Peter Darling by Austin Chant (go watch this video on 5 reasons to read it)

The Glass Republic (Skyscraper throne #2)

A conjuring of Light by V.E.Schwab

The Stone Sky by N.K.Jemisin

The Long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

 

I also want to re-read

A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows by V.E.Schwab

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb