A running ranking of the books that I have reviewed this year, updated and reranked after each book that I finish.

★★★★☆ Wren Darlington's journey picks up immediately where Silver Elite ended, continuing to explore the conflict between the Uprising and Command.

★★★☆☆ A woman returns to a mythical floating island she once visited as a child, only to become stranded with the ageless man who is living there.

★★★★☆ A haunting, dual-timeline tale of estranged siblings reckoning with a traumatic childhood serves up a unique blend of family drama and dark fairy tale.

★★★★☆ A young woman enters a deadly competition to retrieve a goblet of magic in this romantasy that feels like the love child of The Hunger Games and Silver Elite.

★★★★★ An epic story about friendship and betrayal, this behemoth of a novel follows six college friends who make a Faustian deal with a dragon.

★★★★☆ A "Book Witch" must use her ability to teleport into books to solve a mystery in her own life when her grandfather and most prized possession go missing.

★★★★☆ Following the events of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the story continues in a longer and more polished follow-up that's a step up from Book 1.

★★★★★ The sequel to The Will of the Many sees the footprint expand from a single world into three, an ambitious choice that is impressively executed.

In Chuck Wendig's dark fantasy The Calamities, a demon-human heir must choose between managing his family's soul-trading empire and forging his own destiny.

A running tally of the books that I have reviewed this year, updated and reranked after each book that I finish. Explore the latest reviews and discover hidden gems with insights from BarlinsBooks, your literary companion for top new releases.

★★★★★ A time-traveling tale that dissects the most famous legend in the land, Harrow once again creates a binge-worthy blend of fantasy and creativity.

★★★★★ A strong start to a new fantasy series that can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel, a roguish young man travels to a distant city to solve the mystery of his father's death.

★★★★★ A worthy continuation of what started with The Silverblood Promise, Book 2 is filled with heists, mini quests, and more of everything you loved in Book 1.

★★★★★ The most anticipated book of 2025 mostly delivers, as author Yarros continues the Empyrean series and Violet Sorrengail's evolution.

★★★★★ A young woman with special powers infiltrates a training program for the military while working undercover for a resistance organization.

Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2025. How do they compare to Barlin's Books rankings for the year? Where did they get things right, and where did they miss the mark?

★★★☆☆ A woman tries to break a curse which causes the women in her family to transform into a tree forever if they stay in a place too long.

My "Best Books of 2024", ranked #1 through #67.

★★★★★ A truly excellent start to a trilogy about an orphan who infiltrates an Academy for societal elites in order to uncover a conspiracy.