Here (a bit late) is my semi-annual review of the best novels I read this year! (These reviews are collected and abbreviated from my Goodreads account. Come friend me!)
The second half of 2025 was largely devoted to sequels, as I felt like tying up some loose ends. However, I will avoid spoilers for previous books so you can still check out the reviews and see if the series as a whole would interest you.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links to the books that you can purchase from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.
Horror
I haven’t read too many books by Stephen King, but I really like his style of segueing off into descriptions of characters and providing tons of detail. They’re always so colorful and interesting. That said, sometimes it does drag on a bit too much and doesn’t always add to the plot (or just adds too much), and I started skimming in the last 30 pages because I was eager to finish and begin something new. However, I really enjoyed ‘Salem’s Lot! It wasn’t overall as scary as I expected, but it definitely had its moments, and the story was not hurt for not being terrifying during every moment. As a whole, I would say this one was almost as much of a tragedy as it was a horror, and that’s good, too.
I liked the main characters a lot and am glad that those who were left in the end had each other, and loved the sweet bond they had built between them.
This was incredibly atmospheric and immersive–another thing I love about King’s writing! It was exactly the right vibe for the week before Halloween. So glad I finally picked this one up!
Fantasy
I was torn when I saw Stephanie Garber‘s name on the gorgeous cover of Alchemy of Secrets (seriously, is it not one of the prettiest covers you’ve ever seen?), because I absolutely loved Caraval (see my review for that one here), but thought the second two books in the series were some of the worst I’d ever read, and like to remember the first one as having ended somewhere right before the last page or so when it opens to a sequel. So even though this sounded amazing, I was afraid she couldn’t make magic twice.
I needn’t have worried. While her characters do still leave something to be desired, her worldbuilding is top-notch. Very rich and detailed, it draws you right in. This glamorous world full of Technicolor, Art Deco enchantment and Old Hollywood mystique was fun to play in. I especially loved the hotel scenes, as I’m a complete sucker for that type of thing.
The plot (and short chapters) kept the pages quickly turning. Although I did often find myself wondering if a lot of it was the B plot from Caraval. There were so many similarities, it often seemed like I was reading deleted scenes that got repurposed into a new story. I was okay with it, though, again because of the lush new world I was in that I wanted to know more about.
There were so many handsome men in this book, but I think if I had to pick a literary crush from this series, I’d probably go with Mason. Or maybe Adam. I don’t know. More data required. As I mentioned before, characterization is not really Garber’s strong suit, and I didn’t particularly like anyone, including the main character (maybe especially her–and her absent sister, who endlessly annoyed me from afar).
I wrote an extensive review of the first book in Marina & Sergey Dyachenko’s Vita Nostra series, so I’ll keep this one of Assassin of Reality quick. Rarely do sequels feel so naturally like a continuation of a story for me. It is almost as though this was written as part of the first book and then sliced off to be its own part. I’m not convinced that isn’t what happened, given the length of this one compared to the first one. And I’m not hating on that! I was overjoyed to pick right back up in Sascha’s world to find new creepiness, new weird punishments for failures and disobedience (including a hint at what is actually happening to all those students who don’t graduate).
I loved seeing the loyalty among all the students, watching them grow together. I loved certain professors and loathed others. I was sad to lose some favorites, and discomfited to learn some truths about what is happening to the students’ families outside the academy.
Just as in the first book, I found it difficult to visualize or grasp all the abstractism and had no clue what was going on most of the time, but again found myself not caring as I tore ravenously through to the end.
Amazon delivered School of Shards (the third book) to my house the very same night I finished this one as I was so eager to read it (the summary sounded fascinating), as well as another standalone novel from the same authors set in a completely different universe, but apparently just as dark, mysterious, and magical.
I’ve been obsessed with this mesmerizing series. This fitting conclusion was great, although not perfect. I didn’t love that certain things felt so repetitive from the first book, but I’m not sure there was a way around that. In fact, I think it was the point, in order to show how Sasha and certain other characters had evolved. Still, at times it got a bit tiresome, reading things I already knew.
What I loved, however, was finally getting some answers! I know others may disagree, because getting answers did necessarily take away from the mystification of it all, and I completely understand that, because it was something I loved about the whole series. I loved being wholly enmeshed and still not having a clue what was going on. But I do think the answers it supplied were necessary ones, and answers we deserved after surviving the first two books.
I can’t say too much about this one without spoilers. One observation I had, though, was about the writing style itself. I know that although he got to help plot it, one of the two writers sadly passed away before the writing itself could begin. So this was only written by one half of the original writing team. I don’t know if that’s why the writing felt more coherent and a bit less abstract than in the previous two books, or if it has something to do with the translator’s style evolving. But this book felt more English to me, and less Russian, in a way I can’t explain. It’s like it just flowed more smoothly, maybe. Maybe that’s because we were finally getting those answers we needed. I don’t know.
YA
I know Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s Ashes to Ashes is for teenagers, but I loved the Burn For Burn series so much! Right up until the very end. (Literally the last few pages.) I loved the growing friendship between the girls, the emotional highs and lows, the developing romance, the suspense.
This book was more thriller-like than the previous two–even at times bordering on horror. The overall direction the series took was not at all what I expected when I first picked up the first book, based on the covers and plot description. But I ended up enjoying it even more because of it, so I didn’t mind.
Although one of the characters went way off the rails in this one, I actually thought it fit the plot and her development well. It made complete sense for her after certain discoveries were made. So I really enjoyed watching that all play out.
That ending, though! What the heck was that!? I’m going to have to pretend that whole epilogue didn’t happen, because it honestly ruined everything it had been building towards. So if the last few pages/epilogue had gone in a completely different direction, this series would have been perfect. Alas.
Side note: After having read these and either read or tried a few others by both these same authors, I suspect I am more a Siobhan Vivian fan than a Jenny Han fan.
Maggie Stiefvater’s The Dream Thieves is the continuation of a really great series! I actually put off starting this one because Ronan was not my favorite character, so I was afraid I wasn’t going to enjoy a book focused mostly on him. And the concept didn’t initially strike me as interesting, for some reason, even though I was eager to get back to the main plot. I don’t know why–how could taking items out of dreams not be interesting!? Turns out, it very much is. I didn’t think about the fact that things would come out wrong, because they are dream things and not just normal things. Also, I like Ronan more now. (If anything, it was Adam who was driving me crazy in this one!)
I also enjoyed the introduction of Mr. Grey.
Even more excited to continue the series after the cliffhanger this one ended on!
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