BEST AND WORST BOOKS OF 2020 (so far) l Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag.

**Heartstopper: A Mid-Year Book Freakout**

As I sat down to write this article, I couldn't help but think about my own reading experiences with the popular series, Heartstopper. The third installment of the series, which takes place on a class trip to Paris, was released and it's about Nick, Charlie, and their classmates exploring this new city and their new relationship together.

I have to admit, I found Volume Three to be my least favorite in the series. I really loved Volume Two, and this one just didn't have as much substance to it for me personally. However, I can see why others might enjoy it - it's a feel-good pick-me-up book that's impossible not to smile while reading.

For fans of the series, Volume Three is still worth checking out, but it may not be as memorable as some of the other installments. If you haven't picked up Heartstopper yet, I definitely recommend giving it a try - it's a wonderful coming-of-age story that explores themes of love, identity, and acceptance.

**Question 12: Most Beautiful Book**

If I had to choose a book with one of the most beautiful covers this year, I would have to say that City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert takes the prize. Initially, I was drawn in by the synopsis, which seemed similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The story follows a young woman living in 1940s New York City who lives at a playhouse with her aunt and becomes embroiled in a scandal that threatens to ruin her reputation.

However, as I read through the book, my enthusiasm began to wane. While the first half was absolutely wonderful, the second half of the book took a drastic turn for the worse. It became too domestic and focused on women's issues, which I still appreciated, but the plot didn't quite hold up for me.

**The Toll: A Promise to Finish**

Finally, I'd like to talk about The Toll by Neil Shusterman, the third and final installment in the Arc of a Side series. Unfortunately, I've fallen into a bit of a reading slump in recent months, and when that happens, it's easy to put off books until later.

As a fan of the series, I was determined to finish The Toll as soon as possible. However, after getting only 120 pages into the book, I realized that my enthusiasm had waned significantly compared to the previous two installments. While I loved Citra and Rowan, and the world they inhabit, I wasn't loving this book as much as I expected.

I've heard mixed reviews for The Toll, and that's something that's been concerning me lately - conclusions just aren't satisfying everyone anymore! I still can't wait to see what happens in the final installment, but I'll be starting over from the beginning soon and hoping to finish it before the end of the year.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's up hello my name is emma and today i'm going to be doing the mid-year book freakout tag i really love this tag i believe this is my fourth year in a row doing it and i just feel like these tag questions perfectly capture all of the different points that we want to be thinking about when we are reflecting on the first half of our reading year i will link the creators to this tag down below as well as my previous years if you want to check them out but today i'm going to be talking about the best books i've read this year the worst books i've read this year and what i'm planning on doing with the rest of my reading year question number one is the best book you have read in 2020 my answer is going to be the invisible life of addie larue by v.e schwab listen i know all of you are thinking emma what about chain of gold calm down i'm going to talk about chain of gold later i just can't use cassie for every answer in every video chain of gold is obviously a favorite of the year for me but the invisible life of addie larue really stands out to me as a super unique book and one of the most immaculate reading experiences i've ever had adi larue is a young woman living in 1700s france and she makes a deal with a devil in order to escape an arranged marriage and live a life of freedom so addie is able to be immortal but when she chooses that she is done with her soul she will give it to the demon i've been a big fan of ve schwab for many years now but i truly think addie larue is my favorite of her works i just feel like the writing and the storytelling and characterization is so complex and sophisticated in a way so many books don't reach this book has a beautifully dark atmosphere to it and i love the way the story splits between like 18 19th 20th century europe and present day new york addie is one of the most profound characters i've ever read about henry is so charming and their story together just blew my mind and the writing just the writing guys i can't stress it enough the writing question number two is best sequel that you've read in 2020 now i believe i have read only one sequel this year and it's great that i absolutely adored it that is the hand on the wall by maureen johnson and this is the third and final installment in the truly devious series i talk about truly devious a ton on my channel because i absolutely love it it is a mystery that is also told in a dual timeline first we followed characters in 1936 where the founder of an elite boarding school's wife and daughter goes missing and in present day we follow stevie bell who is traveling to ellingham academy to study true crime and is hell-bent on solving the cold case from all those years ago i feel like the best word to describe truly deviant for me is consistent it is just consistently good each installment is equally as good as the last which honestly i find a little rare sometimes the mystery and plot twists always keep you guessing the way that these two stories are interconnected is just very complex and by the end of it like