Here are my 12 most anticipated new book releases of 2025. Every single author on this list is a favourite author of mine, meaning, I’d pre-order and read everything and anything they publish. I am so incredibly excited for another beautifully brilliant reading year.
With the exception of two of these books, every other book on this list is a new fictional novel or part of a sequel related to a previously published work. Don’t worry, there will be no spoilers in this post.
Did you know there is a video form of this post? You can watch it here.
1. The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare
Release Date: March 5, 2025
Sequel to “Sword Catcher,” the first book in Cassandra Claire’s new adult fantasy series titled Chronicles of Castellane.
The first book follows an orphan called Kel who is destined to be the body double of Prince Conor Aurelian of Castellane. The two become like brothers. But a failed assassination plunges Kel and his physician friend Lin in the criminal web of the Ragpicker King, known as the ruler of Castellane’s underworld.
I have yet to read the first book, I purposefully waited for the sequel to release because I’ve learned my lesson after reading the 20 or so books from Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter World that is simply too painful to be waiting for the next book.
I did get the first book “Sword Catcher” signed in Toronto last year when she visited for her book tour. Honestly, one of the best author experiences of my life. I had been reading and loving her works for over a decade now.
It’s safe to say I have very high hopes for this new series!
2. Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid
Release Date: March 5, 2025
This is a dystopian apocalyptic book in which the world is ruled by a single corporation.
A girl is sold by her mother to pay off her debts. She’s sacrificed to the Lamb Gauntlet, a televised assassination much like in “The Hunger Games.” The girl, who’s a sacrificial lamb, is hunted by the corporation’s neurologically conditioned female assassin.
Apparently, this one is a sapphic romance and potentially enemies-to-lovers.
I love Ava Reid. She’s genuinely masterful not only in her retelling of beloved stories but in twisting them on their head and creating something entirely new, much like what she did with her retelling “Lady Macbeth.”
3. We Need Your Art by Amie McNee
Release Date: March 12, 2025
I’ve been following Amie and her husband James for over a decade now. They’ve been a constant light in the dark for me. Witnessing them throughout the years made me realize that I too can share my creative journey and lead a life as a writer.
I’ve been a member of her Inspired Collective, taken her classes, read her self-published books, listened to her podcast, liked a thousand of her Instagram posts, and now I cannot wait to read “We Need Your Art.”
Her book will help its artist-readers to deal with creative burnout, to learn to be consistent, and to show up for themselves in their daily practices.
4. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Release Date: March 18, 2025
“Sunrise on the Reaping” is the fifth book in the “Hunger Games” series.
I genuinely cannot believe that we are being blessed with this story. We are finally getting a book on Haymitch Abernathy’s back story. In this story we will follow Haymitch in the 50th Hunger Games, known also as the second Quarter Quell, which held double the number of contestants.
In the original trilogy, he’s the District 12 grumpy mentor of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark during the 75th Hunger Games.
I cannot even stress how much I absolutely loved the “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” both the novel and movie. I just know this prequel will be worth the read too.
5. Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
Release Date: March 19, 2025
As someone who’s deeply curious about tuberculosis, the disease that wiped out many of our beloved writers and poets (R.I.P. Emily and Anne Brontë, George Orwell, John Keats, Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, Molière, I can keep going…) and as someone who loves all of John Green’s works, I am so ready to read “Everything is Tuberculosis.”
In this book, John Green highlights that although TB has an extensive history with humanity, we have the resources to prevent it… but yet a million people, especially impoverished people in South Asian countries, get infected and die every single year. Genuinely, human greed knows no end but so does human generosity like the Hank Brothers and their Nerdfighteria community.
6. Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire
Release Date: March 26, 2025
“Elphie: A Wicked Childhood” is a prequel book in the The Wicked Years series.
In this one, we follow Elphaba’s coming-of-age story before she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West in Maguire’s reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz” story.
I absolutely LOVE Elphaba’s character and I’m thrilled to read more about her life even if that only leaves us with her childhood.
“Wicked” was on my Top 10 Books of 2024, which were all Books That Made Me Want to Keep Writing. You can watch or read that post here.
7. Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
Release Date: April 1, 2025
If you recognize the author’s name, it’s because Olivie Blake is the author of the viral dark academia seriestitled “The Atlas Six.”
“Gifted & Talented” follows three rival siblings after the passing of their father, who’s known as the CEO of modern technology and the head of Wrenfare Magitech company.
One of his “telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children” might inherit his estate. But who will it be? Who is father’s dearest?
This story synopsis sort of reminds me of a mixture of “The Umbrella Academy” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” (the Netflix series version not to be confused with the original Poe story.)
8. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Release Date: May 14, 2025
I pre-ordered this book so quick. Ocean Vuong, is yet again, another one of my favourite authors and he’s back with a brand-new novel.
This book is set in East Gladness, a post-industrial town in Connecticut. During one summer evening, a nineteen-year-old boy decides he’s going to jump off the bridge until he hears the voice of Grazina, an elderly widow that is suffering from dementia. He quickly becomes her caretaker and the two share a life-altering bond.
This just sounds so beautiful and heartbreaking. I love found family stories so much.
9. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Release Date: June 11, 2025
The newest standalone by V. E. Schwab. This is giving off major “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” vibes, and I loved that book when I first read it.
In this one, we follow three young women from three separate timelines. We visit Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532, London, 1837, and Boston, 2019.
Apparently, this is a sapphic vampire book, which as you know, is my favourite type of vampire book.
I’m excited to see how these three separate storylines will intersect!
10. A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid
Release Date: August 6, 2025
This is a sequel to “A Study in Drowning” which I loved and devoured last year. I have an entire reading vlog of me gushing about this book if you’re interested in watching that here.
In the first book, we followed Effy and her nemesis Preston as they were tasked to redesign Hiraeth Manor the family house of the deceased but highly beloved author Emrys Myrddin.
Effy, who’s always believed in the stories of the Fairy King, venerates this author for his fable called Angharad in which he writes about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King before destroying him. But in this tale, all is not as it seems and the stakes run high as the manor is literally collapsing into the sea.
I’m excited to read more of Effy’s story after the aftermath of book one. I had no idea Ava Reid had a sequel in store, which is a pleasant surprise because this was another one of my Top 10 Books of 2024.
11. Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
Release Date: August 27, 2025
This is R. F. Kuang’s newest dark academia fantasy. It is compared both to Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi and to Dante’s Inferno.
The story follows Alice Law, a student determined to be a brilliant mind in the field of Magick at Cambridge University.
Her life takes a turn when her professor dies and it might have been her fault. Determined to secure her future, she has to descend into the underworld much like Dante and Orpheus in order to find her dead professor in Hell.
12. We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad
Release Date: September 23, 2025
This is the sequel to “Bunny.” Not that there are any real spoilers in discussing this second book, but it’s best to be safe than sorry…
In the first book, we follow Samantha as she attends a selective MFA program in New England. She’s a loner and she’s struggling financially.
Think “The Secret History” book mixed with “Heathers” the movie.
Samantha gets recruited in this cult-like group of creepy rich girls in her program and they all call each other by the pet-name of Bunny. From there, a surreal world of monstrous creations ensues.
Honestly, no matter what anyone tells you about this book, it’s best you go into it blind but with an open mind.
It is safe to say that I’m so excited to follow Samantha’s journey after the wacky events of “Bunny.”
Thank you for reading this post! These were 12 of my Most Anticipated New Book Releases of 2025. Have you heard or pre-ordered any of these books? Have you read from these authors before? What are some of your most anticipated books for 2025? I’d love to hear from you!
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