Happy New Year’s Day, Bookwyrms! As insane as it is to type this, tomorrow marks The Bookwyrm’s one-year anniversary. If you had asked me one year ago if I thought I would have over 75 amazing followers and more than 151 posts and reviews, I would have told you that you were insane. 2024 was a year full of truly amazing things for me. It was also full of amazing books! My average rating this year was 4.2… that’s pretty incredible! I wanted to hop on and tell you some of my favorite reads this year (and to give you some fun things to look forward to in 2025)!
Top 5 Books
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings . . . until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.
Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.
But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game ― and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society―but she longs for even a single day as a normal person. Painter patrols the dark streets dreaming of being a hero―a goal that has led to nothing but heartache and isolation, leaving him always on the outside looking in. In their own ways, both of them face the world alone.
Suddenly flung together, Yumi and Painter must strive to right the wrongs in both their lives, reconciling their past and present while maintaining the precarious balance of each of their worlds. If they cannot unravel the mystery of what brought them together before it’s too late, they risk forever losing not only the bond growing between them, but the very worlds they’ve always struggled to protect.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.
Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive mystery that follows one man’s race to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem.
Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others. With a locked-room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.
As always, narrowing down all the books I read in the past year to a top 5 list is extraordinarily difficult. After all, in 2024 I read 71 books and over 26,481 pages. It’s a lot to pick from! Considering that staggering number, I also select five honorable mentions. They are all amazing, too!
Honorable Mentions
The Rithmatist
Brandon Sanderson
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
Julie Klassen
Sky Without Stars
Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell
The Kiss of Deception
Mary E. Pearson
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Brandon Sanderson
Beyond my Top 5 and Honorable mentions, I also have individual awards for books (like best Indie Publication and Best Worldbuilding. You can read those awards here. You can definitely anticipate reviews of all of these books in the coming year. Some of them have already been posted, so you should go check those out! I’m anticipating 2025 as well, especially because I have a long, long, long TBR with some pretty exciting books on it.
Top 5 Most Anticipated Reads of 2025
Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson
Spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, this collection features stories from beyond the bounds of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe.
Along with the never-before-seen novella “Moment Zero,” Tailored Realities will include “Snapshot,” “Perfect State,” “Defending Elysium” (a novella set within the world of Skyward), and five other stories that were originally published individually elsewhere―never before collected into one volume, and many never before available in print.
Sunrise at the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.
Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.
Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction, and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson
Running. Putting distance between himself and the relentless Night Brigade has been Nomad’s strategy for years. Staying one or two steps ahead of his pursuers by skipping through the Cosmere from one world to the next.
But now, his powers too depleted to escape, Nomad finds himself trapped on Canticle, a planet that will kill anyone who doesn’t keep moving. Fleeing the fires of a sunrise that melts the very stones, he is instantly caught up in the struggle between a heartless tyrant and the brave rebels who defy him.
Failure means a quick death, incinerated by the sun… or a lifetime as a mindless slave. Tormented by the consequences of his past, Nomad must fight not only for his survival―but also for his very soul.
I did mention some new things coming this year… you may have noticed that The Bookwyrm blog got a lovely update! I hope to continue improving the blog and adding new, exciting content in 2025. Keep an eye out for author interviews, cover reveals, and more fun things to come!
As we enter this new year, I encourage you to take this opportunity to expand your horizons. Visit new places, make new friends, and try new things! In the bookish realm, pick up some new genres and authors. I myself hope to try more indie authors and historical fiction in the coming year.
Here’s to a 2025 full of new things!
Marie
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