all of the questions are answered and it's a very satisfying conclusion i did a reading vlog for the hand on the wall if you're a fan of the truly devious series i will link that below but this is an absolute favorite thriller series of mine if you're looking for like some spooky mysteries i definitely recommend it question number three is a new release you have not read yet but really want to and i am going to go with felix ever after by cason calendar felix ever after follows a gay transgender teen who is just trying to make it through high school and also maybe fall in love in the process but that gets made difficult when someone is anonymously posting transphobic messages about felix online like pictures of him before he transitioned and his dead name it also seems that there's supposed to be a love triangle in this book and like i don't know when the y community just like decided that we hated love triangles right off the bat but i really like a love triangle if it's done well i've been hearing nothing but rave reviews about this own voices debut contemporary i've been really excited to read it and i think it's one i'm going to be picking up very soon question number four is most anticipated new releases for the rest of the year i'm going to rattle off just a couple of titles i am really looking forward to the first is grown by tiffany d jackson grown follows a young girl who is an aspiring singer and gets swept under the wing of an older music producer and eventually their relationship turns very inappropriate i've loved everything i've read from tiffany d jackson so i have a high hope that it's going to be amazing next is queen of walt by amanda foody this is the third and final installment in the ace of shades series it's called the shadow game series the first book is called ace of shades i always do that i have been a huge fan of the shadow game series since it first came out the characters are all so interesting i love their interactions and i am hoping that amanda foodie is not going to break my heart by the end of this one because she definitely did with king of fools the magic system is so intriguing and the plot never disappoints so i'm really looking forward to the end of this amazing series i'm of course looking forward to the lost book of the white by cassandra clare and wesley chu this is the series following alec lightwood and magnus bane i don't actually know what the plot of the lost book of the white is so i'm suddenly even more excited about this book as it takes place kind of at the end of tales from the shadowhunter academy and it follows alec and magnus as two old acquaintances of magnus break into his house and steal the lost book of the white so the whole mortal instruments gang gets together and goes to shanghai in order to retrieve the lost book of the white my mom is like magnus bane's biggest fan i'm sorry if any of you feel that you reserve this title but it is definitely her she is currently reading the red scrolls of magic so i'm getting like real time updates from her and that's just making me even more excited for this release and finally i'm also so excited for blood and honey which is the sequel to serpent and dub by shelby maherin serpent and dove was one of my favorite books of 2019. it takes place in like 1600 1700s france and it follows a witch who is on the run and gets forced into a marriage with a witch hunter while having to conceal her identity this is another one that has a super compelling cast of characters and a very unique magic system shelby mahern is a new fave of mine i can't wait to read blood and honey i just know it's gonna be great question number five is biggest disappointment of the year i am unfortunately going to go with i'm thinking of ending things by ian reed i got recommended this book by my friends monica and elias they were just talking about how amazing this book was how the twist was so unexpected and because it was a thriller and i always trust the recommendations on thrillers i was all about it the premise of this book is it follows a girl who is on a road trip with her new boyfriend to meet his parents and on the way she is kind of reconsidering their relationship and thinking about ending things that's all you're supposed to know going in and it was also a very short read so i was really looking forward to it i thought the majority of the book was like fine it was definitely unsettling and interesting to read then it takes a turn and becomes very horrifying i know my experience reading it is like i was thinking about how me and absolutely anyone can get themselves involved in a dangerous situation like this without knowing listen i never claim to be the most comprehensive reader out there but never in my life have i finished a book and just not known what happened i listened to it like two more times no clue what's going on i get the ebook read it still don't really understand i go online so you got some discussions and explanations and then i'm just disappointed first off i felt the plot twist just made everything about the book pointless i totally understood what the author was trying to do the concept of it is really strong but just the way it played out i was not a fan of and personally as a mental health counselor the way the twist ties into mental illness was just kind of icky to me a lot of the explanations were talking about a very specific mental illness that is widely misrepresented in media and i just feel like this book did the same thing unfortunately not a fan i missed out on the hype of this one i thought it could have been great but it didn't work out in the end for me question number six is biggest surprise of the year and i'm going to go with they went left by monica hess this book takes place in 1945 germany and poland post world war ii it follows a girl named sophia who has recently been liberated from a concentration camp and is on the desperate