Books to Read in 2025
If your New Year’s Resolution is to read more, you’re in luck! There are loads of feelgood, thrilling and empowering books to read in 2025. Here is our selection of the best books for the coming months, all out in early 2025. Get started on your best reading year yet!
6 of the best books coming out in 2025
Kirstyn Smith, Fiction Editor
1. The Cleaner by Mary Watson
As a cleaner, Esmie is allowed into the homes of the privileged and wealthy. She’s often overlooked, her anonymous uniform and looked-down-upon job turning none of her clients’ heads. As such, she’s able to pick up their secrets, lies and betrayals. This is increasingly useful to Esmie, as she’s building a case of revenge using clues that these homeowners have unknowingly handed to her.
The Cleaner is a layered tale that takes a sharp look at themes of privilege, identity and class. However, it’s a book that you’ll whip through, thanks to its twists, turns, hate-readable characters and dramatic climax.
Out: Jan 16, Bantam, HB, £16.99
2. I Bet You’d Look Good in a Coffin by Katy Brent
Kitty Collins is back, and still trying to tamp down her murderous tendencies. With the modern world’s endless surge of online misogyny – and one man, the anonymous Blaze Bundy, seemingly at the heart of it all – Kitty can’t resist. Sure, she’s supposed to be topping up her tan in the south of France as she awaits her mother’s wedding day. But surely one more killing wouldn’t hurt?
Sharp, sassy and scalding, I Bet You’d Look Good in a Coffin is another thought-provoking, witty thriller that has its finger right on the pulse, from the author of How to Kill Men and Get Away with It and The Murder After the Night Before.
Out: Jan 30, HarperCollins, PB, £9.99
3. Forgotten Child by Katie Flynn
It’s summer 1940, and Isla Donahue’s life is turned upside down when her father sends her to the poor house after her mother’s death. The conditions are terrible, so she and some friends escape for a new life in Liverpool, where she meets the seemingly charming Theo along the way.
New life is difficult, not to mention the dangers of war. And her new beau might not be everything he seems – can true love conquer all, or will past secrets thwart Isla’s chance of happiness?
This story of heartbreak, joy and resilience is guaranteed to keep you enthralled from beginning to end.
Out: Feb 27, Cornerstone, HB, £20
4. The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Twisting two timelines together, The Sirens weaves an unputdownable tale of sisterhood, courage and nature. In 2019 we meet Lucy, whose boyfriend has betrayed her in the most intimate way. Upon fleeing to her sister Jess’s house, she realises there’s no trace of her – but she discovers some disturbing secrets about her from her diaries.
The 1800s dual narrative follows twin sisters from Ireland aboard a convict ship bound for Australia. They’ve a morbid fear of the sea and drowning, and as the journey continues, so too does the sea’s call. Altogether, this is a powerful tale for anyone looking for feminist fantasy based on real historical events.
Out: Feb 13, HarperCollins, HB, £18.99
5. Young Love by Suzanne Ewart
After ten years of best friendship, Lewis finally kisses Kelsey for the first time – then moves to New York the next morning. In limbo in Liverpool, Kelsey falls into a pattern that never feels quite fulfilling, just trusting that things will work out between her and her first love.
This dual narrative story shows both sides of young love: lovelorn Kelsey in the present day, and Lewis ten years before who tells us the story of how everything really began. This is a hopeful story of waiting for true love from what feels like an impossible position – ideal for fans of Cecelia Ahern and Holly Miller.
Out: Mar 6, UCLan Publishing, PB, £9.99
6. Graffiti Girls by Elissa Soave
Amy, Carole, Lenore and Susan have been friends since school, and grew up imagining the wonderful lives they’d have, both together and apart. Now in their forties, things haven’t turned out quite as they imagined. Taken for granted by family, ignored by workplaces, told by society that they’re worthless, the women decide to get their anger out in an unconventional way.
They embark on a campaign of graffitied feminist slogans across their hometown of Hamilton. But are the locals ready to listen to what they have to say? Graffiti Girls drips with feminine rage, a story for any woman of a certain age who’s ever felt invisible.
Out: Mar 13, HarperCollins, HB, £18.99
Also take a look back at the best books of 2024, with Linda Hill, our book reviewer.
