2025 mid-year book review

I review books in my free time. Here are the books I've read in 2025 so far, and my thoughts -->

As I mentioned in my introduction post, if you haven’t seen it, click HERE to read it!

With the advent of booktok, reading has exploded in a way that it never has before, becoming a marketing powerhouse. You cannot walk into a store and not see a shelf labeled #booktok favorites, I mean I love that people are reading more but sometimes I wonder how good these books actually are. as i’ve found myself reading few books that were labeled booktok “favorites” anddddd i did NOT think they were that good, which is well within my rights, just as people are allowed to LOVE them.

Reading Goals 📖

As a #realreader 🤓, I’ve made it my goal in 2025 to read more general fiction and memoirs, which I’ve always enjoyed, and on occasion, I’m not afraid to reach for a social media recommendation. Thank you to my local library for having the new releases in clutch.

How I look in the library, my favorite place ever!

So far, I have read 8 books this year, which puts me super behind my goal 😖, which is 25 books for 2025. I like to push my goal to 50 books 😅 whenever I complete my short goal because that’s lowkey my true reading goal, but matching it to the year makes it more manageable and fun. I still have 4 months left to read the other 17. Like most people, life happens, and the time slips past you orrrrr you have no motivation to read, which was lowkey the reason I fell really behind 😬. But I will always love reading, no matter how long I put it down for 😘.

Now, for the books I’ve completed this year, I read:

1. Wildfire by Hannah Grace

2. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

3. Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World’s Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro

4. Daydream by Hannah Grace

5. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

6. She is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

7. The Martian by Andy Weir

8. The Invitation by Lucy Foley

   
   

I would say out of all of these books, the one I liked the most was Daydream 🥰 and the one I disliked the most was The Midnight Feast 😒. The one I found most disappointing was She is A Haunting 😕. The book I found the most surprising was The Martian 😮, I found that book so funny.

Mini-Reviews 🤔

Some of these reviews I did pull from my Goodreads, which you can find HERE, if you’d like to see what I’m reading or have read.

All spoiler-free! Except for my thoughts on She is a Haunting 😬.

Wildfire by Hannah Grace

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3)

This is the second book in the Maple Hills trilogy (yes, the sequel to Icebreaker), and Aurora and Russ just felt like a copy-and-paste version of Nate and Stassie, only because they were kinda more bland. Although the characters themselves are fine people, after the rollercoaster of Icebreaker, this book was underwhelming.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

⭐️⭐️ (2)

This was the third Lucy Foley book I’ve read. Her two prior works before this I had read, were The Guest List and The Hunting Party, and they were fine books. But when I read this book, it made me mad because I had been waiting for this book on the Libby app for like 8+ weeks, only to read this and be IRRITATED. The characters genuinely had rocks for brains, and it was hard to follow along. I know that the author has a particular writing style that has all of the events occur over a singular weekend, and it’s broken up by the common mystery/thriller genre convention of moving between the past and present, which is fine; this book is just not a good example of this writing format.

Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World’s Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5)

I was kinda seated once he started getting into the nitty-gritty of his process. Would I be an art forger as an art student, never, but his obsession and drive are inspiring for a young artist like me. He had a chance and he took it, and I feel like he definitely could’ve made it as an artist in his own right, but some things just happen the way they do.

Daydream by Hannah Grace

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5)

This is my favorite book in the Maple Hills series. I relate deeply to both Henry and Halle. Their struggles are some I deal with myself, and I felt so seen. An eldest daughter tasked with so much, a lack of experience in romance, struggling to understand friendship, and her feelings. In my head, Halle was on the ace spectrum (demisexual), so I felt so seen by her, and then Henry being black but an art major??? Hello, I love it when Black characters are artsy. Hm, struggling with a filter, being around others sometimes, feeling like he lets everyone down, and being a procrastinator!!!!

I love that their romance was very down-to-earth and they took it one step at a time. I loved that they first met at a bookstore, and he fell head over heels, and he didn’t know until he was so far deep into it.

I love how the characters from previous books play such a huge role in the lives of the main characters, but also in the lives of others. Such a lovable cast of characters, and I wish all the best for them. This was my kind of book, my kind of romance that I dream of someday.

Thank you, Hannah Grace, you have a solid fan out of me ❤️.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3)

So, you’d think after the rating of the last Lucy Foley book, I’d take a break from reading her for a couple of months, right? You’d think that. But as you’d have it, I placed a hold on this book at the same time as the Midnight Feast, and I had to wait a whopping 14+ weeks to get this book on Libby. Imagine my surprise when I read it, and it was simply okay. I will admit that I was entertained, but if some elements were made stronger, it would have made this a much better thriller. Although this book is different because the events occurred over a week, rather than a weekend, which gave her more time, I believe.

She is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (Not Spoiler Free)

How I felt reading this book

⭐️⭐️ (2)

This was …. a book. I found it disappointing and a bit confusing, to say the least. Part of that might be because I took a month to read it. I acknowledge I got busy with school, but normally, despite that, it typically doesn’t take me longer than a week to finish a book. I fear. Hopefully, it’s just because it’s a debut novel, but the ending felt unresolved, like what are the permanent effects of the haunting on the family?

Spoilers!

Their father DIED in a fire like OMG ??? And then he burned the house down with him? Alma covered everything up, and Jade was blamed for Tommy dying bc they were drunk driving

RIGHT… NEXT BOOK. Case closed!

The Martian by Andy Weir

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5)

I found that this book really worked for me; it was quick-paced and quite witty in my opinion. Mark Watney is a character you want to root for and to survive. I feel like, realistically, he should have died much earlier on in the book, probably by Sol 6 or 30, but it’s whatever. I also watched the movie; it wasn’t as good an experience as reading the book, but if you didn’t read the book, it would be a much better watch. But Mark is my Mars space king🤴🧑‍🚀.

The Invitation by Lucy Foley

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3)

I want to say that this is one of my favorite Foley books because it felt like I was reading a movie. The way the characters acted felt very believable, and the novel was well-paced. I liked all of the characters in the book, even the antagonist. If you’d like to read a Lucy Foley book, this is the one to read; it will not disappoint you!

Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading By The End of the Year 📚

1. Oathbound by Tracy Deonn: This was a book I was WAITING for to come out. I love the first two books in the trilogy, and I wanted to wait to read this until I can buy my copy.

2. Algospeak by Adam Aleksic: He popped up on my YouTube shorts feed….I know but he talks about language as a linguist and I think that is so fascinating, like I read Cultish by Amanda Montell (which is a great book by the way, her other book The Age of Magical Overthinking is a miss though) for fun because I think culture and people are worth understanding, which makes sense as an art major like HELLO!

I’m hoping that by the end of the year I will have completed my reading goal (🤞🏾), but if I don’t, there is always next year. I enjoyed writing out my thoughts here. I often find myself unable to share my thoughts on books, except with a select group of people, so this was a great outlet.

Questions for you, dear reader: Do you like to read? Are you an occasional reader or a voluminous reader? What are your reading goals for 2025, and how close are you to being done? Any books you've liked, disliked, found surprising, or disappointing? What books are you looking forward to reading?

Like always, feel free to comment or reach out for any inquiries! Will write more soon.

Yours truly,

Lois Griffin-Lane 🩷

p.s. I saw Superman two weeks ago, and it felt super weird to hear my name on repeat throughout the movie.