hunt for her brother i had the amazing opportunity to partner with the barnes and noble for their ya book club and i hosted a discussion of this book with the author monica hess which i'll link below i had a feeling i would like this book because although i don't read a ton of historical fiction world war ii fiction is what i more gravitate towards but i did not expect it to love it as much as i did zofia is an incredibly strong and steadfast character i loved reading from her perspective and listening to the stories of all of these survivors of the holocaust that she meets along the way and that's what i really love about this book it is the stories of survivors if you read the author's note monica hess explains how many of the encounters in the story are things she has actually come across in research and it is just so grounded in history and reality there were also some really shocking twists in this book and i actually have a perfect recreation of what it made me physically do and that wasn't even the biggest surprise i love this book it's a beautiful story i think everyone should encounter and i would definitely recommend you pick it up question number seven is favorite new to you author i'm going to go with delia owens author of where the crawdads sing and this is her debut novel this story follows a girl named kaya who is growing up very poor in a marsh town in i believe north carolina she basically grows up alone left to fend for herself and this story really follows her coming of age story as well as the mystery of a boy that kaia used to know who ended up dead and because kaya is ostracized by the community she is one of the suspects i really loved this book this is another one where the writing absolutely blew me away and for that reason alone is why i would definitely pick up anything from delia owens in the future her descriptions of the setting were so beautiful and really made you feel like you were there and could experience the same things as the characters kaya was such a fascinating character to read from because her experience is completely polar opposite to mine and the story was told in a very unexpected way that kept me guessing at the very end this book got a lot of hype when it came out in 2019 so if you're someone like me who kind of missed that first wave i definitely think it's worth picking up question number eight is new fictional crush and unfortunately i do not have any new fictional crushes this year one of my favorite things about reading is falling head over in heels in love with the main protagonist it's something i can always count on to get me super invested in a book and it really has not happened yet this year i'm clearly mad about it question number nine is favorite new character and for this one i'm going to go with an entire cast from chain of gold by cassandra clare see i told you i'd talk about it chain of gold is the first installment in the newest series in the shadowhunter chronicles it takes place in 1900 london and follows the children of the main characters of the infernal devices series chain of gold has a really big cast of main characters it's a ton of siblings and cousins and friends who all interact together and they are honestly one of the most dynamic literary casts i have ever read what's so cool about cassie writing so many different series and novellas short stories in the same world is that with her most recent series we actually get to know the cast of characters before we even have the first book in their series i've read about james harrendale grace black thorne matthew fairchild anna lightwood and probably some more so it is really exciting to go into a series like already loving and knowing the backstories of each of these characters their bonds as family friends and lovers are so strong and the way that they all grow in not only individually but also as a group is just very striking i love each of them so incredibly much but i think my absolute favorite has to be lucy because i feel i very much identify with her i love reading about them they feel like real life friends to me and i'm so excited to continue on with their story question number 10 is a book that made you cry now i used to be a big book crier i would cry of books all the time and in recent years that's just something that does not happen for me anymore even when reading about like my favorite characters of all time going through absolute suffering like it doesn't make sense to me but i'm gonna go with a book that made me feel very emotional and that is heroin by mindy mcginnis and this is the story of a high school softball star who slowly falls into a heroin addiction i essentially read this book in one day i read like 50 pages at night and then the next day i spent the entire time just reading i refused to do anything else before i finished it this was such a moving story oh my god like the way that mickey could so easily be absolutely anybody regardless of your background or where you come from addiction is something that can influence every single one of us i actually just finished taking my substance abuse class for my masters in counseling so i think that also contributed to why i picked this one up but i can say with sincerity it is a solid portrayal of what it is like to live as a teenager with a drug addiction it's gritty dark and disturbing but absolutely raw if you are somebody who loves like a dark hard-hitting contemporary like this i definitely recommend picking it up on the flip side question number 11 is a book that made you happy and i am going to go with heart stopper volume 3 by alice oseman this is the third installment in the super popular queer graphic novel series called heart stopper it is an adorable story about two boys who go to a uk all boys school and become friends and then slowly start a relationship vol 3 takes place as nick charlie and all of their classmates go on a class trip