6 of Our Most Anticipated Reads of 2025

Here at the Better Reading office, we’re gearing up for another fantastic year of new releases. From fantasy to romance, there are so many books we’re excited to dive into! Whether you’re a fan of gripping thrillers, heartfelt dramas, or epic adventures, there’s something for everyone in the line-up. Our team has been eagerly following upcoming titles, and we’re thrilled to share a sneak peek of the ones we’re most looking forward to. Here are just a few that the Better Reading team can’t wait to read this year — we hope they’ll be on your reading list too!

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 knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication. The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing. The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story. The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.

Release Date: 23rd April

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

The Beasts We Bury by D.L. Taylor

Daughter and heir to the throne, Mancella Cliff yearns for a life without bloodshed. But as a child, she emerged from the Broken Citadel with the power to summon animals-only after killing them first. Her magic is a constant reminder of the horrors her father, the ruler of the realm, has forced upon her to strengthen their power. Silver is a charming thief struggling to survive in a world torn apart by Mancella’s father’s reign. When a mysterious benefactor recruits him for the heist of a lifetime, a chance to rob the castle, Silver relishes the opportunity for a real future-and revenge. But he’ll have to manipulate Mance and earn her trust to pull it off. As the deception and carnage mount, Mance must find a way to save her realm without becoming the ruthless monster she’s been bred to be. And when Silver discovers that his actions are fueling the violence that Mance wants to prevent, he’ll have to choose between his ambition and the girl he’s falling for.

Release Date: 11th February

The Floating World by Axie Oh

Ex-soldier Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. Possessing just his name and sword, he comes across the score of a lifetime – a chest of coins for hunting down the girl who wields silver light.

Ren is a spirited acrobat travelling with her family. But everything changes when they are attacked by a demon. Desperate, Ren releases a blast of silver light and kills the monster – but cannot save her beloved uncle from grievous injury.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off for the mountains, where the creature came from – where Ren herself fled from ten years ago. Her path collides with Sunho’s, but he doesn’t realize who she is. As the two grow closer, it becomes clear their pasts – and destinies – are more entwined than they could possibly have imagined . . .

Release Date: 13th May

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

In this compulsive collection of twelve witty stories, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels, as she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends. In ‘The Patron Saints of Middle Age,’ a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In ‘A for Alone,’ a married artist embarks on a project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in ‘Lost but Not Forgotten,’ Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a new window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an awkward school reunion. Witty, confronting and full of tenderness, Sittenfeld peels back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.

Release Date: 25th February