Mid-Year Reading Roundup: Best Fantasy Books of 2025 (Jan-June) You Absolutely Need to Add to Your TBR

If you read one blog post before updating your TBR for the rest of the year, make it this mid-year favorites reading roundup, because these books are the ones you won’t be able to stop thinking about. At least, I can’t. And especially if you’re a fantasy and romantasy lover, you’ll definitely be wanting to add these to your TBR if you haven’t read them yet. There’s a mix of new and backlist titles, as well as YA and Adult reads. I feel like I say it every time, but I can’t believe we’re already halfway through 2025. As I’ve been trying to read through more of my physical TBR this year so I can reach my book unhaul goal of 200 by the end of the year (current count: 78!), there’s been very few hits and quite a few mehs and misses. I’ve read 41 books, and you’ll find my 10 favorites so far below. And not all of these are even perfect five stars! Even if a book isn’t perfect for me, it can be perfect for someone else, and I do think I can be stingy with my five stars at times, so many of these might be five star reads for you. These aren’t in any particular order, so don’t treat these as a ranking. Hope you’ll find some new favorite fantasy reads, or confirmation of your excellent reading taste. ;) I’m really looking forward to the second half of the year, because so many highly anticipated reads are coming out, so I’ll of course, be back at the end of the year with a definitive list of favorites and see if those reads lived up to the hype.

What were your favorite reads so far this year? Drop those book recs in the comments!

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

I know this is going to make a LOT of people’s favorites list this year. I really enjoyed it and I’m desperate for book two after that ending! Bartholomew is possibly the best side character of all time. But it still had a few issues that kept it from being a perfect five star read for me. I also had insanely high expectations going into it because of my love for Rachel’s Shepherd King duology. Catch all my thoughts in my spoiler free review.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

My first read of 2025, and my first five star read of the year, so it started off as a great reading year. This book was all over my Booktok FYP last year, so I had the highest expectations, and it did NOT disappoint. I absolutely loved it. Plus, it’s a standalone and we definitely need more of those in the fantasy world. The magic system is incredible, the characters super complex, and the ending impossibly tragic. I do think going into this book blind is a good strategy, as the first chapter is absolutely gripping, and you’ll pick up on some of the reveals before the characters themselves figure it out. I do believe if you’re in a vulnerable place mentally, you might want to wait on reading this one because it does tackle a lot of tough topics. But Wang does it with such care and mastery, and I couldn’t put it down.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins is a national treasure. Every book she writes is a banger. I’ve literally given every single Hunger Games book five stars. I love them so much, they absolutely emotionally destroy me in the best possible way, and this book was no exception. I actually sobbed. SOBBED. It’s crazy to me because we thought we knew what happened in Haymitch’s Games, but Collins has a way of weaving together a story so seamlessly and yet bring so many new things to light, and shoving that knife of emotional destruction in deeper. This book was everything, and made me want to stop everything and read The Hunger Games yet again.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

This absolute gem of a book was sitting on my shelf for multiple years before I FINALLY picked it up. So I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner. The writing is so incredibly beautiful without being purple prose. I loved the dual POVs, and was fully invested in the story, which felt like a fairytale, part lost city of Atlantis, and part El Dorado. This book feels like a waking dream, and I will be recommending it to everyone who loves books like The Night Circus, The City of Stardust, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. You can check my full review here.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

I’m making my way through V.E. Schwab’s backlist, and it’s so interesting to see how her writing style has evolved over the years. This book and the next one on the list were so different from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Vicious is a bit like reading a villain origin story of Magneto and Professor X. I saw a recent interview with V.E. Schwab where she said she wants her books to make you question just a little bit if magic really does exist in our world. And I’ve gotta say, she accomplishes that. I also read the sequel, Vengeance, which I didn’t love quite as much, but it’s still worth the read.

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

While this had a similar writing style and voice to Vicious, this was another wholly unique post-apocalyptic story of a city divided. I loved the idea that monsters were created in the aftermath. If you’ve ever seen the movie, Priest, it gave off those exact vibes with the vampire-like creatures, and other monsters. It’s not exactly a Romance, but I would say there’s a bit of a romantic subplot and enemies to lovers storyline for sure. Again, the sequel didn’t hit quite as hard, but still worth completing the duology. And speaking of, I wish more authors would write duologies. It’s so nice not to have a massive series to commit to!

Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider

This was an unexpectedly fun read! And I know some people are losing their minds over the ending, but I personally didn’t find it that shocking? Am I so excited for book two? Yes! I do think it’s best going into this book blind and with no spoilers, so I’m not going to say much more other than if you want a fast paced Romantasy with mating bonds, elemental powers, and a lost princess, you will definitely want to read this.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

People can hate all they want, but the Fourth Wing series is like crack. You just can’t stop reading. I personally loved this third installment a lot more than Iron Flame, and I cannot wait for book four. She had me cackling and kicking my feet up one second, gasping the next, and then sobbing over fictional characters. I love an author who can bring out the feels. Plus, we all know I’m a sucker for snarky dragons, and the dragons are FULL of snark in this one. Ridoc is the best comical relief, and nothing better happen to him. P.S. The officially licensed Onyx Storm collection is LIVE at Valor & Lore!

A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen

I enjoyed this book so much more than book one. And not that book one, A Fate Inked In Blood is bad, it just had a bit too much insta-lust, bad spice, and a few other nitpicky things I didn’t love. This book, however, brought with it so much more worldbuilding and magic, and the plot was so much more developed. I loved the twists and reveals, and the relationship felt more fleshed out this time. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt it was an excellent conclusion to the duology.

Honorable Mention:

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

The only non-fiction and non-fantasy book on the list, but having seen all the hype around trying to suppress it, I had to read it. Having lived in SF for more than 13 years, and working in tech, so much of this book resonated with me, and made me think, “Dang, I could write a book,” about all my experiences being a woman in tech and dealing with all the crappy things that happen. Nothing in this book really shocked me, which I realize is sad. I mean, there are some explosive accusations towards the end that, if true, are egregious indeed. I’ll be curious to see how this all plays out. Overall, this is a solid audiobook for anyone wanting a peek under the hood of what it’s like to work at a pre IPO tech company and what can happen as it grows, and what those in leadership are willing to do to succeed at any cost.

Don’t forget to drop your favorite reads of 2025 in the comments below, so we can all continue to add to our neverending TBRs.

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