Honest Short Pros and Cons of all the Books I read in 2025 (so far) and who should read them (Part I)

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(2025 books in a random order - goodreads shows my starts and the average of all readers)

Beautiful Ugly (thriller)

Pros: Revenge story and Darkest Ending ever (won't be erased from our minds for a long time)

Cons: Slow start

Book here

https://amzn.to/4jRx8XvAudio here

For female readers, feminist characters are satisfied with a punished male character.

After Ever After Book 2 of Princess Protection Program (Middle Grade - Academy - Fairy Taleish)

Pros: Fun Disney princesses get free from their cursed stories, learn how tasty pizza is

Cons: It's like a portal fantasy satire

Book here

Audio here.

For readers of the School for Good and Evil. It's fun. I like it. It's light.

Sleep Tight (Book of the Month - Thriller)

Pros: Dark for those who like Motherhood, children threatened

Cons: Too many plot twists

Book here

Audio here.

For readers who like Catriona Ward and Stephen King

The River Has Roots (Fantasy Novella)

Pros: Siblings' story, Fae magic

Cons: (It was intense after reading, but after a couple of months, I can't remember the plot by heart), which is good, meaning I can reread it and enjoy it again

Book here

Audio here.

For readers who like murder ballads and love stories

Our Deadly Designs (vol 2) (Fantasy )

Pros: Cover and Arielle

Cons: My bad, I didn't have book 1, so I was a bit lost

Book here

Audio here.

For readers who like a middle between Shadow Between Us and Scorpio Races

Streetlamp People (vol 2) (Sci-Fi YA)

Pros: YA second chances, Halloween magic

Cons: Time traveling (personal taste)

Book here

Audio here.

Sci-fi readers with a hint of Ray Bradbury's time-traveling

All the Best Dogs (Middle Grade Pets)

Pros: Different puppies, different experiences

Cons: If you don't have a puppy, you may think just fun

Book here

Audio here.

Great for those who have dogs

Home for Christmas in July (Romance Christmas Themed)

Pros: An entire small town dedicated to Christmas, all of it, names, events, even dishes

Cons: None for me (I don't care for romance, but read this one and the second, loved the second too)

Book here

If you are into Christmas like me, 365 days this Cozy Second Chances Rom is for you.

Saving Ellipsis (Cozy Romance)

Pros: A world within a world, all to make a novel being written, fun, sweet romance

Cons: Sometimes too long

Book here

If you like cozy roms where the protagonist has a cozy shop, loves books, flowers, and solves a mystery, this one is a fun read

The Hotel Balzaar (Middle Grade Historical Fiction)

Pros: Amazing illustrations by Julia Sarda, great relationship between characters

Cons: Too heavy for kids, but some kids like this type of story

Book here

Audio here.

Reads as literary fiction. Short.

Words of Radiance (Fantasy)

Pros: The person who writes chapters 1 to 3 and the last 3 should write the entire book

Cons: Extremely low pacing with very low reward, the middle looks like it's written by other people for the sake of the chapter plot goal, I loved the end of book 1 (only one of the male characters), half of the 2nd (because of a female character), and quit the 3rd when they started flying... I quit this author, will not read him again.

Book here

Audio here.

If you never read 80s, 90s... fantasy (if you never read fantasy...)

I recommend Robin Hobb's Mad Ship trilogy instead.

The Mirror (Women's Fiction)

Pros: Haunting, Weddings Curse, Strong Female "sisters". I was curious about Nora Roberts, so I tried this one, but it's volume 2, so I was curious about the death of the other brides (generations) and read 1st too

Cons: They are always making food and meals

Book here

Audio here.

Strong women together, a kind of book with a ghost, a haunted house where they live, and don't care about the ghost.

The Murder Mystery Club Puzzle Book (Interactive Mystery Small Town)

Pros: Each page has a puzzle like a Sudoku, or another logic puzzle to solve, gives answers to the story, and advances the story

Cons: If you're not good at one type of puzzle, they repeat a lot, so use the answers at the end.

Book here

Great to read with a nerdy husband, kid, siblings at the beach or traveling, it's fun to read the mystery on one page and solve a puzzle, then another page, another puzzle. Cheap books, easy to collect, and have some fun.

Deadly Animals (Dark Thriller Murder Mystery)

Pros: The teen is much smarter than the cops and one step ahead

Cons: Dark for some people, quite visual

Book here

Audio here.

For those who like true crime and dark crime shows