Tag | Mid-Year Book Freakout 2018

We may have past the half way point of this year but I never do things on time so it's no surprise I'm late to the party with this tag. I have been doing the Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag since 2015 but it seems to be pretty popular this year, I've been seeing it everywhere! This tag basically just looks back on your reading during the first half of the year and I always find it a lot of fun.

1. Best Book You've Read So Far In 2018

I have read some really great books this year, it's hard to pick just one favourite. I probably have to say I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman. This book wasn't at all what I expected and I ended up loving it way more than I thought I would. It follows three characters over one day as they meet for the first time and help each other with their personal problems. 

2. Best Sequel You've Read So Far In 2018

For once, I've actually read a few sequels. The best one was definitely Did I Mention I Need You? by Estelle Maskame, the second book in the DIMILY trilogy. I loved following Tyler and Eden as their relationship progressed and they spent a fun summer in New York. It was great fun to read but also dealt with some more serious issues. I absolutely love this series, and this book in particular.

3. New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To

Listen To Your Heart by Kasie West. I love Kasie West but I can't keep up with her! I haven't read her two most recent releases yet but I really need to get to them as soon as possible. Listen To Your Heart sounds like the perfect summer read so I'll hopefully get to it really soon.

4. Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year

There are so many books I'm looking forward to in the second half of the year but my number one will probably have to be Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich. This is the book adaptation of the musical that I absolutely adore. I can't wait to get my hands on this book, I'm so excited you have no idea.

5. Biggest Disappointment

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon. I expected to really like this book but it just wasn't for me. As much as I want to love Sandhya Menon's books, I just don't seem to click with them.

6. Biggest Surprise

Lucky Girl by Amanda Maciel. I picked this up completely at random with no idea what to expect and ended up giving it 5 stars! It's a very important story about sexual assault, victim blaming and friendship. 

7. Favourite New Author

This is another one where it's very difficult to pick just one, I have read some amazing new authors so far this year. I'll go with Becky Albertalli. I have read two of her book so far this year - Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah On The Offbeat - and really enjoyed both of them. She's definitely a new autobuy author.

8. Newest Fictional Crush

I don't really have any new fictional crushes yet this year. I guess I did like Bill from Save The Date by Morgan Matson. 

9. Newest Favourite Character

So many! I really loved Snake and Emily who were introduced in Did I Mention I Need You? by Estelle Maskame. They were really fun characters and I loved getting to know them a bit.

10. Book That Made You Cry

Wonder by RJ Palacio. This book made me sob my little heart out. It's so beautiful, I loved it so much. Even thinking about it makes me a little bit emotional, it's a really great book.

11. Book That Made You Happy

Royals by Rachel Hawkins. There were several things about this book that annoyed me but in general it was just a really entertaining read. I had so much fun with this book and didn't stop smiling the whole time I was reading it.

12. Favourite Book To Movie Adaptation You've Seen This Year

I haven't seen any yet! I was determined to see Love, Simon but just never had time to go.

13. Favourite Review/Post You've Done This Year

I've really been slacking on my blog and haven't really been all that happy with the content I've been producing. This is something I definitely want to work on in the second half of the year.

14. Most Beautiful Book You've Bought So Far This Year

Eve Of Man by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher is beautiful. Even underneath the dust jacket looks amazing.

15. Books You NEED To Read By The End Of 2018

All of them! I would like to get through some of the books that I've had on my shelf for a few years now, I think that is probably my main priority for the rest of the year.

It's been a pretty great reading year so far, I have read some really amazing books. Hopefully things continue this way for the rest of the year. How has your reading year been so far? What's been the best book you've read?

Sophie :)

Series Review | Did I Mention I Love You? Series by Estelle Maskame

One of my goals for 2018 was to try something new with my reviews and, having realised in my mid-year update that I haven't done that yet, I thought now would be a good time to mix things up. I recently read the second and third books in the DIMILY trilogy by Estelle Maskame, as well as the spin-off/companion novel Just Don't Mention It, so I thought I would try something new and combine my reviews for these books into a series review.

*Please Note: Minor spoilers for previous books in the series may be included in the reviews for the later books. I will try my hardest to avoid spoilers but please be aware that some may slip out.*

Estelle Maskame's DIMILY series follows sixteen-year-old Eden Munro as she spends the summer with her father and his new family in Santa Monica, California, where she meets her new stepmother and three stepbrothers for the first time. One of those stepbrothers is troubled Tyler Bruce, whose bad boy ways both infuriate and intrigue Eden. Throughout the series, we see how these characters grow and how their unconventional relationship develops, as they navigate the challenges of difficult pasts and unknown futures.

Did I Mention I Love You?
Series: DIMILY #1
Published On: April 30, 2015
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 422
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★½
Amazon | Goodreads

A full review of this book can be found here.

