The best fiction books in 2025

Best Fiction Books to End 2025

Published on

|

Time to read 6 min

Unmissable Fiction Releases of 2025

A new year brings new stories — and 2025 has already proven to be an extraordinary one for fiction. From bold debuts to long-awaited releases, this year’s books are brimming with imagination, emotion, and the kind of storytelling that stays with you long after you’ve turned the final page.


Whether you love dramatic literary fiction, binge-worthy thrillers, sweeping fantasies, or heartfelt contemporary tales, 2025 has delivered something for every kind of reader. These are the books everyone is talking about — the ones filling bookshop windows, topping reading lists, and sparking conversations long past bedtime.


So settle into your favourite reading spot, brew a fresh cup of tea, and explore our curated selection of the very best fiction 2025 has to offer. From unforgettable characters to twists you won’t see coming, these are the stories that define the year — and deserve a place on your bookshelf.

Katabasis

by R.F. Kuang


Grad student Alice Law has spent her life chasing a singular goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick. But the one person who can make that dream a reality is dead—and trapped in Hell. Determined to complete her quest, Alice embarks on a daring journey into the underworld, reluctantly accompanied by her greatest rival, Peter Murdoch.


Hell, however, is nothing like the philosophers described. Its rules are inverted, its perils unexpected, and its challenges force Alice and Peter into uneasy cooperation. Every step tests their wit, courage, and ability to trust each other. As they navigate treacherous landscapes and confront both demons and themselves, the question looms: will they succeed in retrieving what they seek, or will the descent destroy them both before they can return?

Sunrise on the Reaping

by Suzanne Collins


This book marks a powerful return to Panem, earning early praise from the New York Times for its heart-wrenching emotional force and from the Guardian for its sharp, lyrical storytelling. Suzanne Collins once again turns to the darkest corners of dystopia, revisiting the brutal fiftieth Hunger Games — a Quarter Quell that doubles the tributes and sends a fresh wave of terror through the districts.


At the center of the story is a young Haymitch Abernathy, years before he becomes the hardened mentor we know. Torn from the girl he loves and thrust into a Games he quickly realizes are rigged against him, Haymitch must rely on instinct, wit, and sheer defiance to survive. His refusal to break doesn’t just shape his own fate — it sets in motion a resistance that will echo far beyond the arena and deep into Panem’s future.

Great Big Beautiful Life

by Emily Henry


When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice sees her chance: a career-defining opportunity and a rare chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication. The catch? Pulitzer-prize-winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, has the same goal. Margaret proposes a one-month trial to uncover the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th century, after which she will decide who gets to tell her story.


But Margaret only provides tantalizing fragments, pieces they cannot piece together due to an ironclad NDA. Every time Alice and Hayden are in the same room, an inconvenient attraction simmers between them. As secrets unravel, it becomes clear that the story—like Margaret’s carefully curated life—could be a mystery, a tragedy, or a love ballad… depending entirely on who tells it.

Alchemised

by SenLinYu


Once a gifted alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of a lost war, Paladia’s necromancers, and a mind scarred by missing memories. The Resistance has fallen, her allies are gone, and the ruling guilds command armies of the undead. Official records claim she was insignificant, but her gaps in memory hint at a secret powerful enough to threaten the new regime.


Delivered to the High Reeve, Paladia’s most feared necromancer, Helena is trapped on his decaying estate. She must hold onto what remains of herself while uncovering the truths buried in her mind, her prison, and her captor. The key to the Resistance’s final secret—and her survival—may lie in the memories someone tried to erase.

Secret of Secrets

by Dan Brown


Accompanying the renowned academic Katherine Solomon to a lecture in Prague, Robert Langdon’s world is thrown into chaos when she vanishes without a trace. Far from home and out of his element, he must rely on all his knowledge to uncover the forces threatening her—and himself.


Prague, steeped in folklore and mystery, hides its secrets behind vast castles, towering churches, deep graveyards, and labyrinthine underground passages. Hunted by a spectre from a dark past, Langdon must decipher cryptic signs before the same traps that ensnared Katherine consume him.


In a city that has guarded its truths for centuries, Langdon faces a battle unlike any before—testing his mind, courage, and the fate of the woman he loves.

The Intruder

by Freida McFadden


Casey’s cabin in the wilderness is no match for the storm raging outside. The roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree by her door sways dangerously in the wind. But Casey’s attention is drawn to something far more alarming—a young girl standing at her window, alone, and covered in blood.


The girl refuses to explain where she came from and clings tightly to a knife in her hand. When Casey uncovers a chilling discovery in the dead of night, she realizes the girl harbors a dark secret—one she will kill to protect. Getting too close to the truth could cost Casey her life.


In this tense, gripping tale of survival, Freida McFadden examines the lengths one girl will go to save herself, and the deadly consequences that come with fighting to survive.

Atmosphere

by Taylor Jenkins Reid


Atmosphere is an epic novel set against the 1980s space shuttle program, exploring the lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. In 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins astronaut training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center alongside a group of exceptional candidates, including Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and the magnetic engineer Vanessa Ford. As they prepare for their first flights, Joan discovers a passion and love she never imagined, challenging everything she believes about her place in the universe.


Then, in December 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes. Taylor Jenkins Reid captures iconic moments in history, creating unforgettable characters and a soaring story of ambition, connection, and the transformative power of love among the stars.

Onyx

by Rebecca Yarros


The storm has arrived, and not everyone will survive. After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail faces the end of lessons and uncertainty—the battle has begun. Enemies close in from every direction, and she must rally an army, wield her power, and uncover the dark truths threatening the continent.


On her most dangerous mission yet, Violet ventures beyond the failing wards to find allies for Navarre. Every step tests her limits, and the odds of survival are slim. Still, she risks everything to protect her dragons, her family, and him, even if it means keeping a secret that could destroy everything she loves.


This installment immerses readers in a world of power, sacrifice, and unbreakable bonds, where every choice carries unimaginable consequences.

Wild Side

by Elsie Silver


I'd always dreamed of my wedding day—but never like this, standing across from the man who betrayed me.


When my nephew’s guardianship is contested, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him in Rose Hill—even if it means marrying the enemy: Rhys Dupris. Secretive, broody, and infuriating, he spends weeks away on mysterious work and returns with bruises he won’t explain. We barely speak, yet when he doesn’t talk, he stares—and the way he looks at me is dangerously magnetic.


Living under the same roof ignites a tension I can’t ignore. The man behind the mask is fierce and protective, gentle and patient, always showing up when we need him most. He’s not at all who I thought he was—and that makes hating my husband harder… and loving him far too easy.

Watermoon

by Samantha Sotto Yambao


On a quiet Tokyo backstreet, a pawnshop waits—but only the lost can find it. To most, it looks like a cosy ramen restaurant, but for the chosen, it is a place to trade life choices and deepest regrets.


Hana Ishikawa awakens on her first day as its owner to find the shop ransacked, its most precious item stolen, and her father gone. A charming stranger offers help, and together they journey through a mystical world—riding paper cranes, crossing the bridge between midnight and morning, and exploring a night market in the clouds—to recover what was lost.


As the truth draws near, Hana must confront a secret of her own and make a choice that could change her past forever.