How is everyone’s summer going? I’ve been seeing this tag everywhere and it looked like too much fun to pass up! I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the year. I’ve read some great books so far, and I’m sure there are plenty more to come in the second half!

---

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2018

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. I read this back in February and so far nothing has topped it.

---

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2018

The Girl in the Tower (Winternight Trilogy #2) by Katherine Arden. I greatly enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale but I didn’t seem to be as awestruck and enamored by it as everyone else, and I really didn’t care too much about Morozko. All that changed with this book.

---

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra. I will get to this before the year ends. I will.

---

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASES FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

My most anticipated releases for the year, let alone the second half, are Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor and The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) by S. A. Chakraborty.

---

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Everless by Sara Holland. There was so much hype for this book and I waited ages for it to finally come out…and I just barely enjoyed it. 

---

BIGGEST SURPRISE

State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury. I had never even heard of this book until it arrived in my FairyLoot box. It was such an unexpected delight and I’m highly looking forward to the sequel!

---

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR

*patiently waits for Adrienne Young to announce her next book*

---

FAVORITE NEW CRUSH

Prince Cardan from The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Come on, did any of you really not see that coming? Also, Morozko, the brooding frost-demon from the Winternight trilogy.

---

FAVORITE NEW CHARACTERS

So far I’ve really enjoyed Jude from The Cruel Prince, Vasya from the Winternight trilogy, Zara and Nadim from Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine, Zélie and Prince Inan from Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, and Rin from The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

---

BOOKS THAT MADE YOU CRY

Krisina Pérez crushed my heart with the ending of Sweet Black Waves, but Megan Bannen murdered me in cold blood with The Bird and the Blade.

---

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren was an absolutely spectacular book about first loves and second chances. 

---

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS YOU’VE BOUGHT SO FAR THIS YEAR

My wallet hates me, but I couldn’t resist the UK special editions of The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty and Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.

---

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR?

Other my two most anticipated releases, the five books I need to read the most before the end of the year are:

 

---