I previously reviewed this book after first reading it last year and went into much more detail on my thoughts in that review. Overall, I thought this was a great introduction to the series that was fun, fast-paced and had me not wanting to put it down. It still amazes me that this series was written by someone so young, as it is written so well. However, this made the teenage voice much more authentic and the actions taken by characters felt very realistic. It is 90% a cute, fluffy romance but there are more series topics dealt with throughout the book, which add a lot of depth to the story. I was impressed by how well someone so young wrote about such serious topics, everything was covered with great sensitivity and maturity. My one and only issue with this first book was that some plot points were a bit predictable and a little immature at times, but I did find that this became less of an issue as the series went on.

Did I Mention I Need You?
Series: DIMILY #2
Published On: October 19, 2015
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 387
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★½
Amazon | Goodreads

Did I Mention I Need You, book two in the series, is most definitely my favourite! This book in no way suffers from second book syndrome, it's full of great story and a whole lot of fun. This book is set two years after DIMILY and follows Eden as she goes to spend the summer in New York with Tyler. I absolutely adored the setting, as I love New York, and was very impressed with Estelle's knowledge of the city, even more so when I discovered she had never even been until after writing this book. I also really loved the development in Eden and Tyler's relationship and to see how their dynamic changed when they were away from family and friends and didn't have to keep things secret. Tyler himself has grown so much between the first and second books, and while it would have been nice to see that growth as it happened, it was great to see how much he had progressed. He did still have a bit of a bad boy side in there though, which I really liked seeing. There is a bit of a cheating storyline in this book that didn't take away from my enjoyment, but did make me a little uncomfortable and may well be an issue for others. Once again, Estelle throws in a big shocker in the ending, as she did with book one, and makes you need to pick up the third book straight away. I can't praise this book enough, I loved it.

Did I Mention I Miss You?
Series: DIMILY #3
Published On: July 21, 2016
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★
Amazon | Goodreads

The third and final book in the series takes place a year after the events of DIMINY, during Eden's first summer of college. I had very mixed feelings at the beginning of this book because, for the first time during reading this series, I disliked Tyler! I thought his actions were unnecessary and actually found him to be very patronising throughout the book. He grows so much throughout the series but by the third book he isn't showing any of his former bad boy ways, so as a girl who likes a bad boy I kind of lost interest in him. However, there were many things I loved about this book. I loved seeing how Eden and Tyler dealt with not everything in their relationship being good, it made them seem more real and like an authentic relationship. I also found the situation with their family very interesting to read about, particularly as each family member was dealing with things in different ways. We also get another new setting in this book, which I won't disclose because spoilers, and I absolutely loved it. The settings in each of these books are so well written and explored that I feel as though I am visiting these places with the characters, and this setting was no exception. Overall, I think this was a great conclusion to the series as many of the issues arising throughout the series were addressed, as well as some great new plot points and twists introduced, but things weren't wrapped up in a neat little bow. I loved seeing all the characters in this series, not just Tyler and Eden but also their family and friends, grow and develop into the people they are by the end of book three and deal with all of the challenges life throws at them. I honestly feel like these characters are my friends and I have been on one hell of a journey with them.

Just Don't Mention It
Series: DIMILY #4 (kind of)
Published On: June 21, 2018
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 470
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★★
Amazon | Goodreads

Just Don't Mention It is a spin-off/companion novel to the DIMILY series, which follows two timelines told from Tyler's point of view. The first timeline, present day, is the first book in the series told from Tyler's point of view. The second timeline is five years prior to that telling the story of Tyler's life with his dad. This is a very, very tough book to read. On the one hand, it's great fun to go back to the start of Tyler and Eden's relationship and get to relive that story through Tyler's eyes. However, on the other hand, in the alternate chapters you have the story of Tyler's horrendous childhood and the horrific abuse he suffered. I really enjoyed the present day timeline, particularly as I spent much of DIMILY wondering what on earth Tyler was thinking. It was interesting to see situations from a different perspective and see what was going on when he wasn't with Eden. The past timeline is not something I can say I enjoyed, that definitely isn't the word to use. I found those parts to be incredibly difficult to read and just heartbreaking. Despite the content, they were very well written and such a difficult topic was covered with great sensitivity and maturity, which is impressive from someone so young. I was impressed with how well this book was written overall, and how easily it flipped from one timeline to the other so seamlessly, yet both stories felt completely different. I thought this was a great addition to the series and I felt as though I know Tyler so much better and understand the reasoning behind many of his actions.

Overall, I really love this series. It starts off as a pretty light, fluffy forbidden romance story but becomes so much more. As I mentioned, the characters are written so well that I feel as though they are my friends and I have experienced this journey with them. The settings are written so vividly that I feel as though I have been there. It blows my minds that this series is written by an author who has only recently turned 21! I can't wait to see what else is to come from Estelle Maskame, she is now one of my favourite authors and I will pick up anything she writes.

