I read 113 books in 2025, and out of those, 31 were outstanding examples of speculative fiction, and yes, I’ve included all 31 on this list! Each book below received 4.5 or 5 stars, and I highly recommend each one. I’m linking my reviews if you’d like to read them, here we go!
I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog.
This wasn’t a great year for five-star reads, for some reason. I only gave 9 out of 113 books a five-star rating, and I had to choose only five of those for this list. So these are the cream of the crop, in my humble opinion. These books left me in tears, in shock, and with that tingly feeling you get when you realize you’ve just had a one of a kind reading experience. Three of these are horror, which is no surprise, since horror made up the bulk of my 2025 reading, and the other two are science fiction. You might not see these on other “best of” lists, but I highly recommend all of them.
My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie. The nitty-gritty: Craig DiLouie uses music as a framework in this dangerous, outrageous good vs. evil headbanger of a story.
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry. The nitty-gritty: Christina Henry masterfully tackles the haunted house trope in this riveting coming-of-age story, infused with otherworldly terrors and heart-wrenching emotion.
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed. The nitty-gritty: A thrilling and immersive adventure story, The Afterlife Project combines complex, thoughtful themes with relatable characters and bittersweet emotion.
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. The nitty-gritty: An emotionally charged story with plenty of surprises, When the Wolf Comes Home is Nat Cassidy’s best book yet.
Future’s Edge by Gareth L. Powell. The nitty-gritty: Epic in scope but somehow intimate as well, Future’s Edge is an end-of-the-world tale with heart and hope.
And the rest of the best:
Shitshow by Chris Panatier | Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito | An Evil Premise by T. Marie Vandelly |How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates |The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones | Play Nice by Rachel Harrison | House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama | It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest | Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan | Senseless by Ronald Malfi | Angel Down by Daniel Kraus
Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher | The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow | Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill | Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton | Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey | Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines | Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry | Go Luck Yourself by Sarah Raasch | Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis | Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
Science fiction was a bit disappointing this year, and these first three were the only outstanding books in the genre I read (other than the two that made my Top Five). Same with thrillers, although I didn’t read a lot of them, I only found a couple that stood out from the pack:
We definitely have similar taste in Fantasy! I loved the Emily Wilde series. Just finished Compendium last week. It deserves to be on the top of the fantasy list! Fawcett is a lovely storyteller. I’ve got her next book on my to-be-reviewed list. Also enjoyed The Bones Beneath My Skin, but not quite as much as I like Klune’s The Cerulean Chronicles,. Burgis’ Wooing the Witch Queen is on my TBR.
I’m hoping to read Heather Fawcett’s upcoming book in the next week or so, I’m so excited!
I’m not surprised to see BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER on your list as you (and many others) raved about it! ONCE WAS WILLEM is still in my ARC pile to read, oops!
Yes, I’ve seen it all over the place today!
It looks like you read some fantastic books during 2025. I havent read any of your top five but I remember how passionate you were about the antichrist and wolf one. Im still yet to try anything by Christina Henry.
Victorian Psycho very narrowly missed my list (I was determined to stick to ten) but I loved its sense of voice. And I’m thrilled to see The Buffalo Hunter Hunter on your list too.
Fantasy wise I adored Emily Wilde but I still need to try the others. Especially The Everlasting as I’ve adored the authors books so far.
As for sci fi I really must try it out this year. Thrillers I tend to love but rarely reach for. Everything I’ve heard about The Dead Husband Cookbook makes that one a must read though.
Great list and I hope 2026 brings even more new favourites your way.
Thanks Charlotte! I do recommend The Dead Husband Cookbook, it was a lot of fun and so well written.
Wow, I’ve actually read several of these and can totally see why they made your lists. I loved Slayers of Old, Play Nice, Victorian Psycho and Another Fine Mess. I think 2025 was a great year for horror and hope 2026 continues the trend. I still need to get to Klune’s latest, but I blame my library because I keep waiting for them to get a copy. I need to just break down and grab it for my Kindle.
I’m glad we had some of the same books on our list, I’m not surprised! Klune has a new book coming out this year and I need to get my hands on it:-)
I’ve yet to read any of these, though there are some on my list, and if I have extra time I’d love to try the rest. I like how some of these might not be in the mainstream best of lists, adds a bit more variety. Gareth Powell is an author I’d really like to try.
Oh you should try Powell if you get the chance. I haven’t read a bad book from him!
The Afterlife Project does sound interesting.
It was pretty amazing!
Wait wait wait wait wait wait hold up how the hell did I miss a new Chris Panatier book? It’s so hard not being on X anymore but I just ordered it immediately to read! Awesome reading year for you!
It’s from a small press, and very easy to miss (unless you’re on Instagram and following the author!)
Ha, I went for more than 10 for this post too! Much too hard to narrow down my favorites. And even going over, I left off a bunch of books that I loved, including Play Nice, Snake-Eater, Emily Wilde, and more! It’s great to see a round-up of your top books. Wishing you many more in 2026!
Yes, I didn’t include any 4 star books, which is too bad, because so many were very good!
I *love* the cover for The Place Where They Buried Your Heart! I’ve heard nothing but praise for When the Wolf Comes Home, so hopefully I’ll try something from Nat Cassidy this year.
