Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

BEST BOOK I’VE READ IN 2026

TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors and his 2026 novella may just be his best release yet. It’s called We Burned So Bright. It follows an elderly gay couple who are going on a road trip to complete unfinished business before the world is swallowed by a black hole. In spite of its short length, this book manages to capture the spectrum of humanity and what makes us beautiful but also broken.

BEST SEQUEL I’VE READ IN 2026

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri. This is the second book in the Burning Kingdoms trilogy. Book 1, The Jasmine Throne, was already pretty perfect. Book 2 just took all the good things about that book and elevated them slightly. If you like morally grey characters like me, then I highly recommend this series as pretty much every character falls into that archetype. They’re beautifully written and the world building is a real standout.

NEW RELEASE HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

I got Cindy Pham’s debut YA fantasy The Secret Life of Briar Rose for my birthday this month, so I’ll go with that one. I’ve followed Cindy for a while because I love her sense of humor. My dream is to one day publish my own YA fantasy novel, so I am always keen to support debuts in the genre. It’s also a fairytale (Sleeping Beauty) retelling and I historically love those.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR SECOND HALF OF 2026

The sixth Truly Devious book, The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson. This YA mystery series has a special place in my heart for getting me into the mystery genre and its anxiety representation. It has become a comfort series for me and it’s been years since the fifth book came out. I am impatiently awaiting its releasing so I can get my hands on it!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The Lotus Empire which is the finale of the Burning Kingdoms trilogy. Please don’t take this as me saying the book is bad. As evidenced by my response to question 2, I love this series. I just didn’t think the writing in this third book was up to par with that of books 1 and 2.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

I don’t really have a response for this question. Every book I’ve loved this year I anticipated loving, and every book I went into either neutral or skeptical I ended up feeling meh about or disappointed by. I have honed my reading tastes over the years.

NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR

I will tentatively say Janice Hallett. I’ve read two of her books this year – The Appeal and The Twyford Code. I am always hungry for mystery books that have mixed media elements and both of these books are told ENTIRELY through mixed media. The Appeal is told largely through emails and The Twyford Code through transcribed voice notes. I feel like the ability to write an effective mystery and develop characters well in such unusual, innovative styles demonstrates what a good write Hallett is.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Reynald from This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews. He’s protective and a deadly fighter, so he’d make me feel safe if I were to find myself suddenly transported into a fantasy world like the protagonist of the book. He’s also got a dangerous edge that makes him all the more alluring.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

The same book as was my answer to question 1: We Burned So Bright. This book packs an emotional gut punch. I grew to care for the fates of the characters and was desperately hoping the world would somehow be miraculously saved at the novella’s end. 

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me – as a fantasy reader the concept of a book about a fellow fantasy reader being transported into her favorite fantasy series was tailor made for me. I was nervous it wouldn’t live up to my hopes as this was a new author to me, but it absolutely did! Also, A Theory in Dreaming by Ava Reid because it’s so important to have mental health representation in books and there isn’t a lot of it in the fantasy genre.

FAVORITE BOOK ADAPTATION

I don’t have an answer for this one as I haven’t watched any book adaptations this year.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

I didn’t buy this book, it was a birthday gift. Its cover is beautiful, the sprayed edges are stunning. The actual book beneath the dust jacket made me gasp. It has such a dreamy feeling to it.

BOOKS YOU REALLY NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

I would love to read (and do a ranking) of all of Janice Hallett’s books. I also need to read the books I got for my birthday: The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto, The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette, The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson, and the aforementioned The Secret Life of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham.