Hello and welcome to the final Top Ten Tuesday post for 2025! And what a surprise, but I am going rogue once again. This week’s initial topic is The Ten Most Recent Additions To Your TBR, but I feel like I’m repeating myself multiple times on this blog when doing this type of post. Not that I won’t be repeating myself this time, but anyway. As the year is coming to an end, it’s time to look back. I will be doing this next week with my 2025 favorites post, but among the 95 books I’ve read so far, there are also books that surprised me but aren’t necessarily a favorite. Surprises can go both ways. So today, I decided to list the books that surprised me in 2025. This time, links will direct you to the review on my blog instead of to the book page on Goodreads.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
- Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros – As I enjoyed both Forth Wing and Iron Flame, the previous books in the “The Empyrean” series, I was down bad convinced that I would fall head over heels for this newest addition to that series as well. Turns out I didn’t. Firstly, I had to do a massive emergency reread as I couldn’t remember a thing from the previous books. Secondly, the book itself was pretty messy and I still feel conflicted all those months later. Yes, I enjoyed my time spent with these dragons, but Violet and Xaden are getting a bit tiresome. Furthermore, I don’t understand what happens at the end and it was too long in general. So, this predicted 5 star read turnt out to be a 3 star read at best.
- Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian – I left this book rotting on the TBR for seven (!) whole years before finally taking the plunge and picking it up. As I hardly read young adult books anymore, I was fully convinced this would become my first DNF of the year. I admittedly struggled at the start, but am glad I read this book after all.
- Quicksilver by Callie Hart – In hindsight this might not come as a surprise, but I expected to enjoy this book. It has all the ingredients I typically love, so off I went. Well, I didn’t like it at all. This book has more flaws than strong points and these cons outweih the pros. I was just so bored with plot and characters alike and here is where it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it’s a Booktok hype. Enough said.
- For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn – That a Booktok hype could work out differently is proved here. I went into this adventure with the lowest expectations, but I loved it so much. Surprise surprise, I didn’t expect this at all.
- Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi – The announcement for this book was a surprise on its own and as I still admire the original “Shatter me” trilogy, I was pretty stoked for a new book set in this universe ten years later. I was wary too, because the second trilogy was not really for me anymore. I wanted to enjoy this new book and I did to a certain extend. However, it left me quite unsatisfied as well. Even to the point I’m not sure whether I will pick up the sequels.
- The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham – An unexpected find and I was captivated. Somehow expected because it’s historical fiction set in an interesting period in time, but finding this book alone was a surprise already.
- The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohammed Mbougar Sarr – This book had been on my TBR for a while before deciding it was the right time to pick it up. It’s complex and has the size of a brick, so I was pretty reluctant to start. I indeed had trouble at the start, but when I got the hang of it I just couldn’t put it down.
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig – Admittedly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the “Shepherd King” duology. Although I just can’t deny it’s atmosphere and craftmanship in worldbuilding. So, my expectations for this new book were pretty high, feed by all the positive reviews. Well, I didn’t feel the hype at all. In fact, I was bored. There was no atmosphere, the characters were dull and the plot itself was mediocre. Such a bummer.
- The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston – This book is very popular and this could either go right or wrong for me. Magical realism is not something I typically fancy, so I wasn’t too sure whether I would like this book or not. I decided to give it a go in summer and was pleasantly surprised. So much so that I rated it 5 stars in the end, whereas I expected either 3 or 4 stars. But will this be on my 2025 favorites list? You will find out next week.
- Crossroads by Devney Perry – Another book I was convinced I would highly enjoy. Unfortunately, this cowboy romance didn’t deliver. The characters are a bit underdeveloped and superficial, the plot too formulaic. Such a bummer.
What books did surprise you this year?
