Mid-Year Book Reviews

Now that June is finally over, I thought it would be a good time to give a mid-year update on the books that I have read so far. As I write this, I have finished 23 books to completion and dropped another 7 after starting them. This year has been a bit difficult for me book-wise, as I have found myself either loving or hating most books I start. Maybe I’ve just turned into a tough critic, I don’t know!

Here’s a list of the books I’ve read, in order of rating. After that you’ll find a short list of “awards” to certain books.

5 stars (must read)

The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion

The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty – Amanda Filipacchi

The Queen of the Tearling – Erika Johansen

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

Golden Son – Pierce Brown

Uprooted – Naomi Novik

4 stars (recommended)

The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simsion

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

Firefight – Brandon Sanderson

Prince of Fools – Mark Lawrence

Me Before You – Jojo Moyes

The Wrath and the Dawn – Renee Ahdieh

Dar Four – Sara Lotz

3.5 stars

Shadow Scale – Rachel Hartman

3 stars (good, but slightly disappointing)

A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab

The Invasion of the Tearling – Erika Johansen

Crimson Bound – Rosamund Hodge

2.5 stars

The Young Elites – Marie Lu

Mosquitoland – David Arnold

The Perilous Sea – Sherry Thomas
An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

2 stars (has readability but I didn’t enjoy it)

Shades of Grey – Jasper Fforde

Delicious Foods – James Hannaham dropped at 50%

My Heart and Other Black Holes – Jasmine Warga dropped at 20%

The Red Pyramid – Rick Riordan dropped at 20%

1 star (don’t bother)

Lois Lane: Fallout – Gwenda Bond dropped at 10%

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell dropped at 10%

The Mini Awards

The Best So Far: The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi

I was reading this while traveling around Indochina. My travel partner would often hear me just start giggling like crazy to myself at the absurdity of this book. It was such a delightfully unexpected book, and was nothing like I expected. I read it very quickly given the circumstances and I still remember the joy it brought me. You have to read this! It’s the perfect example of an author not taking themselves too seriously.

The Most Surprising: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

The cover didn’t really capture my attention, the blurb was mediocre at best, but after reading a few reviews I decided to give it a try. And it ended up being one of the quickest reads of the year so far. It was such a great little gem, and I love that it’s just one book. The characters were great, and I found myself just longing to get back to reading it. I feel like this book would be much more popular if it didn’t give off such a juvenile feel.

The Most Disappointing: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

The author’s previous novel, Vicious, was one of my favorites. I loved the characters and the unique take on the superhero genre. I came into this book hoping for more of the same and was just left feeling really underwhelmed. It’s still a good book, I just had far too high of expectations.

The Worst So Far: The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

I’m only basing this off of the books I actually finished, and it has to be this one. Not only was it disappointing, I was barely able to make it through. It’s the second in the series. Apparently I really enjoyed the first one, though I honestly can’t recall why anymore. It was such a lackluster anything that I honestly can’t even remember a thing about it. That’s not very good….

Hope the second half of the year picks up a bit as far as books are concerned! Let me know if you have any I should read or if you have read any of the books I did with similar or difference impressions!