mid-year book tag 2025
Sep. 17th, 2025 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
softpunksI have no idea what happened, but Google Chrome is really out there crashing on me... can't open Storygraph, can't open Notion, can't get the Rich Text for Dreamwidth... but here we are via Microsoft Edge and we are back! I'm quite lousy at journal entries, but I do love talking about my opinions and rambling, so this is why these little under the radar posts for me is fun. I can go ham.
I've been doing a lot of reading this year and even managed to reach my goal of 50 books, so now I'm taking it easy, but even though it's mid-September I want to do a look back on my reads and my insights on them like we're in the mid-year instead of the -ber months.
Best Book Read in 2025.
Okay, this is definitely a hard one. I can't say that I had a best book, but I can say the best series I've read thus far, and it's definitely the Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat. If I narrow it down, my favorite is The Prince's Gambit, so I suppose that's my best book read. I took so long to get to this series despite how so many peers I know love it because and in spite of its problematic themes, and I normally get so bored by monarch/royalty settings, but this was wonderful, and it re-inspired my love for reading. Every book from that series was a 5 star, no questions asked.
Best Sequel Read in 2025.
Dare I say The Prince's Gambit once more? It was the perfect tie-in between the first and the last book and had me gripping my seat the whole time. But generally I'm not big on series, and as a result, sequels, and this year I started on a lot of books that are part of a series rather than reading subsequent editions. That being said, the only other sequel I did read was Angels Before Man by Rafael Nicholas, and that was a near 5-star book.
Worst Surprise Read in 2025.
Equating this to the biggest disappointment, which is to say: there are a lot. But the most notable one was Vicious by V. E. Schwab. Growing up I knew so many people who loved V.E. Schwab and I was also psyched to read her stuff, but I never got to, either due to lack of time, wandering attention span, or not in my priority list. Vicious caught my eye because it was highly rated and I love superheroes, but this was such a crazy disappointment. It was way too plot-driven and the characters felt incredibly shallow. Because of that experience I'm so reluctant to read any of her other works. She might just not be for me.
Other disappointing reads were Godkiller by Hannah Kaner: great world-building, did not like the characters at all. Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth and Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters were also books I did not enjoy them not because they weren't well-written - they were, actually - but because the main characters were so selfish and so entitled that it was baffling that the world continued to revolve around them and their wants. I'm all for women's wrongs books, but these made me want to draw a line.
Lastly, I was also really psyched for The First Sister Trilogy by Linden A. Lewis, but I was so put off by the plot twist of the first book that I decided to discontinue trying the rest of the series.
Biggest Surprise Read in 2025.
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth. I only cared about the cover, really, which was gorgeous, and the page count even more, so less than 200 pages, and this was such a treat. Rich and well-written and charming. I gave it 3.75 stars which is a relatively high rating for me given how picky I am, but that was only because my understanding or knowledge of Slavic mythos is so poor that I couldn't appreciate the integrations of the lore she makes to the modern context.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick was also a really pleasant surprise. Same score at 3.75, but I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. Blade Runner is a truly annoying movie, and my opinion of it hasn't changed despite watching it thrice. We had to pick it up for the July book club read though, and the moment I started on the book I devoured it in 24 hours. It's very charming and the social/political commentary, both on whether emotions make us human and classism, was explored in such an interesting light that I will still be thinking about her to this day.
Favorite Debut Author in 2025.
Grainne O'Hare. She wrote Thirst Trap, which I liked because of the cover, then the premise, and it was a truly well-written book.
Book That Made You Happy.
A book I definitely found fun, which is the closest I can think to a book that made me happy was Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove. It was such a wild ride and very quirky. It's on the longer side, which usually I don't like, but this was action-packed and wholesome so I was really into it.
Book That Made You Cry.
Don't have any for this year. Last year, I can easily name the ones from the top of my head: Monstrilio and Good Material, which I read during the June-July period. Currently waiting to stumble onto a book that would evoke in me the kind of emotion that those books gave me so I can be brought to tears, but it hasn't happened yet.
Books You Need to Read by EOY.
So, so many. I've been into reading books that are thematically aligned with whatever is going on in my book club, so for this month it's science fiction. October will be horror, and then the rest of the months it's kind of a free for all. I have a ton of books I need to read before the year ends, but the ones I'm strict about - because I do tend to shuffle my list depending on my mood and feasibility - are ideally the ones that have been out this year because I want to be updated. Specific ones that came out this year that I need to read: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, Who Wants to Live Forever by Hanna Thomas Uose, and The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling.
Anticipated Unreleased Reads for 2025.
A lot of the books I was already anticipating for the year have been released, but as of now, the ones I'm waiting to dig into is Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake.
5 Star Books in 2025.
Oh, boy. I am so picky with 5 star reads. I gave a lot more last year, which either say something about my standards or my poor choice in books to pick up. The only ones I've given 5 stars to are the Captive Prince Trilogy and the Theban Plays by Sophocles, specifically the translation of Bryan Doerries. I also gave The Last Question by Isaac Asimov 5 stars, though it's a very short story.
Book to Reread.
I reread Undercover by Tamsyn Muir, a short story part of the Into Shadow anthology series by Amazon, and it still held up as a well-written work and top-notch short story for me. But something else I plan to reread this year is Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, mostly because of the book club. Other than that, I'm not big on rereads just because there is so many new books I want to check out and I simply don't have the time to read old goodies.