Nat Cassidy is such a favorite writer of mine, I hope you enjoy him:-)
I’m seeing The Buffafo Hunter Hunter on a lot of best of lists. I liked My Heart is a Chainsaw but the second book in that trilogy was a bit much for me gore and horror wise. I don’t know if I should try more of his books.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter has some graphic violence too. In fact, most of his books do!
Future’s Edge has a cool cover.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
It’s a great cover, right?
I haven’t read any here, but looking closely at your top scifi.
Here are my favorites: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/01/06/year-of-reading-2025-part-1-my-top-23-books/
I recommend all the sci-fi on my list:-)
Omg I haven’t read any of these! But I am not surprised at your choice❤️
Well, there are a lot of horror books here, lol.
So many awesome books on this list! (Many of which are now on my own TBR list. ;D ) Always fun to see your best reads.
Thanks Lark!
I’ve only managed to read the Heather Fawcett and Stephanie Burgis books. But there are several others I am trying to fit into my schedule. Feel free to link up to our Top 10 if you like.
Thanks Anne! I will do that.
While Shield of Sparrows is the only one we have in common, I did add several to my TBR after I read your reviews of them. So you had some good ones for sure last year!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2026/01/02/read-along-review-dark-arts-and-a-daiquiri-the-guild-codex-spellbound-2-by-annette-marie/
I feel like it was a really good reading year!
Hi, Tammy! I’m returning to blogging this year. Excited to see When the Wolf Comes Home so high up. I’m hoping to read that this month. I LOVED Once Was Willem.
I’m so glad you’re coming back! Enjoy When the Wolf Comes Home:-)
The Everlasting was one of my top books. I’m really excited to read Buffalo Hunter Hunter this year! I hope you have an amazing 2026!
Thanks Leslie, I hope you do as well!
I am dying to get my hands on My Ex, the Antichrist, but my library does not currently carry it! House of Monstrous Women is also one I have been eyeing. Hope you pick up lots of great books in 2026!
Both of those are excellent, and I hope you find them at some point:-) I hope Daphne Fama writes another book soon, she is pretty amazing!
Oooh, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is my bookclub’s Jan BOTM, I’m so excited for it! I started to read your review, but stopped halfway because I wanted to be surprised by the details. I’ll come back when I’ve finished it. I’m also really intrigued by the other books on your list. I’ve added a few to my TBR! Happy 2026!
I will be curious to see what you think of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter!
Hehe, I got several of these for my wife for Christmas based on your reviews, and chose some for my sister to get for them too. Thank you for all the reviews!
I hope she likes them!
Fantastic list. I love seeing them all together, and I’ve read 15 of these (I think) and there are a few more that I have on my wishlist.
Lynn 😀
Thanks Lynn. It really was a great reading year:-)
113 books is amazing! Thank you for the recommendations! I just finished Victorian Psycho on audio and it was fantastic, I read your review and totally agree with your thoughts on it. I need to read Buffalo Hunter this year. Happy reading in 2026. 🙂
Thanks! I hope you have a fantastic 2026 as well:-)
Lots of good ones! I’m listening to The Everlasting on audiobook right now and I’m really enjoying it too.
I’m curious to see what you think!
I love the Emily Wilde series! I finished the second one a few days ago, so seeing Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales on your list makes me super excited to read it! I hope 2026 will be a great reading year for you .
If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairyreads.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2025/
Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful 2026 as well:-)
Awesome list!! I picked up copies of Dot Slash Magic and Slayers of Old after seeing your reviews. I’m also tempted to pick up The Afterlife Project and My Ex, the Antichrist.
Yes, read both of them, they are amazing:-)
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter has been on a few lists this week. I should bump it up my priority list.
It’s very intense but so good!
I want to read Emily Wilde but I keep putting off buying it… Glad you had a good reading year, here’s to hoping it continues in 2026 🙂
Here’s the link to my TTT – https://justreadjessie.blog/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2025/
Thanks Jessie! Emily Wilde is worth reading:-)
Ive read a couple on your list, and I have others on my WTR list thanks to your recommendations
Thanks for sharing your #TTT best
I’m glad we have a few books in common:-)
My Ex, The Anti-Christ is such a great title for a book haha. I haven’t read any of these! :O But I have Nat Cassidy on my TBR, and I’d like to pick Once Was Willem sometime.
If you love music, definitely check out My Ex:-)
Excellent lists! And, I haven’t read ANY of the books on them! I have A LOT of catching up to do!
Thank you!
You had an amazing year!! I am so glad to see Slayers of Old made the cut, because it is soooooooo much fun! And Snake-Eater too!!
You also mentioned a lot of books that are on my TBR and now I want to read all the books!!
Great list! You have several books on here that I want to read. The only one I’ve read so far is Wooing the Witch Queen, which just barely missed being on my Top Ten list of favorite books for 2025.
I love the cover of When the Wolf Comes Home. I definitely need to read that one! I’m so glad to see Go Luck Yourself on your list! I love that series, and I can’t wait for the next one. 🙂
I love a long list of amazing books! There are a number of these that I’d still really like to pick up, so this is the perfect reminder, haha. I think The Afterlife Project is the one I most want to get to! I also really enjoyed The Bones Beneath My Skin (which surprised me!)and It Was Her House First (among many others, lol). It looks like you read some truly fantastic books in 2025–hopefully 2026 is just as good, if not better!