2018 Goals | Mid-Year Update

There comes a point in every year where I am struck down by the mother of all slumps. This slump tends to involve both reading and blogging, I have no motivation to do either. This is where I find myself right now, during the month I have the most time to devote to reading and blogging. In an attempt to get myself out of this slump and back on track, I thought it might be helpful to take a look back at the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year and see how I am doing on them now that we have passed the mid-way point of the year.

Goodreads Reading Challenge

Progress: 42/50

This is a number I am super happy about! I set my goal at 50 books every year and have never surpassed that number, in fact I usually don't even reach it. It isn't something I pay much attention to but it is nice to see that I have read way more than usual in the first half of the year. As long as this slump doesn't last too long, I think there's a pretty good chance I'll hit this goal by the end of the year.

Finish 5 Series

Progress: 1/5

I haven't done so well on finishing series so far this year. I was a lot more focused on this goal at the start of the year and then kind of forgot about it. I do still plan on finishing more series in the second half of the year but I'm not quite sure if I'll manage another four. The one series I have finished so far, the DIMILY trilogy by Estelle Maskame, I absolutely loved so that has definitely encouraged me to get reading the other series I have started.

Listen To 5 Audiobooks

Progress: 7/5

Smashed it! I went through a phase of listening to a lot of audiobooks, which meant that I had hit my goal of listening to 5 by May! I'm not raising this number to set myself a further goal but I would like to continue listening to audiobooks throughout the rest of the year as I have been really enjoying them.

Re-Read 5 Books

Progress: 2/5

Confession: I haven't re-read anything since January! This is another goal that I was very focused on at the start of the year and then just forgot about. I have been distracted by a lot of new releases and books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while, so despite wanting to re-read some old favourites I just haven't been doing so. I definitely want to focus more on this goal in the second half of the year.

Read 5 Before Buying

This goal has pretty much gone out the window. I have not been buying nearly as many books this year and if I had stuck to this goal and bought 1/2 new books with every 5 books read, I would probably have bought more. I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping my book buying under control, however I don't think this will continue with YALC coming up.

Physical TBR Under 100

At the start of the year, my physical TBR was sitting about around 130 books and I wanted to get this number under 100. Despite not buying a whole lot of physical books so far this year, I have been reading a lot more eBooks than usual and this has meant that my physical TBR has stayed around the 130 mark. I definitely need to make this a priority for the coming months.

Blog Consistently

I started off so well with this goal! I have been trying so hard to blog consistently this year, and actually managed pretty well in February, but life just got in the way. I have had a pretty tough first half of the year and so my blog has had to take a backseat. I don't know what is going to happen in the second half of the year but I am hopeful that I can get back to blogging as consistently as I can, at least once I get out of this stupid slump.

Revamp Reviews

I didn't really have any ideas in mind as to how I would do this nothing has really changed. I still don't know how I want to change things but I am getting bored of my reviews and just not wanting to write them at the moment. I really need to look into this properly.

Bookstagram

I tried. I failed again. I might try again but who knows.

In general, I'm pretty happy with how my year has gone so far. While I might not be on track with many of the goals I set myself, I have read a lot more than I usually do and have enjoyed the majority of books I have read. I plan to do a post focusing on my mid-year statistics, which I think will be quite interesting. For now though, how are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Sophie :)

Haul | June 2018

I did a new thing in the month of June. For the first time ever, I am sharing a book haul of all books I have read! I don't think I have ever done a monthly haul that has not included an unread book, but I have obviously just been very good at not adding to my physical TBR recently. Every book I bought in the month of June was either a book I had already read but wanted my own copy of, or one I read as soon as I got my hands on it.

Save The Date by Morgan Matson - As I mentioned in my June Wrap Up, this was one of my most anticipated releases on 2018. I pre-ordered this and as soon as it arrived I picked it up and started reading. That is something that almost never happens!

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord - When picking up Just Don't Mention It, there was a 'buy one get one half price' sale going on so I decided, rather than adding to my overwhelming physical TBR, to pick up something I had already read but didn't own. I listened to the audiobook of this a few years ago and loved it so decided to add it to my, still unread, collection of all of Emery Lord's other books.

DIMILY Trilogy by Estelle Maskame - I read the entire DIMILY trilogy on ebook, but after falling in love with it I know I needed the books on my shelves. They just look so beautiful alongside Just Don't Mention It and I know I'll be picking them up to reread in the future.

Just Don't Mention It by Estelle Maskame - This was published very shortly after I finished the DIMILY trilogy so, despite having an eARC from Netgalley, I rushed out to pick up my own copy as soon as I could just to have it in my hands and display alongside the trilogy.