Book You Liked with Mixed Reviews
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie. I pitched this for the book club for our women's month read and it won. The premise was fantastic for me, and I liked the cover, but when I began reading the reviews as I was reading, I saw a lot of people not liking it, so it made me wary. But this was fantastic writing and having the book club discussion made me appreciate it even more. So despite the mixed reviews, I'm on the side that looks at this work positively.
I've been doing a lot of reading this year and even managed to reach my goal of 50 books, so now I'm taking it easy, but even though it's mid-September I want to do a look back on my reads and my insights on them like we're in the mid-year instead of the -ber months.
Best Book Read in 2025.
Okay, this is definitely a hard one. I can't say that I had a best book, but I can say the best series I've read thus far, and it's definitely the Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat. If I narrow it down, my favorite is The Prince's Gambit, so I suppose that's my best book read. I took so long to get to this series despite how so many peers I know love it because and in spite of its problematic themes, and I normally get so bored by monarch/royalty settings, but this was wonderful, and it re-inspired my love for reading. Every book from that series was a 5 star, no questions asked.
Best Sequel Read in 2025.
Dare I say The Prince's Gambit once more? It was the perfect tie-in between the first and the last book and had me gripping my seat the whole time. But generally I'm not big on series, and as a result, sequels, and this year I started on a lot of books that are part of a series rather than reading subsequent editions. That being said, the only other sequel I did read was Angels Before Man by Rafael Nicholas, and that was a near 5-star book.
Worst Surprise Read in 2025.
Equating this to the biggest disappointment, which is to say: there are a lot. But the most notable one was Vicious by V. E. Schwab. Growing up I knew so many people who loved V.E. Schwab and I was also psyched to read her stuff, but I never got to, either due to lack of time, wandering attention span, or not in my priority list. Vicious caught my eye because it was highly rated and I love superheroes, but this was such a crazy disappointment. It was way too plot-driven and the characters felt incredibly shallow. Because of that experience I'm so reluctant to read any of her other works. She might just not be for me.
Other disappointing reads were Godkiller by Hannah Kaner: great world-building, did not like the characters at all. Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth and Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters were also books I did not enjoy them not because they weren't well-written - they were, actually - but because the main characters were so selfish and so entitled that it was baffling that the world continued to revolve around them and their wants. I'm all for women's wrongs books, but these made me want to draw a line.
Lastly, I was also really psyched for The First Sister Trilogy by Linden A. Lewis, but I was so put off by the plot twist of the first book that I decided to discontinue trying the rest of the series.
Biggest Surprise Read in 2025.
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth. I only cared about the cover, really, which was gorgeous, and the page count even more, so less than 200 pages, and this was such a treat. Rich and well-written and charming. I gave it 3.75 stars which is a relatively high rating for me given how picky I am, but that was only because my understanding or knowledge of Slavic mythos is so poor that I couldn't appreciate the integrations of the lore she makes to the modern context.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick was also a really pleasant surprise. Same score at 3.75, but I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. Blade Runner is a truly annoying movie, and my opinion of it hasn't changed despite watching it thrice. We had to pick it up for the July book club read though, and the moment I started on the book I devoured it in 24 hours. It's very charming and the social/political commentary, both on whether emotions make us human and classism, was explored in such an interesting light that I will still be thinking about her to this day.
Favorite Debut Author in 2025.
Grainne O'Hare. She wrote Thirst Trap, which I liked because of the cover, then the premise, and it was a truly well-written book.
Book That Made You Happy.
A book I definitely found fun, which is the closest I can think to a book that made me happy was Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove. It was such a wild ride and very quirky. It's on the longer side, which usually I don't like, but this was action-packed and wholesome so I was really into it.
Book That Made You Cry.
Don't have any for this year. Last year, I can easily name the ones from the top of my head: Monstrilio and Good Material, which I read during the June-July period. Currently waiting to stumble onto a book that would evoke in me the kind of emotion that those books gave me so I can be brought to tears, but it hasn't happened yet.
Books You Need to Read by EOY.
So, so many. I've been into reading books that are thematically aligned with whatever is going on in my book club, so for this month it's science fiction. October will be horror, and then the rest of the months it's kind of a free for all. I have a ton of books I need to read before the year ends, but the ones I'm strict about - because I do tend to shuffle my list depending on my mood and feasibility - are ideally the ones that have been out this year because I want to be updated. Specific ones that came out this year that I need to read: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, Who Wants to Live Forever by Hanna Thomas Uose, and The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling.
Anticipated Unreleased Reads for 2025.
A lot of the books I was already anticipating for the year have been released, but as of now, the ones I'm waiting to dig into is Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake.
5 Star Books in 2025.
Oh, boy. I am so picky with 5 star reads. I gave a lot more last year, which either say something about my standards or my poor choice in books to pick up. The only ones I've given 5 stars to are the Captive Prince Trilogy and the Theban Plays by Sophocles, specifically the translation of Bryan Doerries. I also gave The Last Question by Isaac Asimov 5 stars, though it's a very short story.
Book to Reread.
I reread Undercover by Tamsyn Muir, a short story part of the Into Shadow anthology series by Amazon, and it still held up as a well-written work and top-notch short story for me. But something else I plan to reread this year is Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, mostly because of the book club. Other than that, I'm not big on rereads just because there is so many new books I want to check out and I simply don't have the time to read old goodies.
Book You Liked with Mixed Reviews
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie. I pitched this for the book club for our women's month read and it won. The premise was fantastic for me, and I liked the cover, but when I began reading the reviews as I was reading, I saw a lot of people not liking it, so it made me wary. But this was fantastic writing and having the book club discussion made me appreciate it even more. So despite the mixed reviews, I'm on the side that looks at this work positively.