A collection of short reviews for each book I read in 2025.
The “Rules”
- For each review, I am writing at most 50 words. This is enough to communicate how I feel and whether you should be interested in the book too. However, from time to time I include a longer spoiler-filled rant that isn’t really a review as much as catharsis for the pain an author has inflicted upon me.
- I am including books that I did not finish if I read a significant portion of the book.
- The reviews are roughly in the order that I read each book.
- All spoilers are hidden and only revealed through clicks.
- I do not use half stars because I am not a coward.
The TLDR;
- Read The Tiger’s Wife for a deep meditation on death and healing.
- Read The West Passage if you’re looking for some unique fantasy.
- Read Witch King if you prefer Young Adult, or queer fantasy.
- Read The Lottery and other Stories if you want a new short story collection.
- Read Ranger’s Apprentice if you want something easy.
The List
My original goal was 40 books, but I only managed 33, a crime punishable by death. There actually may be books I’m leaving out as I did all of this from memory, but whatever.
- Ranger’s Apprentice: Sorcerer in the North
- Ranger’s Apprentice: Siege of Macindaw
- Assassin’s Apprentice
- Royal Assassin
- Assassin’s Quest
- Brotherband: The Outcasts
- Brotherband: The Invaders
- Brotherband: The Hunters
- The Lottery and Other Stories
- You Like It Darker
- Howls from the Dark Ages
- The Blacktongue Thief
- The Daughter’s War
- Kings of the Wyld
- The Bright Sword
- The Last Wish
- Lolita
- Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red
- Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition
- Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol
- Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy
- Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect
- Murderbot Diaries: Fugitive Telemetry
- Murderbot Diaries: System Collapse
- Children of Hurin
- The Gunslinger
- The Drawing of the Three
- The Wasteland
- The Long Walk
- Witch King
- The Tiger’s Wife
- Just After Sunset
- The West Passage
Ranger’s Apprentice: Sorcerer in the North
Part of a reread of one of my favorite series as a kid. An entertaining story where a young ranger, disguised as a jongleur, uncovers a sinister plot in a far northern keep. Features romance, intrigue, and medieval spy work. Good for a winter afternoon.
Ranger’s Apprentice: Siege of Macindaw
The conclusion to the plotline started in Sorcerer in the North. Falls flat compared to the previous book, with weak payoff and somewhat arbitrary consequences for characters despite the threats. Worth reading to see the conclusion, but don’t expect the quality of the previous story.
Assassin’s Apprentice
The first foray into Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy, or as I call them, the Dog Boy Books. Instead of training to be an assassin for the King, the book covers Dog Boy’s special connection with dogs. The Red-Ship Raider villains are an odd, far-off mirage.
Royal Assassin
A semi-realistic depiction of a teenager’s poor decision-making skills. However, the young, impulsive “Royal Assassin” does no assassinating. The plot only exists because he refuses to kill the obvious, mustache-twirling villains
Assassin’s Quest
Over 800 pages.
Click to see longer spoiler rant
The B-plot of the novel involves the protagonist watching his adoptive father protect and then fall in love with his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child. Dog Boy wishes he could be there with her but instead he has to go on this pointless journey to watch a man turn into a fucking dragon and go destroy the Red-Ship Raiders (he does not help this world-shifting event occur).
Brotherband: The Outcasts
A coming-of-age story that follows a boy who relies on intelligence and inventions in a Nordic-inspired society that values strong men who hit hard with axes. Lacks some of the charm of Ranger’s Apprentice. Flanagan does a good job with individualizing a large group of boys though.
Brotherband: The Invaders
The Brotherband group formed in the last book is banished for losing an important McGuffin. They embark on a quest to retrieve it from the pirates. The interpersonal struggles of a young crew shine through at times, but I find the threats and challenges arbitrary at times.
Brotherband: The Hunters
A mostly boring conclusion to the Brotherband trilogy. There are some pirates, some captures, some escapes, but none of the characters ever appear in serious danger and the threats dissolve as soon as they appear leading to a hollow final confrontation.
The Lottery and Other Stories
Shirley Jackson’s short stories are some of the most incendiary of the 20th century. The Lottery conjured one of the largest torrents of hate mail in history. Read it right now if you haven’t already. The collection also includes gems like the liminal horror of working in a department store.