I'm so happy with all of the books I purchased in June, and even happier that they don't hinder my goal of reducing my number of unread owned books by the end of the year. 

What books did you pick up in June?

Sophie :)

Wrap Up | June 2018

We have somehow made it to July already and, while I don't know how this happened, I am pretty happy to be here. I am finally free from uni for a couple of months, which means I can get back on top of the blogging thing. Despite struggling to find time to blog over the past couple of months, I have still be reading a good amount. I read seven books in the month of June, taking my total for the year so far up to 40! We're half way through the year and I only have ten books to go to reach my Goodreads goal! Fingers crossed I can keep it up and finally surpass by 50 book goal. But first, let's chat about the books I read in June.

The Shift by Theresa Brown -

This is another medical/nursing non-fiction book. This book follows one nurse, the author, over the course of one twelve hour shift. It gives an interesting insight into a typical day of a nurse and highlights many things that most people don't realise are part of the role of a nurse. I found it particularly interesting to see the differences between nursing in the US, where this book is set, and nursing in the UK. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to know a bit more about what nurses do, it was a very quick, enjoyable read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Did I Mention I Need You? by Estelle Maskame -

This is book two in the Did I Mention I Love You? trilogy, the first book of which I read last year. I was desperate to pick up the next book as soon as I finished the first, but for some reason I never did. The second book continues to tell Tyler & Eden's story, only this time they're in New York. I absolutely loved this book, and I'm sure the New York setting had a lot to do with it. I thought this was a great sequel and I really enjoyed seeing both characters develop.

Rating: 4.5/5 | Review To Come

Royals by Rachel Hawkins -

I was so excited about this book until I realised that it was set in Scotland and most of the characters were Scottish. This book follows a girl whose sister becomes engaged to the Prince of Scotland (*eye roll*) and she has to spend the summer living with him and his family. I would have absolutely loved this book if there was no mention of Scotland. It was so much fun to read and I really loved the characters. Unfortunately, this book had so many Scottish stereotypes and just incorrect information that, being Scottish myself, frustrated me. 

Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come

Did I Mention I Miss You? by Estelle Maskame -

Rather than leave forever between books in series, as I usually do, I decided to pick up book three in the DIMILY trilogy. It was great to see how Tyler and Eden's story concluded and I loved seeing just how much they both had grown from the first book. However, I didn't love Tyler quite as much in this book. I'm a suck for a bad boy and he just wasn't that guy anymore. Despite that, I did really enjoy this book and this it was a great conclusion to the trilogy. I didn't love it as much as DIMINY, but I did love this setting almost as much as New York.

Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come

Save The Date by Morgan Matson -

As Morgan Matson is one of my favourite authors, this book was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I picked this up as soon as it was in my possession, which is totally unlike me, and didn't want to put it down. This follow Charlie whose older sister is getting married, meaning her big crazy family will be back together again. However, not everything goes to plan and it is up to Charlie to save her sister's wedding. This was such a fun summer read and I loved it. It read like a movie and, as much as it was a little repetitive and predictable, it made me laugh out loud more than once. It also had a strong family focus, which I really enjoyed, and I loved reading about the siblings and their relationships with each other.
Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come

Just Don't Mention It by Estelle Maskame -
Conveniently, just as I finished the DIMILY trilogy, the 'spin off' novel, Just Don't Mention It, was published. This is Tyler's story and alternates between the Did I Mention I Love You timelines, and five years prior to that. Not only do we get to see the beginning of Tyler and Eden from another perspective, we also get to see Tyler's horrendous childhood and everything he went through. The two timelines were so different, one filled me with joy as I got to experience two of my favourite characters meeting for the first time again, while the other was so tough to read that it broke my heart. This was such a great addition to the series but it is definitely to a light, fluffy contemporary.
Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come

Floored by various authors -
Floored is a collaboration between seven of the best UKYA authors, following the lives of six strangers who meet in a lift one day and then, following the events in the lift, find themselves meeting on the same day every year. This was nothing at all like I was expecting. It was such a unique book, unlike anything I have read before, and so cleverly written. This is written by seven different authors, yet you couldn't tell at all as the writing flowed so well together. It felt like such a fast red, yet somehow covered so many important topics like sexuality, disability, social background and so much more. While I did really enjoy this book, I felt that the fact we only see these characters on that one day each year meant that we weren't really getting to see them develop, rather we were told how they had developed within the year.
Rating: 3.5/5 | Review To Come

Those were the 7 books I read in the month of June. I am really happy with my reading month, especially as my lowest rating for the whole month was 3.5/5 stars! I have high hopes for my July reading now.

What was the best book you read in the month of June?

Sophie :)