to paris and so it is about them like exploring this new city and their new relationship together i have to say i think volume three is my least favorite in the heart stopper series i really loved volume two and this one just didn't have as much substance to it for me personally but it's such a feel-good pick-me-up book it's one that you cannot help but smile all the way through so if you haven't picked up heart stopper yet i definitely think it's worth it i know we all say that a heart stopper is amazing but just like trust us question number 12 is most beautiful book you have bought or received this year i have to say there's been a lot of really pretty covers this year but nothing i really want to say is like the most beautiful compared to previous years i do have a book cover that kind of like called out to me across this year and that is city of girls by elizabeth gilbert who is the author of eat pray love this book initially piqued my interest because the synopsis seemed kind of similar to the seven husbands of evelyn hugo it follows a girl living in 1940s new york city she lives at a playhouse with her aunt and lives this like glitzy glamorous life with other showgirls but she's involved in a massive scandal that could ruin her reputation so she has to leave the city and it just kind of follows her throughout telling this story of what happened and taking ownership back of her story so the premise is what really appealed to me but every time i would pass this book in bookstores the cover i would just like see it from a distance and i knew i wanted to read it it just like followed me everywhere until i bought it and i did get to reading it this year unfortunately i didn't love it as much as i expected to i loved the first half like the first half of this book i would give five stars completely it was wonderful the second half of the book kind of just like changed tone for me it went from being like very glamorous to being like very domestic and it was a very profound story featuring a lot of different women's issues which i really liked being explored it's just the plot didn't hold up for me in the second half still worth a read though and finally question number 13 is what books do you need to read before the end of the year i definitely want to read all of those anticipated releases coming out that i mentioned earlier but i have one book that i cannot believe i have not finished yet so i'd really like to make a promise to myself to finish it before the end of the year and that is the toll by neil shusterman which is the third and final conclusion in the arg of a side series what am i doing not finishing this book many of you know that the arc of a size series is an absolute favorite of vine i have two full in-depth reviews of the first two books and i'm planning on doing one for this last one i did actually start the toll around the end of 2019 was it 2019 yeah i think it was 2019. i did unfortunately fall into a bit of a reading slump and when that happens for me i know that if it's like an important book like the toll i just gotta put it on hold and come back to it when like my mind is all worked out i definitely wasn't loving the toll as much as the previous two books but i only got like 120 pages into it so i'm gonna start completely over from the beginning at some point this year and hopefully make it all the way through i unfortunately heard some mixed reviews for this one and that's like something a trend i've been noticing lately is just why conclusions aren't satisfying people lately so it makes me a little nervous but i love neil shusterman i love citra and rowan i love this world and i just can't wait to see what happens so that concludes my mid-year book freakout tag i really hope you guys enjoyed i gotta be honest while i have read some absolutely fantastic books this year overall this hasn't been my favorite reading year i haven't been reading as much as before i also haven't been loving books as frequently i've been doling out like a lot of three stars which is fine but i'm just looking for stories that are really gonna blow me away in the comments below i would love to know some of your favorite books that you've read so far in 2020 and what books are you looking forward to getting to before the end of the year but that is it for this video thank you guys so much for watching and i'll see you soon for a new one bye youhey what's up hello my name is emma and today i'm going to be doing the mid-year book freakout tag i really love this tag i believe this is my fourth year in a row doing it and i just feel like these tag questions perfectly capture all of the different points that we want to be thinking about when we are reflecting on the first half of our reading year i will link the creators to this tag down below as well as my previous years if you want to check them out but today i'm going to be talking about the best books i've read this year the worst books i've read this year and what i'm planning on doing with the rest of my reading year question number one is the best book you have read in 2020 my answer is going to be the invisible life of addie larue by v.e schwab listen i know all of you are thinking emma what about chain of gold calm down i'm going to talk about chain of gold later i just can't use cassie for every answer in every video chain of gold is obviously a favorite of the year for me but the invisible life of addie larue really stands out to me as a super unique book and one of the most immaculate reading experiences i've ever had adi larue is a young woman living in 1700s france and she makes a deal with a devil in order to escape an arranged marriage and live a life of freedom so addie is able to be immortal but when she chooses that she is done with her soul she will give it to the demon i've been a big fan of ve schwab for many years now but i truly think addie larue is my favorite of her works