In 2025, I read 27 books. This isn’t the most impressive number; it’s no great triumph of time or will. Still, the number is important to me. That’s 27 more books than I had read in my lifetime, 27 more pieces of literature I had the opportunity to devour in my free time.
I will finish just about any book I start (I’m stubborn that way), and as a result, my DNF pile didn’t grow at all this year. My pile of 5 Star reads, on the other hand, found 7 total new additions, ranging from collections of poetry to fantasy to sapphic Gothic horror (to even more sapphic Gothic horror, because I just can’t stay away from it).
I highly recommend each and every book on this list, so here they all are: Every single one of my 5 Star reads in 2025.
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
I have to start with my favorite novel of the entire year. Have you ever read a book so atmospheric, so deeply engrossing, that you feel forever changed after finishing it? That your very spirit is so swept up in its story that you are entirely somewhere else, sometimes to the point that you have trouble returning from that space once the book is finished?
The Starving Saints is about the intertwining stories of three women (a lady knight, a magical madwoman, and a thief hellbent on survival) living in a castle under siege during its final, most desperate days. The saints themselves are summoned to save the starving population, and I will say no more beyond that. Beautifully written, wonderfully sapphic, and so perfect that I immediately added the rest of Caitlin Starling’s body of work to my TBR list, I cannot recommend The Starving Saints enough. Everyone should read this novel.
Tender Teeth by Valeria Eden
This list would certainly not be complete without Tender Teeth by Valeria Eden, a phenomenal collection of poetry that transforms grief and pain into unfathomable beauty. My particular favorites are “in my dreams”, “seven”, and “in which i stop thinking about endings and only consider right now”, but every single piece is worth reading, if only for the way you’ll feel when you’re done.
Poetry has always been a love of mine, and Valeria Eden (for full disclosure) is a dear friend. But trust me when I say these poems are spectacularly life-changing: They do not erase your pain, but they transmute it with the understanding that you are not and will never be alone.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
I can’t begin to express how captivating the world building of Strange the Dreamer is. An ancient city has its name magically torn out of the world; it is removed from every history book, every individual’s mind, and replaced by one word: Weep. A young boy grows up dreaming about solving its mystery, and one day, he gets the opportunity to journey there and attempt it.
Everything about this book is quintessential fantasy, and yet it felt wholly original at the same time. The characters are as complex as they are relatable; the plot takes unexpected turns while still tracking perfectly. Nothing feels out of place, no matter how far from our own world Strange the Dreamer strays.
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
The sequel to Strange the Dreamer also has its place on this list. The initial mysteries of the first book revealed, I loved Muse of Nightmares for entirely different reasons. I won’t spoil anything here, but know this: This novel is incredibly heartbreaking in the most beautiful ways imaginable.
Every character has their arc, and while some experience redemption, it is always earned. Tragedy is firmly entrenched at the center of this novel, and yet there is enough levity to keep you afloat through the whole thing. And though this duology is perfect as it is, I can’t lie—I desperately need more stories in this world.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng left me stunned with silent tears running down my face from beginning to end. Set during the beginning of the COVID pandemic (a pandemic in which we are still firmly entrenched), this ghost story revolves around the anti-Asian racism that took the lives of innocent people because of the lies spread about the virus.
The titular Cora Zeng works as a crime scene cleaner, called to gruesome scene after gruesome scene of victims of this violence. Driven by the starving ghost of her sister, Cora begins to investigate these crimes because nobody else will. This novel is bloody, gory, Gothic, and ghostly, delivering on everything it promises and more.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Our Wives Under the Sea isn’t about tragic events, it’s about the aftermath of them. If you enjoy the “came back wrong” trope, this is exactly the sapphic deep sea horror novel for you. Miri is being haunted not by her wife’s absence but her presence; Leah went missing on a deep ocean expedition for several months then returned without an explanation, but she is not the same as when she left.
Our Wives Under the Sea is heartbreaking. It’s an absolutely beautiful metaphor for any relationship, whether your wife has disappeared and come back wrong or not. Below the yearning and desperation remains the horror, the strained desperation to know both what’s happening to Leah and what already happened to her. You as the reader feel so entrenched in their relationship that you can’t help but wonder.
Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen
Rounding out the list is Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen. I adored My Darling, Dreadful Thing, but this novel was even better. Still sapphic, still Gothic horror, this story dwells on the vampiric rather than the ghostly. I cannot speak highly enough of the horrors of this book. The content warning list is long, but it is with any good Gothic horror novel.
The relationships make Blood on Her Tongue in every way: The sapphic relationships, the sisterly twin bond, and even the men constantly impressing their ideas and values upon the main characters frame the story to perfection. And, of course, not enough can be said about the gore. The vampiric nature of this story is not the usual romantic neck biting but instead the pursuit of blood at any cost, devouring victims as completely as possible. This is a story of transformation, for better or for worse, and for the life of me, I can’t find a way to describe the plot that does it any justice, so you will just have to trust me.
I look forward to another year of reading in 2026. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them below! I’m always looking for new things to read.
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