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My Least Favourite Books of 2025

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I have been doing something a bit different this year. In my reading journal there is a space to put your favourite and least favourite read of each month and I thought today I would share my least favourite reads this year.

January – An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

This book had a stronger romantic element rather than plot element, compared to margaret rogerson’s other books – both Vespertine and Sorcery of Thorns are some of my favourite books. I enjoyed Isobel, the main character and I liked how the story and the romance progressed but as I say, compared to the author’s other books I went into it with higher expectations.

February – This Is Not A Game by Kelly Mullen

I used this book for a chapter in my PhD, however I did not enjoy it. I felt it was trying to take elements of the cosy and the traditional mysteries but did not mesh them well.

March – The Village Library Demon Hunting Society

This book has to be one of my least favoruite of the year, even now in November of the same year I read it I can’t remember much of it, all I remember is how much I disliked reading it, I remember being both frustrated and confused and thinking there was no plot.

April – The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Having seen the TV show for this book and loving it, I had high expectations for this book and this author who I have read and enjoyed previously. However, I did not love it, I thought it was okay but a little but clumpy and dragged put in places.

May – The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

This is probably my least favourite Agatha Christie book, there’s not much I can say other than I found it a little bit boring.

June – How to Sway A Bard

This book was too short. The premise was excellent, but it wasn’t given enough time and attention to make it amazing.

July – The Mystery of the Painted Dragon

This is a young, middle grade mystery series and it is the third book in that series. I enjoyed the series but I decided to not continue with the fourth book after this one.

August – A Novel Murder

Honestly, I didn’t even reach 100 pages into this book, I did not like the self-pitying main character and I couldn’t imagine growing to like them so this was easily one of my least favourite books of the year.

September – I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

I finished more than half of this book but I struggled with getting into the story, it just didn’t hold my interest.

October – The Coven by Harper L Woods

This book had a very intriguing premise, it lacked substance for me and felt very rushed but it was still quite enjoyable.

November – The Ripper of Whitechapel by Yvette Fielding

This was a short, engaging, middle grade book which I found good but maybe only a three star read while everything else I read in November was a four or above.

I do not have an answer for December yet as I am still reading for this month, but this is the least favourite books for each month so far this year.

Monthly Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. What a month April was. For me personally, there were many highs and lows to do with family and learning how to juggle those things alongside my PhD was difficult but here we are finally at the end of the month and things have settled down a bit. Anyway, in terms of reading I had a good month. I finished my TBR and I got through a couple of extra books too which was surprising alongside everything else but a nice bonus. It was also a good month for enjoying the books I was reading.

What was your favourite book that you read in April? I have started making a list of my favourite book that I read in each month of this year and then in December I’ll be able to see what my top ten books of the year could be. So far the list is: January – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, February – Murder By Candlelight by Faith Martin, March – Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano and April – Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco.

What I read in April: from my TBR –

  • Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano – I had written my TBR for April around the middle of March and it turned out that I had time to squeeze this one into my March reading instead. I had been putting off this book for a while because I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue the series after book two, it was starting to feel a bit samey but I decided to read it and I ended up loving it and subsequently bought the next two books in the series which i am excited to get to.
  • Phantasma by Kaylie Smith – I did read this. After all the hype I was excited but apprehensive to get to this one because I had heard so many opinions, mostly positive, and I thought it probably wouldn’t live up to the hype. I will be posting my full review of this book on the 12th May.
  • The White Queen by Philippa Gregory – I did read this – there may be some historical inaccuracies within the novel but as a lover of history from the 1400s to the 1600s I still enjoyed this novel.
  • Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – as you can see from above I did read this and it was my favourite read of April (though it was a close race between this one, unravel me and murder at highgate cemetary). This was the final book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and I will be posting my full review of it on the 19th of May.
  • Reckless by Lauren Roberts – I did read this and I did enjoy it, I see where the negative reviews are coming from with the lack of substance to the plot but I generally just enjoy being in this world with these characters and that cliffhanger was quite something. I am looking forward to reading the final book in the series and seeing what happens.
  • Murder At The Country Club by Helena Dixon – I did read this and like all the other books in the Miss Underhay series it was fantastic.
  • Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi – I did read this. This is the second book in the Shatter Me series. This series has a way of sucking you in. I had some issues with Juliette’s character in this book and how little she stood up for herself but I also recognise that she needs the time to grow into that and I have a feeling it is going to happen in the third book. Otherwise I loved this book, its nearly 500 pages and I devoured it in a day easily.

Outside of my TBR I also read: Murder On Board by Helena Dixon, Murder At Highgate Cemetary by Irina Shapiro and Graveyard Shift by M L Rio that I was gifted for my birthday. Overall this means I read 10 books in April which I am very pleased with. There was only one that was a bit of a slog to read but everything else I really enjoyed, hopefully my reading in May will be just as good!

Monthly TBRs

April TBR

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is already April, I don’t know about anyone else but that has snuck up on me. What are you planning to read this month?

For this month I have tried to put together books that are a mix of genres so that I can have something fresh in between the big fantasy books.

My April TBR is:

Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun by Elle Cosimano

Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Capturing The Devil by Kerri Mansicalco

Reckless by Lauren Roberts

Murder At The Country Club by Helena Dixon