Trying to figure out my favourite book of the year (& suffering) 😩 2025 Book Bracket 📖

Assassin's Quest, I had more critiques, but I ended up still loving it enough to give it five stars.

This was read in my Halloween horror reading vlog. Loved it. Five stars.

This is fantasy and it's a really beautiful exploration of its many themes. It's very well written. The characterization is great.

This one had a bit of a slower start. I wasn't sure if I was going to get along with it, but I ended up really loving it by the end.

While I really loved it, it was sort of teetering between I was thinking sort of sitting at four and a half stars for it and I ended up bumping it up.

Although Gideon the Ninth is also fighting for first place.

Girl, Woman, Other again didn't impact me as emotionally as the other ones, but I did love it. I don't want to eliminate it, but I only have three spots, so I think I'm going to eliminate it. But it's really fantastic.

This is by far my favorite Emily Henry I've ever read.

While I love Nona the Ninth, it's not my favorite in the series so far, The Locked Tomb. That would probably be Harrow the Ninth.

In February, I had many more five-star reads in part because I read the entire Heartstoppper series, volumes one through five, and each one of the volumes got five stars.

In February, I had many more five-star reads in part because I read the entire Heartstoppper series, volumes one through five, and each one of the volumes got five stars.

This book is a really gorgeous exploration of grief. and we have a very prominent trans character and their transition was handled in a really gorgeous way. Just all the characters were amazing.

How to read now I'm going to cut as much as I really liked it because I'm not as big of a non-fiction fan and it was really fantastic, but fiction usually just lingers with me longer and I think that will be the case for most of these again.

As much as I loved it, I still would put Natural Beauty above it in terms of Lingling Lling Huang's work.

Beautifully written, great characterization and a really respectful, thoughtful exploration of the kind of suffering that indigenous people were put through systemically in Canada.

As much as I love Ladies and Hating, and it's gone to the top of my list. You know, one of my favorite romances I've ever read, it definitely didn't make me as emotional as a lot of these other books.

I loved it, but not as much as the first book, Legends and Lattes.

Myra was really fantastic. One of my favorite horror reads of the year, but also not as emotionally impactful.

this second book from an author whose debut novel I was obsessed with. I loved so much, Natural Beauty.

While I love Nona the Ninth, it's not my favorite in the series so far, The Locked Tomb.

This was a reread for my book club, so it's going to be eliminated, but I do love this book. It's sci-fi African futurist. Really great.

Honestly, I think Pet Cemetery it ju it broke me y'all.

It just hit me on a whole other level and I was really deeply moved by it and it's just one of those books that it I could not make a favorite reads of this year list without it on it.

I've already read it in the past, so it's great, but it's not going to be included.

Royal Assassin, I just loved from beginning to end and was definitely my favorite of this trilogy.

It's great, but I think The Marrow Thieves and Indian Horse do the subject matter a little bit better for my own personal taste, even though Sugar Falls was still a five-st star read.

I actually put the very infrequently used life-changing tag on it in my notion reading tracker. It's the kind of book that I think everyone should read.

The Angel's Game is my favorite that were better for me than The Labyrinth of Spirits.

I've read this book easily 20 plus times. So, I love it, but it's not really fair to include it here.

I really liked The Hounding, but I think it again doesn't hit me quite as hard in that emotional place as some of these other options.

The Labyrinth of Spirits was also really great and I loved that series. But I will say that there were earlier books in the series. The Angel's Game is my favorite that were better for me than The Labyrinth of Spirits.

It's was originally a short story as part of a larger collection and then published on its own. It's great. I loved it, but I don't know.

It was also gorgeous, beautifully written, very emotional, amazing characters, made me cry so many times.

The Master of Margarita was really fantastic, but also didn't hit me as hard emotionally. It's more of a comedy and interesting thematic exploration.

And then The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, which was a reread after reading Among the Burning Flowers for my sequels reading vlog. and I gave it five stars yet again, but it's a reread, so eliminated here.

Then The Valley of Horses by Gene M. Owl. This was a reread that I've read many times, so I'm going to eliminate it here.

The Life of Chuck by Stephen King and The Waves by Virginia Wolf. Both of these were read in an experimental fiction reading vlog that I did and they were both incredible. Five stars.

We Love You Bunny was amazing. I loved it. I had so much fun with it.

I just found it to be a very touching story and it's really stayed with me. The character work was amazing. Again, a trans main character and written by a trans author and just really gorgeously done.