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The last Tuesday of the month is usually the slowest for book releases, but this week has some of the most-anticipated titles of the year! There are books that are already making it onto “The Best Books of 2025 So Far” lists, new releases from beloved thriller and romance authors, chilling horror novels, thought-provoking essays, and much more.
Speaking of romance, anyone who loves love stories should check out R. Nassor’s article The Unmaking of the Historical Romance Genre. She interviews a host of historical romance authors, including Sarah MacLean and Adriana Herrera, about how the subgenre is faring now that contemporary and romantasy have taken over as the bestselling books in the genre.
Don’t miss your chance to win a $200 Books-A-Million gift card! Enter the sweepstakes today. You can’t win if you don’t enter.
And now, let’s get into the best books out this week!
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Outside, the world is falling apart. But inside the walls of the Compound, twenty-something Lily is doing just fine. She and the other 19 competitors on the reality TV show complete challenges to get luxuries, like a comb, as well as additions to their living space, like food. At first, these tasks are standard reality TV fare, but as the stakes rise and the producers start asking strange things of them, Lily soon realizes there’s no easy path to survival, inside or outside of the Compound.
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The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
The author of Nightcrawling is back with a story about a group of teenage moms in Florida. When Adela gets pregnant at 16, her parents send her to her grandmother’s house in Padua Beach. There, she meets the Girls: a group of young moms and pregnant teenagers. Together, they try to navigate through graduation, love, friendship, and betrayal. This is already makings its way onto several Best Books of 2025 So Far lists!
Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith
Ella Winters was once the scream queen after she starred as the final girl in the cult-classic slasherGrad Night. But after the movie’s premiere, Ella disappeared from Hollywood for reasons she and her castmates refuse to explain. Now, 20 years later, Ella is ready for a comeback, and it all starts with the cast of Grad Night filming a reunion documentary in a cabin in rural Tennessee. But when each of the actors meets a fate similar to that of their characters in the film, Ella realizes someone knows what they’ve been hiding. —Emily Martin
El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott
Harper’s sister Pam went through a messy divorce where her husband not only liquidated their accounts but managed to steal from their kids. When Harper moves in with Pam, she’s surprised that her sister has landed on her feet again. Turns out Pam is part of the Wheel, a group of women who meet twice a month and pool their money for one member. It’s the true definition of community support…but things take a turn when Harper is invited to participate. —Jamie Canaves
Another highly anticipated thriller out this week is Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell!
Bed and Breakup by Susie Dumond
Breakups don’t always mean the end of the relationship forever. That’s why second-chance romances exist! Exes Molly and Robin opened up a bed and breakfast, having no idea it would be the thing that would tear them apart. Seven years after their breakup, Molly and Robin are ready to fix the antique inn up, sell it, and be out of each other’s hair once and for all. But their efforts to restore the place to its former glory also remind them of why they fixed it up in the first place. And why they once fell in love. —Emily Martin
(Psst, Susie Dumond is also a writer for Book Riot! Talk about multi-talented.)
Embrace the Serpent by Sunya Mara
18-year-old orphan Saphira has been getting by in the kingdom as a jeweler’s apprentice, where her amazing pieces are credited to her boss. But when the terrifying Serpent King sends for the greatest jeweler in the land, it is Saphira who ends up at his castle. Choosing a marriage to the king to avoid going back to the cold world outside, Saphira then finds herself increasingly drawn to her husband’s defiant huntsman, which will lead to danger. —Liberty Hardy
Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
The author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is making her nonfiction debut with this collection of essays about being at the crossroads. She discusses Black girlhood and womanhood, the history of Womanism/Black feminism, respectability politics, and simultaneously fighting patriarchy and white supremacy. Part personal writing, part historical examination, this is a thought-provoking work threaded through with Jeffers’ poetic style.
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting a post discussing why it’s worth pursuing “underconsumption” in your reading life. In this era of amassing special and deluxe editions and crowding your shelves for the Tok, challenge yourself to consider a scaled-back approach to the bookish life. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
One of the things that has provided some comfort for me during the recent horrors is underconsumption content on TikTok. Whether it’sProject Panor the fact that, according to the Fashion Transparency Index, there is currently enough clothing on earth to clothethe next six generations, it’s a welcome break from being told what I should bebuying. As a child, I used to adore watching TLC’s Clean Sweep. As an adult, I think I could probably stand to put all of my possessions out on a tarp on the lawn every so often. TikTok is an engine for consumerism, but somehow, it’s managed to plant a seed in my brain that goes against its own interests.
The why of underconsumption is a belief that we simply do not need all of the things that we have. It’s also a good way to build a practice of taking a breath before we chase that dopamine high of buying a new thing, of finding joy in the things that we create for ourselves. It’s made me look at how many of my hobbies don’t lead to the creation of anything new, not even ideas.
Of course, for some of us, underconsumption is an economic necessity. Most of us don’t live the lives we see reflected on our various feeds. With the will-they-or-won’t they of massive tariffs on many products coming in from other countries, the reality is that things are likely to get more expensive. This “trend” is really just showing how to make the most of what you have. Many books on shelves in the United States are printed in China, but are currently exempt from tariffs.
Why am I ruining a pure, good thing for you in these times, you ask? I’m going to try not to. I am simply here to offer suggestions that I myself will have trouble following. We strive for progress and not perfection. I am pretty sure that if I deleted the Libby app right now, heaven forbid, I would have enough unread books in my home to get me through an entire calendar year.
Sign up to become an All Access member for only $6/month and then click here to read the full, unlocked article. Level up your reading life with All Access membership and explore a full library of exclusive bonus content, including must-reads, deep dives, and reading challenge recommendations.