Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag | 2020

Happy Saturday and welcome to my Mid Year Book Freak Out!

Every year I see other people start posting their Mid Year Book Freak Out and I’m like, hey I’ll do that this year! And yet… records indicate this is the first year I’m actually doing it (and it’s still like a month and a half late). So now without any further ado, let’s see how 2020 is shaping up (reading wise, let’s not even get into how the world is doing)

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children #1
Published on April 5, 2016 by Tor.com
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 173
Add to Goodreads

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward ChildrenNo SolicitationsNo VisitorsNo Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.

I’m only including all the info for the first one, but really all the Wayward Children books are the best. I read the first five all at once, so in my head it’s more like one big story than five smaller ones.

This one’s a tie!

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
Series: Dread Nation #2
Published on February 4, 2020 by Balzer + Bray
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, YA, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 560
Add to Goodreads

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.
But nothing is easy when you're a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880's America.
What's more, this safe haven is not what it appears - as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.
But she won't be in it alone.
Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by - and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.
Watching Jane's back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it's up to Katherine to keep hope alive - even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
Series: Camelot Rising
Also in this series: The Guinevere Deception, The Camelot Betrayal
Published on November 10, 2020 by Delacorte Press
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, YA, Queer
Pages: 384
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram

EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom’s influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.
Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde, Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen’s knight, and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere–the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn’t belong. She never will.
When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving–Camelot, or herself?

Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin
Series: Foul is Fair #1
Published on February 18, 2020 by Wednesday Books
Genres: Contemporary, Retellings, YA, Queer
Pages: 336
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Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.
They picked the wrong girl.
Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.
Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes.

It took me forever to read The Dead Queens Club, and then I ended up loving it even more than I thought I would, so I’m not sure why it’s taking me so long to read Foul is Fair.…

Here’s a post about my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2020. But if you’re just looking for one…

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Inheritance Games #1
Also in this series: The Hawthorne Legacy
Published on September 29, 2020 by Brown Books for Young Readers, Little
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, YA
Pages: 384
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why--or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch--and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.
Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a con-woman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

I know this is supposed to be about books, but this is definitely book related, so I’m going to go ahead and say everything that happened with the FFBC Blog Tours was the biggest disappointment of 2020.

The Vanishing Girl by Josephine Ruby
Series: Daphne and Velma #1
Published on March 3, 2020Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Retellings, YA
Pages: 262
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Popular Daphne Blake and über-nerd Velma Dinkley are not friends. They aren’t enemies either, but they don't have any reason to speak to each other, and that’s how they prefer it. The two girls grew up together—they’d been best friends since pre-K—but when they hit middle school, Daphne dropped Velma and never looked back.
These days, Daphne’s deep in the popular crowd, daughter of the richest family in town, while Velma’s an outsider, hiding from the world behind her thick glasses. When they run into each other in the halls of Crystal Cove High, they look the other way.
But then Daphne's best friend, Marcy—who happens to be Velma’s cousin—goes missing. A century ago, there was a wave of disappearances in Crystal Cove, and many local people believe that supernatural forces were behind it. Now the whole town believes those same forces are back . . . and up to no good.
Daphne and Velma may be the only ones who can solve the mystery and save Marcy—if they can trust each other enough to try. Especially since the truth might be stranger—and scarier—than either girl can imagine . . .

I was expecting to like the book (of course I was, who reads something they don’t expect to like), but I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I do!

Sadly, it’s been a long time since I had one of those.

Okay, technically these aren’t my newest favorite characters, but they are my absolute favorite characters from the books I just finished reading.

Now I Rise by Kiersten White
Published on June 27, 2017 by Delacorte Press
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, YA, Queer
Pages: 471
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram

She has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself.
After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada Dracul is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.
What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?
As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won…and souls will be lost.

Honestly most of the books I’ve read so far in 2020 have made me cry for one reason or another, but these three specifically made me cry because of their descriptions of being ace.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children #1
Published on April 5, 2016 by Tor.com
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 173
Add to Goodreads

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward ChildrenNo SolicitationsNo VisitorsNo Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
Series: Dread Nation #2
Published on February 4, 2020 by Balzer + Bray
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, YA, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 560
Add to Goodreads

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.
But nothing is easy when you're a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880's America.
What's more, this safe haven is not what it appears - as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.
But she won't be in it alone.
Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by - and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.
Watching Jane's back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it's up to Katherine to keep hope alive - even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller
Published on February 4, 2020 by Sourcebooks Fire
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 384
Add to Goodreads
Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Tumblr

Emilie des Marais is more at home holding scalpels than embroidery needles and is desperate to escape her noble roots to serve her country as a physician. But society dictates a noble lady cannot perform such gruesome wor.
Annette Boucher, overlooked and overworked by her family, wants more from life than her humble beginnings and is desperate to be trained in magic. So when a strange noble girl offers Annette the chance of a lifetime, she accepts.
Emilie and Annette swap lives—Annette attends finishing school as a noble lady to be trained in the ways of divination, while Emilie enrolls to be a physician’s assistant, using her natural magical talent to save lives.
But when their nation instigates a frivolous war, Emilie and Annette must work together to help the rebellion end a war that is based on lies.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Published on July 2, 2020 by Scholastic
Genres: Contemporary, YA, Queer
Pages: 324
Add to Goodreads

Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.
The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

Once again, I made a whole post about this, but if you’re just looking for one…

Spellhacker by M.K. England
Published on January 21, 2020 by HarperTeen
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Queer
Pages: 416
Add to Goodreads

In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.
Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.
But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.
No pressure.

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
Published on January 14, 2020 by Feiwel & Friends
Genres: Alternate History, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Retellings, YA, Queer
Pages: 309
Add to Goodreads
Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.
Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.

And that’s it! Have you done the Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag yet? Be sure to link it up in the comments if you have and don’t forget to have a splendiferous day!