I always look forward to putting together my best books of the year list, and 2025 was no different. I read exactly 100 books last year, and of those books, I rated 23 of them 5-stars. Not my most successful reading year, but definitely not my worst! I still read so many great books that I'm excited to share...
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
I have such a vivid memory of reading Annie Bot on the beach during my trip to Alicante in January. It follows Annie, a ‘cuddle bunny’ robot created for her owner, Doug. Before the start of the book, Doug switches Annie into autodidact mode, which allows her to learn, adapt and develop her own personality, gradually becoming more human.
While this is marketed as sci-fi and does explore themes around what it means to be human, I would argue it’s more of a character study.
The author deliberately makes you uncomfortable as you follow Annie through an abusive relationship, watching her grapple with emotions she doesn’t fully understand. The writing itself is very accessible but still incredibly thought-provoking. The audiobook is also beautifully narrated. It made the experience even more powerful, as it felt like I had Annie’s voice in my head.
The New Age of Sexism by Laura Bates
The New Age of Sexism by Laura Bates explores how emerging technologies disproportionately harm women and people of colour. It examines how some people dismiss the very real harm that intimate image abuse (or “deepfakes”) can cause because they claim it’s “not real”. The book includes interviews with people who have been directly affected, and the author also discusses the work she has done with young people in schools who may not realise or appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions.
It felt well researched, and you can really feel Laura Bates’ passion for the topic. It made me feel anxious and frustrated, but I would recommend picking it up if it’s something you’re interested in learning more about.
A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Wayfarers series made me fall in love with cosy sci-fi last year. Each book in the series works as a standalone, and while books two and three were stronger for me, this first instalment was still a five-star read.
It takes place in the distant future, where humanity has left Earth and integrated into the wider galaxy. This first book focuses on the relationships between the crew of a ship made up of humans and various alien species. What I loved most was how it explores the importance of understanding and respecting other cultures.
I loved learning about the different alien cultures, and I also appreciated the moments where characters actively try to understand one another’s needs.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This has officially become one of my favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid novels, and it made me cry harder than any other book I read in 2025!
Atmosphere follows Joan, one of the first women accepted into NASA’s space shuttle programme. The book opens with a crisis during a space mission, but the main timeline follows Joan as she joins the programme and navigates the pressure placed on her and the other women as they pave the way for future generations.
The characters are layered and nuanced, and it also features a sapphic love story, which I thought was beautifully written.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
I read this the week it came out, and I’m so glad I went in knowing nothing about the plot because it was so much more fun to discover it for myself!
This is a slow, atmospheric, character-driven novel that initially follows two main timelines - one in 2019 and one in the 1500s. The historical timeline in particular explores how women were treated as little more than wives and mothers. How some characters may want to deviate from that. How vampirism may offer them that opportunity.
It’s not a unique take on vampires; however, I love it when you can feel that an author has poured their heart and soul into crafting a story.
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
This follows a woman who once had the potential to become one of the most powerful witches in Britain. As a teenager, she cast a spell that went terribly wrong, which not only stripped her of most of her magic but also got her banished from the witches’ guild.
Now an adult, she helps run an inn in Lancashire with her aunt, until an opportunity arises that might allow her to reclaim her powers… with the help of a very attractive historian.
This is marketed as romantasy, and I’m a little unsure about that label. The romance was cute, although it did seem to escalate very quickly! What really made this book special for me was the found family.
So many of the characters who live at the inn have been made to feel unwelcome in their pasts, and they now go out of their way to make others feel included. It was incredibly wholesome and heart-warming.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
My favourite romance book of the year and the book that reminded me I can still love romance novels!
It follows Alexis and Daniel, two people from very different worlds who meet, fall in love, and try to navigate the issues that arise between them.
Daniel, the love interest, gives strong golden retriever energy. I loved how much he adored Alexis (even when she didn’t necessarily deserve it!).
Alexis is an ER doctor who comes from a family of surgeons and experiences a lot of pressure from her parents to “continue the family legacy”. Her ex was emotionally abusive, so this definitely isn’t a light-hearted read. I appreciated how strongly it focused on the emotional connection between the characters. There was so much chemistry between them, even though there’s very little spice, and I found myself rooting for them to find a way to make their relationship work.
The Good House by Tananarive Due
I picked this up after loving The Reformatory, and while the two are very different, The Good House completely absorbed me.
The story follows Angela, who inherits a house from her grandmother after she passes away. In the summer of 2001, an unexpected tragedy rips Angela’s family apart. Two years later, she is beginning to move past her grief and feels ready to revisit the rural house she once loved so much. However, since she left, more tragedies have occurred, and Angela begins to wonder whether they are somehow connected.
This spirals into a genuinely creepy, paranormal horror. I think some people may be put off by the length (it’s nearly 600 pages long), but I felt that time was necessary to allow the characters to fully develop, and the Washington State setting felt incredibly rich and alive.
The Paper Menagerie (and other stories) by Ken Liu
I don’t read many short story collections, but I loved almost every story in this one. I have since recommended it to so many people, and it's made me excited to read Ken Liu's full-length series The Dandelion Dynasty.
The title story, The Paper Menagerie, is a beautiful exploration of identity through the eyes of a mixed-race child and was one of my favourites in the collection. State Change is another story that has stuck with me; it asks the question: what would it mean if your soul existed as an object outside your body?
The Man Who Ended History was one of the most emotionally impactful stories. A scientist invents a way to virtually travel back in time and witness historical events. The story examines the atrocities committed by the Japanese against the Chinese during WWII, explores how history is sometimes covered up for political reasons, and considers the repercussions of this discovery.
It was difficult to read, but unflinching, and in my opinion, extremely powerful.
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
There may be some recency bias here, as I read this right at the end of the year, but this book hooked me immediately.
Set in a vaguely dystopian future, it follows a main character called Lily, who is taking part in a reality TV show where beautiful twenty-somethings live together for months, completing challenges for prizes.
It includes the commentary you would expect on reality TV and how producers manipulate events to create a storyline. Lily openly admits she is quite vapid and driven by consumerism and doesn’t feel she has much to offer the group. The character dynamics were fascinating, and I loved how it maintained an unsettling tone throughout.
This book is marketed as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, which is fairly accurate. However, it’s easy to assume that books about reality TV are ‘trashy’ or ‘fun,’ whereas this felt more like an intense survival story.
Let me know in the comments if you've read any of my best books of 2025 or if you're excited to pick them up!
