Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag 2025

BEST BOOK I’VE READ IN 2025

This is a tough one, because I have three books that are essentially tied for first place.

The first one is a sequel, so I’ll leave it for the following question. The second one is The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale which is an adult cozy thriller. This book deals with domestic violence, so be mindful of that if you think it may trigger you. I grew to care immeasurably about the characters and loved the female friendships and empowerment in the story.

The third book is A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. This is a YA fantasy (some classify it as romantasy). It’s about two university students who find themselves in a crumbling house by the sea investigating a famous and recently deceased author. I ranked this book so high for several reasons. The first is I connected with this story both as a fairy tale lover and as a writer myself. The novel is an ode to the art and power of storytelling. The second reason is that it has great atmosphere. Finally, it also features themes of feminism. There were a number of times reading that I felt the treatment of women in Effy’s world all too closely mirrored the realities of being a woman in 2025’s America.

BEST SEQUEL I’VE READ IN 2025

The aforementioned sequel that is my favorite is Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland. It’s the second book in the Broken Blades series which is an adult fantasy (again, some classify it as romantasy) series. It’s challenging to craft a good sequel and especially when it’s a middle book in a series. Yet, Corland managed to far exceed my expectations. This book doesn’t feel like filler. It expands the world, has a thrilling plot, and another cliffhanger ending that left me hungry for the next installment.

I also want to give a shout-out to the second book in The Vera Wong series, Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto. It’s a cozy mystery with a lovable, amusing matriarch character at its heart. It features a new cast of other main characters, but they’re just as likable as the group from the first book (who also make appearances).

NEW RELEASE I HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I got this book recently for my birthday (shout-out to my dad and stepmom). It’s an adult historical fiction taking place in the 1980s and following a protagonist who joins NASA’s first female astronaut program. I confess I have little interest in astronauts and space exploration. However, I had even less interest in tennis and Jenkins Reid’s book Carrie Soto is Back remains one of my favorite books. Jenkins Reid has carved out a space (no pun intended) for herself in the historical fiction genre and it’s where she’s flourished. She has this amazing ability to pull you into a story and its characters regardless of the topic it tackles.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE(S) FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2025

I have three. The first is Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland which is the next book in the Broken Blades series. The second is A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid which is the sequel to A Study in Drowning. The final one is The Last Tiger by Julia and Brad Riew which is a YA historical romantasy inspired by their grandparents’ lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history. All three release this month which is quite exciting!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

You’ve Been Summoned by Lindsay Lamar. This is an interactive mystery book in which you are the detective solving the case of a girl who went missing at a party in an old, famous mansion. It has dual timelines and a lot of mixed media elements which I do think were done very well. It’s such a unique concept for a book and the execution was overall pretty solid. The reason it is a disappointment is because of its predictability which is something I that can spoil a mystery for me.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Her adult romances are so hit or miss for me, so I never really know what to expect. This one kind of reminded me of her debut adult romance Beach Read which remains my favorite by her, so that’s probably why I liked it so much. The book follows two stories – that of aged socialite Margaret Ives and the main couple, writers Alice and Hayden, who are interviewing her.

NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR

It’s too soon to say that Ava Reid is my new favorite as I’ve only read one book by her, though it was an exceptional one. Instead, I’ll choose Seraphina Nova Glass as I’ve enjoyed a few of her thrillers this year and intend to read her entire catalogue.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Preston from A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, but not in a romantic sense. I am way too old to be crushing romantically on an university aged character! Instead, I chose him because he is a male feminist. He supports Effy without ever speaking over her.

NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

So, uh, I hate to mention A Study in Drowning once again, but…I choose Effy. I connected with her character because we have a lot in common – both of us are fairy tale lovers who dream of telling/writing stories of our own. I also loved her arc throughout the book and how she overcame her demons.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

There really haven’t been any books this year that made me cry, though to be fair it’s rare such a thing happens when I read.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I have two answers for this question. The first is The Wild Huntress by Emily Lloyd-Jones which is a YA fantasy. Lloyd-Jones is an incredibly talented writer, but her last book before this one disappointed me. This book restored my faith in her. If you’re looking for a standalone fantasy with strong characters, then I definitely recommend checking out this one! It takes place in the same world as some of her other books but you don’t need to have read those to understand anything. It deals with Welsh mythology.

My second answer is Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano. This is the fifth book in the Finlay Donovan series which is a series of cozy thrillers. They follow a single mom and her children’s nanny as they find themselves unintentionally involved in all sorts of messes involving dead bodies. This is one of my favorite series because of the hijinks the characters always find themselves in. I look forward to each new release in the series.

FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION YOU’VE SEEN THIS YEAR

I don’t watch a lot of TV and movies and the series that I do watch, even if they are adaptations, I haven’t read the books. They aren’t written in English and I haven’t ever been able to find translated versions (whereas with the show’s subtitles are available). So, again, no real answer for this one, sorry!

FAVORITE POST YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

I am currently searching for a literary agent to represent my YA fantasy debut manuscript. I’m recording the highs and lows of my journey in the hopes that other writers who are going through the same process feel less alone in this grueling process.

Blog 1 Here: https://www.haleysbookhaven.com/post/seeking-a-literary-agent-diaries-chapter-1-preparing-to-query

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

BOOKS YOU REALLY NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

There are so many! I currently have a bit of an overwhelming physical TBR. The books I want to prioritize are Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez (YA historical fantasy), and Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross (YA fantasy).