Sophie’s favourite books of 2025: fantasy, fantasy, and more fantasy…
I usually have an end of year rush to add more books to my reading challenge before midnight on New Year’s Eve, but I took the last week of 2025 slow and steady, focusing on some romance and two audiobooks that came in from the library because I was already really happy with everything I’d read and my favourites were secured.
I can’t give them an order and I don’t want to give myself that headache, so in no particular order, my favourite books of 2025!
‘Onyx Storm’ by Rebecca Yarros
Yeah, I’m that girl, but I don’t even care. My reading experience of rereading books one and two before going into book three was such a wonderful reading experience and I adored it. The twists at the end of this book were wild and it made the whole reread even more worth it. I’m so excited for whenever we get book four, and I’ll probably do the whole reread again. There’s something so addictive and compelling about this world and these characters.
‘First Time Caller’ by BK Borison
I read my very first BK Borison book this year and fell head over heels in love with ‘First Time Caller’. This romance is based on ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, one of my favourite films, so I knew I’d enjoy it, but I didn’t expect to love it so thoroughly. It was swoony and funny, thoughtful and touching, and so well written. I went on to read one more BK Borison novel and put the whole ‘Lovelight’ series on my TBR.
‘A Language of Dragons’ by SF Williamson
This was an audiobook that I nabbed on Libby on a whim having heard about the book and being vaguely interested and I ended up listening to most of it in a day while I did a puzzle. I’m not usually a big historical girly, but something about this novel set in London in 1923 at the onset of a civil war between dragons and humans. It’s absolutely brilliant, with hints of fantasy academia and vibes of WWI novels.
‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ by Suzanne Collins
Oh, my heart. This book destroyed me and I welcomed every second of it. I really disliked ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ so I was both apprehensive and excited to back in this world and the relief that I loved it was real. Seeing all of the connections, familiar faces, and origins of the rebellion was incredible, and also usually heartbreaking. I’m so glad Collins pulled in back from Ballad and I really hope that we’ll get to see some more of the Games.
‘Greenteeth’ by Molly O’Neill
Sometimes folklore hits for me, and sometimes it really, really doesn’t, but ‘Greenteeth’ was absolutely brilliant. I didn’t know much about the Jenny Greenteeth tale so it felt very fresh and new, but I loved the atmosphere alongside their journey across an ancient UK. I loved it so much that I pre-ordered O’Neill’s second book before it even had a summary or cover.
‘The Tainted Cup’ by Robert Jackson Bennett
‘The Tainted Cup’ had been on my radar since it came out, but it was the r/Fantasy Bingo prompt for biopunk that prompted me to finally get stuck in and I adored it. As well as biopunk fantasy, it’s also a locked room mystery novel and it worked. I was fascinated by the world and the mystery was so well plotted, but it was the characters of Din and Ana that really made this book sing for me. I immediately went into book two and I’m eagerly awaiting Din and Ana’s third adventure.
‘The Final Architecture trilogy’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ever since I finished James SA Corey’s ‘The Expanse’ series I’ve been after a long sci-fi series to get my teeth into and while this is only a trilogy, having loved the trilogy so much, Tchaikovsky having such an immense backlist fits the bill! I’ve now read five of his books, but this trilogy kicked it off and the scope of it blew me away.
‘The Stormlight Archive’ by Brandon Sanderson
The crowing glory of my 2025 reading year, even if ‘Wind and Truth’ didn’t quite make it into the year (in fact, I’m reading it right now as I write this). I’ve been wanting to read this series since I first discovered Sanderson around ten years ago and in 2025, I finally took the plunge.
The scope and depth of this series took my breath away, and then the characters completely and utterly stole my heart. I’m just over halfway through ‘Wind and Truth’ so I still have over 600 pages left, but I’m already preparing myself to feel bereft once it’s over. It is only the first arc, but the second arc isn’t expected to start until 2031 (!!), so it is an ending.
I’d love to know what your favourite books of 2025 were!