i just feel like the writing and the storytelling and characterization is so complex and sophisticated in a way so many books don't reach this book has a beautifully dark atmosphere to it and i love the way the story splits between like 18 19th 20th century europe and present day new york addie is one of the most profound characters i've ever read about henry is so charming and their story together just blew my mind and the writing just the writing guys i can't stress it enough the writing question number two is best sequel that you've read in 2020 now i believe i have read only one sequel this year and it's great that i absolutely adored it that is the hand on the wall by maureen johnson and this is the third and final installment in the truly devious series i talk about truly devious a ton on my channel because i absolutely love it it is a mystery that is also told in a dual timeline first we followed characters in 1936 where the founder of an elite boarding school's wife and daughter goes missing and in present day we follow stevie bell who is traveling to ellingham academy to study true crime and is hell-bent on solving the cold case from all those years ago i feel like the best word to describe truly deviant for me is consistent it is just consistently good each installment is equally as good as the last which honestly i find a little rare sometimes the mystery and plot twists always keep you guessing the way that these two stories are interconnected is just very complex and by the end of it like all of the questions are answered and it's a very satisfying conclusion i did a reading vlog for the hand on the wall if you're a fan of the truly devious series i will link that below but this is an absolute favorite thriller series of mine if you're looking for like some spooky mysteries i definitely recommend it question number three is a new release you have not read yet but really want to and i am going to go with felix ever after by cason calendar felix ever after follows a gay transgender teen who is just trying to make it through high school and also maybe fall in love in the process but that gets made difficult when someone is anonymously posting transphobic messages about felix online like pictures of him before he transitioned and his dead name it also seems that there's supposed to be a love triangle in this book and like i don't know when the y community just like decided that we hated love triangles right off the bat but i really like a love triangle if it's done well i've been hearing nothing but rave reviews about this own voices debut contemporary i've been really excited to read it and i think it's one i'm going to be picking up very soon question number four is most anticipated new releases for the rest of the year i'm going to rattle off just a couple of titles i am really looking forward to the first is grown by tiffany d jackson grown follows a young girl who is an aspiring singer and gets swept under the wing of an older music producer and eventually their relationship turns very inappropriate i've loved everything i've read from tiffany d jackson so i have a high hope that it's going to be amazing next is queen of walt by amanda foody this is the third and final installment in the ace of shades series it's called the shadow game series the first book is called ace of shades i always do that i have been a huge fan of the shadow game series since it first came out the characters are all so interesting i love their interactions and i am hoping that amanda foodie is not going to break my heart by the end of this one because she definitely did with king of fools the magic system is so intriguing and the plot never disappoints so i'm really looking forward to the end of this amazing series i'm of course looking forward to the lost book of the white by cassandra clare and wesley chu this is the series following alec lightwood and magnus bane i don't actually know what the plot of the lost book of the white is so i'm suddenly even more excited about this book as it takes place kind of at the end of tales from the shadowhunter academy and it follows alec and magnus as two old acquaintances of magnus break into his house and steal the lost book of the white so the whole mortal instruments gang gets together and goes to shanghai in order to retrieve the lost book of the white my mom is like magnus bane's biggest fan i'm sorry if any of you feel that you reserve this title but it is definitely her she is currently reading the red scrolls of magic so i'm getting like real time updates from her and that's just making me even more excited for this release and finally i'm also so excited for blood and honey which is the sequel to serpent and dub by shelby maherin serpent and dove was one of my favorite books of 2019. it takes place in like 1600 1700s france and it follows a witch who is on the run and gets forced into a marriage with a witch hunter while having to conceal her identity this is another one that has a super compelling cast of characters and a very unique magic system shelby mahern is a new fave of mine i can't wait to read blood and honey i just know it's gonna be great question number five is biggest disappointment of the year i am unfortunately going to go with i'm thinking of ending things by ian reed i got recommended this book by my friends monica and elias they were just talking about how amazing this book was how the twist was so unexpected and because it was a thriller and i always trust the recommendations on thrillers i was all about it the premise of this book is it follows a girl who is on a road trip with her new boyfriend to meet his parents and on the way she is kind of reconsidering their relationship and thinking about ending things that's all you're supposed to know going in and it was also a very short read so i was really looking forward to it i thought the majority of the book was like fine it was