Kirkus Best Books of 2025

Announcing the Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2025!

FICTION

MYSTERIES AND THRILLERS

MARGUERITE BY THE LAKE by Mary Dixie Carter

KING OF ASHES by S. A. Cosby

BOOK CLUB FICTION

FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi

HISTORICAL FICTION

THE WAYFINDER by Adam Johnson

ROMANCE

CHAOS by Constance Fay

LADIES IN HATING by Alexandra Vasti

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

LESSONS IN MAGIC AND DISASTER by Charlie Jane Anders

AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz

THE BLACKFIRE BLADE by James Logan

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL by V. E. Schwab

DYSTOPIAN

BROTHER BRONTË by Fernando A. Flores

WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy

DEBUT FICTION

THE HOUNDING by Xenobe Purvis

FICTIONAL FAMILIES AND FRIENDS

PALAVER by Bryan Washington

FICTION IN TRANSLATION

I GAVE YOU EYES AND YOU LOOKED TOWARD DARKNESS by Irene Solà; translated by Mara Faye Lethem

NONFICTION

TRUE CRIME

THE TRAGEDY OF TRUE CRIME: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us by John J. Lennon

HISTORY

THE GOLDEN ROAD: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple

THE HISTORY OF MONEY: A Story of Humanity by David McWilliams

MEMOIRS

THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li

BIOGRAPHIES

BALDWIN: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs

EMINENT JEWS: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer by David Denby

LOVE AND NEED: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetry by Adam Plunkett

CURRENT EVENTS

BY THE SECOND SPRING: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine by Danielle Leavitt

BLESSINGS AND DISASTERS: A Story of Alabama by Alexis Okeowo

THE AFGHANS: Three Lives through War, Love, and Revolt by Åsne Seierstad

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

JOHN & PAUL: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie

TEEN & YA

FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

REBEL WITCH by Kristen Ciccarelli

SALVACIÓN by Sandra Proudman

ROMANCE

MY FAIR MONSTER by Adrienne Rivera

MYSTERY AND THRILLER

THE TRASHERS by Julie Soto

HORROR

THESE BODIES AIN’T BROKEN; edited by Madeline Dyer

HISTORICAL FICTION

UNDER A FIRE-RED SKY by Geraldine McCaughrean