You Like it Darker
King’s short stories span everything from subtle, eldritch horror to bombastic, slapstick thriller. You Like it Darker is no different. Some stories like Two Talented Bastids are meek and overwritten, Rattlesnakes, a sequel to Cujo, is a strong enough entry to justify purchasing the collection.
Howls from the Dark Ages
I wanted to love this anthology of medieval horror, but it contains some of the worst short stories I’ve ever read. It is incredibly obvious many of the stories were written by complete amateurs. In Thrall to this Good Earth is the only reason worth to purchase this book.
The Blacktongue Thief
We follow a thief through a Dungeons and Dragons inspired world still reeling from the latest Goblin war. Shockingly graphic at times, this novel is secretly grimdark with an emphasis on gore, sexual violence, and shitting one’s pants. It starts strong, but dives in the last quarter.
The Daughter’s War
Go fuck yourself Christopher Buehlman. We get a prequel (imagine my eyes rolling and falling out) to Blacktongue Thief and it’s not even good! The cover promises “Goblins. Guts. Glory.” but the book delivers misery porn instead. With almost no battles for hundreds of pages, the book is decidedly gutless.
Click to see longer spoiler rant
There’s also this really annoying and overdone writing thing Buehlman does where the protagonist alludes to something interesting happening in the future and then says something along the lines of “but that’s a story for later.” Why!? Tell me now or don’t bring it up? Stop just going “alas I love this big, brawny girl but she will die in a yellow field soon… anyway back to the starving children in this village.” We get it, a bunch of bad stuff happens very soon. Why spoil and allude to it and then cut to the most boring and irrelevant stuff ever? And if you think it’s not irrelevant, the book captures an atmosphere of despair very early. MOVE ON. Have a plot and make your characters take action instead of merely observing misery!
Kings of the Wyld
Good news! Anyone with a word processor can publish a novel and get over 4 stars on Goodreads. The text is a problematic D&D campaign where all challenges are resolved by the GM improvising a skyship to save the players. The author avoids consequences for characters like the plague.
The Bright Sword
Maybe the book that pissed me off the most this year. It has a strong premise and many exciting early chapters, but I could remove 50% of the chapters in this book and it would have zero effect on the story. The ending is sheepish melodrama too.
Click to see longer spoiler rant
Grossman clearly did a lot of research on Arthurian legends for this book, but the text comes across like he wasn’t going to waste it. Almost 50% of the book is backstory chapters for several knights of the roundtable. But there’s a problem: these chapters have 0 bearing on the plot or characterization. We go from knowing Sir Palomides is a middle eastern knight in love with another man’s wife to knowing Sir Palomides is a middle eastern knight from Baghdad who came to Camelot and then fell in love with another man’s wife. Wait. That’s what we already knew. It’s like instead of show-don’t-tell we got tell-then-show. The book is 3 stars if you skip all of the Tale of insert-knight-here chapters.
The Last Wish
This Witcher short story collection is lauded by many as better than the show. These people are illiterate, or liars. In the show, Geralt investigates and slowly uncovers the truth behind a strzyga. The Last Wish version is a guard narrating this mystery to Geralt for 10+ pages instead 😐.
Lolita
A book so painful I had to put it down. I thought I was prepared for the villainy within, but Nobokov surprises you with the protagonist’s depravity. The text emphasizes cruelty through love and callous disposal of said love.
Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red
Murderbot deserves the praise (and a better show). Sharp, punchy humor from an androgynous, sex-repulsed, autistic-coded SecUnit makes this novella well worth an afternoon read. Little hiccups like odd pacing or unclear prose keep it from five stars.
Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition
Murderbot 2, featuring more autistic artificial intelligences and even dumber humans. The B-Plot with a “ComfortUnit” is oddly promoted to main plot as Murderbot’s drive is resolved in the middle of the text. A failure to carry some of these characters into future Murderbot stories feels like a waste.
Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol
Features more practical SecUnit work than any previous Murderbot. It’s exciting to see the sometimes bumbling, sometimes extraordinary Murderbot take charge. Less humor, more action. There’s also a really annoying pet robot I refuse to care about.
Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy
A much weaker entry. Abandons much of the action of Rogue Protocol for “hacking” sequences. Perhaps I’m too picky as a programmer, but these sequences feel somewhat arbitrary and often result in an 90’s hacker “I’m in” sort of writing. The prose also struggles to illustrate the far-future space structures.
Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect
The first novel in the Murderbot Diaries at 352 pages. Sadly, the text is overburdened by this length. The novel’s construction is almost that of two separate novellas, one 4/5 stars and the other 1/5. Wells smashed them together and made them kiss, to the detriment of the whole.
Murderbot Diaries: Fugitive Telemetry
A murder-mystery with primary investigator (and suspect) Murderbot. After this many stories I find it quite difficult for the humans of Preservation to continue to distrust Murderbot. Yeah, Murderbot saved a Preservation crew, including the leader of Preservation, several times over, but maybe they murdered some random civilian? 🙄
Murderbot Diaries: System Collapse
Unimaginative. Mostly an excuse to explore a “redacted” event in Murderbot’s own head and the ensuing “episodes” that are definitely not panic attacks.
Children of Hurin
One of the three great stories of the Silmarillion. One of Tolkien’s darker stories, it follows the tragic character of Turin as he lives under Morgoth’s curse. Classic mythological storytelling that makes me willing to forgive some slower prose or odd dialogue. Features one of the best fantasy swords ever.
The Gunslinger
A reread of one of my favorite books. The Gunslinger is a post-apocalyptic, fantasy, western with a brutal anti-hero. Despite its fantastical and medieval elements, The Gunslinger might be one of the greatest western novels. I see no issue with putting it on a shelf next to McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.
The Drawing of the Three
A longer story that largely serves as exposition for the rest of King’s Dark Tower series. The western gunslinger Roland is pulled into modern New York and we follow his journey as he draws characters back into his own world. Contains a polarizing depiction of a mentally ill black woman.
The Wasteland
The journey to the Dark Tower begins in earnest. Tragic at times and laugh-out-loud funny at others. Contains perhaps the best riddling sequence since Tolkien’s Riddles in the Dark. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but an egomaniacal train that talks in all-caps.
The Long Walk
Another King story focused on boys on the verge of manhood. A dystopian fiction that ignores the evil government. Instead King asks us, who would sign up for such a competition? And why would we watch it? A tight meditation on media and the indomitable power of the human mind.
Witch King
An imaginative fantasy novel that switches between two timelines. I adore the older timeline focused on the nomadic Saredi and their mutually beneficial relationship with demons from the underearth. However, the present timeline lags and becomes clear filler, ending with YA tropes that fall flat compared to the early text.
The Tiger’s Wife
One of the most important books I’ve read. A story about stories, more in line with Borges’s magical realism than simple non-fiction. The novel discusses the enormity of death through the lens of a doctor’s encounters with a deathless man and a tiger’s wife. My number one book recommendation.
Just after Sunset
A King short story collection that has everything from muted character studies, to speculative fiction, to decent horror. Has a little bit of everything, but doesn’t stand out compared to most of King’s other collections; Bazaar of Bad Dreams and If It Bleeds are better picks.
The West Passage
The most unique fantasy of the year. Evokes Jim Henson works like Labyrinth without feeling derivative. The palace captures primeval decay and the ladies are pure eldritch horror. Don’t be tricked by the colorful towers, Pechaček weaves in shocking violence. The ending feels forced, but the journey is wondrous.
Between Two Fires
Buelhman’s historical fiction horror novel that some tout as “like Dark Souls”. It’s not. We follow a knight as he protects a pious girl who performs miracles. Unfortunately, Buelhman has nothing to say about catholicism, faith, or even morality. Demons merely serve as a vehicle for misery, rape, and torture.
Done reading? Go back to top ↑
And… that’s it. Those are all the books I read. There’s a few longer non-fiction ones I haven’t finished yet so they’re not up here, but I am really enjoying The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World right now. Next year I’ll just aim for 30 books (and probably miss it as well).
Edited for grammar and adding Bookshop links to the top recommendations.
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