definitely unsettling and interesting to read then it takes a turn and becomes very horrifying i know my experience reading it is like i was thinking about how me and absolutely anyone can get themselves involved in a dangerous situation like this without knowing listen i never claim to be the most comprehensive reader out there but never in my life have i finished a book and just not known what happened i listened to it like two more times no clue what's going on i get the ebook read it still don't really understand i go online so you got some discussions and explanations and then i'm just disappointed first off i felt the plot twist just made everything about the book pointless i totally understood what the author was trying to do the concept of it is really strong but just the way it played out i was not a fan of and personally as a mental health counselor the way the twist ties into mental illness was just kind of icky to me a lot of the explanations were talking about a very specific mental illness that is widely misrepresented in media and i just feel like this book did the same thing unfortunately not a fan i missed out on the hype of this one i thought it could have been great but it didn't work out in the end for me question number six is biggest surprise of the year and i'm going to go with they went left by monica hess this book takes place in 1945 germany and poland post world war ii it follows a girl named sophia who has recently been liberated from a concentration camp and is on the desperate hunt for her brother i had the amazing opportunity to partner with the barnes and noble for their ya book club and i hosted a discussion of this book with the author monica hess which i'll link below i had a feeling i would like this book because although i don't read a ton of historical fiction world war ii fiction is what i more gravitate towards but i did not expect it to love it as much as i did zofia is an incredibly strong and steadfast character i loved reading from her perspective and listening to the stories of all of these survivors of the holocaust that she meets along the way and that's what i really love about this book it is the stories of survivors if you read the author's note monica hess explains how many of the encounters in the story are things she has actually come across in research and it is just so grounded in history and reality there were also some really shocking twists in this book and i actually have a perfect recreation of what it made me physically do and that wasn't even the biggest surprise i love this book it's a beautiful story i think everyone should encounter and i would definitely recommend you pick it up question number seven is favorite new to you author i'm going to go with delia owens author of where the crawdads sing and this is her debut novel this story follows a girl named kaya who is growing up very poor in a marsh town in i believe north carolina she basically grows up alone left to fend for herself and this story really follows her coming of age story as well as the mystery of a boy that kaia used to know who ended up dead and because kaya is ostracized by the community she is one of the suspects i really loved this book this is another one where the writing absolutely blew me away and for that reason alone is why i would definitely pick up anything from delia owens in the future her descriptions of the setting were so beautiful and really made you feel like you were there and could experience the same things as the characters kaya was such a fascinating character to read from because her experience is completely polar opposite to mine and the story was told in a very unexpected way that kept me guessing at the very end this book got a lot of hype when it came out in 2019 so if you're someone like me who kind of missed that first wave i definitely think it's worth picking up question number eight is new fictional crush and unfortunately i do not have any new fictional crushes this year one of my favorite things about reading is falling head over in heels in love with the main protagonist it's something i can always count on to get me super invested in a book and it really has not happened yet this year i'm clearly mad about it question number nine is favorite new character and for this one i'm going to go with an entire cast from chain of gold by cassandra clare see i told you i'd talk about it chain of gold is the first installment in the newest series in the shadowhunter chronicles it takes place in 1900 london and follows the children of the main characters of the infernal devices series chain of gold has a really big cast of main characters it's a ton of siblings and cousins and friends who all interact together and they are honestly one of the most dynamic literary casts i have ever read what's so cool about cassie writing so many different series and novellas short stories in the same world is that with her most recent series we actually get to know the cast of characters before we even have the first book in their series i've read about james harrendale grace black thorne matthew fairchild anna lightwood and probably some more so it is really exciting to go into a series like already loving and knowing the backstories of each of these characters their bonds as family friends and lovers are so strong and the way that they all grow in not only individually but also as a group is just very striking i love each of them so incredibly much but i think my absolute favorite has to be lucy because i feel i very much identify with her i love reading about them they feel like real life friends to me and i'm so excited to continue on with their story question number 10 is a book that made you cry now i used to be a big book crier i would cry of books all the time and in recent years that's just something that does not happen for me anymore even when reading about like my favorite characters of all time going through absolute suffering like it doesn't make sense to me but i'm gonna go with a book that made me feel very emotional and that is heroin by mindy mcginnis and this is the story of a high school softball star who slowly falls into a heroin addiction i essentially read this book in one day i read like 50 pages at night and then the next day i spent the entire time just reading i refused to do anything else before i finished it this was such a moving story oh my god like the way that mickey could so easily be absolutely anybody regardless of your background or where you come from addiction is something that can influence every single one of us i actually just finished taking my substance abuse class for my masters in counseling so i think that also contributed to why i picked this one up but i can say with sincerity it is a solid portrayal of what it is like to live as a teenager with a drug addiction it's gritty dark and disturbing but absolutely raw if you are somebody who loves like a dark hard-hitting contemporary like this i definitely recommend picking it up on the flip side question number 11 is a book that made you happy and i am going to go with heart stopper volume 3 by alice oseman this is the third installment in the super popular queer graphic novel series called heart stopper it is an adorable story about two boys who go to a uk all boys school and become friends and then slowly start a relationship vol 3 takes place as nick charlie and all of their classmates go on a class trip to paris and so it is about them like exploring this new city and their new relationship together i have to say i think volume three is my least favorite in the heart stopper series i really loved volume two and this one just didn't have as much substance to it for me personally but it's such a feel-good pick-me-up book it's one that you cannot help but smile all the way through so if you haven't picked up heart stopper yet i definitely think it's worth it i know we all say that a heart stopper is amazing but just like trust us question number 12 is most beautiful book you have bought or received this year i have to say there's been a lot of really pretty covers this year but nothing i really want to say is like the most beautiful compared to previous years i do have a book cover that kind of like called out to me across this year and that is city of girls by elizabeth gilbert who is the author of eat pray love this book initially piqued my interest because the synopsis seemed kind of similar to the seven husbands of evelyn hugo it follows a girl living in 1940s new york city she lives at a playhouse with her aunt and lives this like glitzy glamorous life with other showgirls but she's involved in a massive scandal that could ruin her reputation so she has to leave the city and it just kind of follows her throughout telling this story of what happened and taking ownership back of her story so the premise is what really appealed to me but every time i would pass this book in bookstores the cover i would just like see it from a distance and i knew i wanted to read it it just like followed me everywhere until i bought it and i did get to reading it this year unfortunately i didn't love it as much as i expected to i loved the first half like the first half of this book i would give five stars completely it was wonderful the second half of the book kind of just like changed tone for me it went from being like very glamorous to being like very domestic and it was a very profound story featuring a lot of different women's issues which i really liked being explored it's just the plot didn't hold up for me in the second half still worth a read though and finally question number 13 is what books do you need to read before the end of the year i definitely want to read all of those anticipated releases coming out that i mentioned earlier but i have one book that i cannot believe i have not finished yet so i'd really like to make a promise to myself to finish it before the end of the year and that is the toll by neil shusterman which is the third and final conclusion in the arg of a side series what am i doing not finishing this book many of you know that the arc of a size series is an absolute favorite of vine i have two full in-depth reviews of the first two books and i'm planning on doing one for this last one i did actually start the toll around the end of 2019 was it 2019 yeah i think it was 2019. i did unfortunately fall into a bit of a reading slump and when that happens for me i know that if it's like an important book like the toll i just gotta put it on hold and come back to it when like my mind is all worked out i definitely wasn't loving the toll as much as the previous two books but i only got like 120 pages into it so i'm gonna start completely over from the beginning at some point this year and hopefully make it all the way through i unfortunately heard some mixed reviews for this one and that's like something a trend i've been noticing lately is just why conclusions aren't satisfying people lately so it makes me a little nervous but i love neil shusterman i love citra and rowan i love this world and i just can't wait to see what happens so that concludes my mid-year book freakout tag i really hope you guys enjoyed i gotta be honest while i have read some absolutely fantastic books this year overall this hasn't been my favorite reading year i haven't been reading as much as before i also haven't been loving books as frequently i've been doling out like a lot of three stars which is fine but i'm just looking for stories that are really gonna blow me away in the comments below i would love to know some of your favorite books that you've read so far in 2020 and what books are you looking forward to getting to before the end of the year but that is it for this video thank you guys so much for watching and i'll see you soon for a new one bye you\n"