A reading review of Q3 2025

abbybathurst
Oct 1
6 min read

The final quarter of 2025 has begun, so here is my reading review of Q3 2025.

Autumn is well and truly here, and that means we're into the final quarter of 2025. This year has gone by so fast, and I've accomplished a lot, including reading many books.

I have reached my Goodreads Reading Goal for this year and exceeded it. I've also read a lot of great books this year.

In Q1, I read 26 books and in Q2 I read 30 books. In the latest quarter, I managed to read 25 books.

So, let's get into my reading review of Q3 2025.

WriteWatchWork's Reading Review

Total Number of Books Per Month

In Q3, whilst I read 24 books, that is the fewest books read in each quarter. However, it's quality over quantity, and some of the books I read have been some of the top reads of the year.

In July, I read seven books. In August, I increased that number to nine books, managing to squeeze in some last summer books. And in September, I've read nine books.

August and September were my best months, in terms of the number of books read, but all three months proved to have some great books.

Most-Read Genre

Romance was my most-read genre in Q2, and the same could be said for Q3. Within the romance genre, I read quite a few different sub-genres, including romantic suspense, STEM romances and dark romance too.

However, romance wasn't the only genre I read. Q3 consisted of dystopian books, fantasy books, a magical realism novel and a thriller as well.

Most-Read Author

In Q3, I read quite a variety of authors, totalling 19 different authors. This isn't as many as the previous quarter, but still quite a few. The authors I read in July, August, and September are:

Ali Hazelwood
Ashley Poston
B.K. Borison
Brynne Weaver
Carley Fortune
Catherine Cowles
E.M. Carter
Gregory Maguire
Hannah Bonam-Young
John Marrs
Krista and Becca Ritchie
Kristen Ciccarelli
Lauren Asher
Laurie Gilmore
Malorie Blackman
Meredith Trapp
Paige Toon
Sarah Morgan
Susie Tate

Out of these 19 authors, a lot of them were new authors to me, meaning I'm definitely completing my goal of reading new authors this year.

The authors I had never previously read were: Ashley Poston, Brynne Weaver, Carley Fortune, E.M. Carter, Gregory Maguire, Hannah Bonam-Young, John Marrs, Krista and Becca Ritchie, Kristen Ciccarelli, Malorie Blackman, Meredith Trapp, and Paige Toon.

However, my most-read authors were Ali Hazelwood and Catherine Cowles, as I read three of their books.

Favourite Books

I read so many good books in Q3 of 2025, it's hard to pick my favourites. However, I will give you my top three, one of which I rated six stars because I loved it so much. I also rated quite a few books five stars.

My top pick is Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young. This was a six-star read that had me laughing, swooning, and crying. It was my first introduction to Hannah's writing, and I was definitely not disappointed. Everything about this book was just perfect.

Next up is First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison. I devoured this book. I've read B.K. Borison's books before, so I knew I enjoyed her writing, but I'd heard some mixed reviews about First-Time Caller. However, the Sleepless in Seattle-inspired book was just so good in my opinion. Pure rom-com vibes.

The third and final book in my top three favourites is going to be, you guessed it, another romance. Love Arranged by Lauren Asher is the final book in the Lakefront Billionaires trilogy, and once again, I absolutely loved Lauren's writing. I also read book two, Love Unwritten, in Q3, but Love Arranged came out on top for me.

Some other honourable mentions include One Golden Summer; Every Summer After; The Crimson Moth; You Killed Me First; Problematic Summer Romance; and Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses.

Favourite Authors

For my favourite authors of Q3, I could easily pick the three authors of my favourite books — Hannah Bonam-Young, B.K. Borison and Lauren Asher. However, I'm going to pick three different authors.

So, my top three authors of Q3 are:

Carley Fortune
Catherine Cowles
Kristen Ciccarelli

Carley Fortune's books, Every Summer After and One Golden Summer, have been praised for being the romance books of summer. With the hype surrounding them, I just knew I had to read them, and I'm so glad I did because they were amazing. Both were five-star reads, and I loved Carley's writing.

Catherine Cowles was a top author of Q2 for me, after reading only two of her books. However, in Q3, I finished off reading the published books in her Sparrow Falls series, and just had to pick her again. The romantic suspense storylines she creates are just so good.

My final favourite author of Q3 is Kristen Ciccarelli. Fantasy and romantasy books have risen in popularity with the rise of BookTok, and I've never really been a fantasy girl. However, I wanted to read more of the genre and The Crimson Moth was the perfect book to do so. I loved Kristen's worldbuilding, and can't wait to read book two, The Rebel Witch.

Best Book Surprise

When picking the best book surprise, there was a lot to consider. For instance, Out of the Woods surprised me by how much I enjoyed that story and felt the character's emotions, and The Crimson Moth surprised me by hooking me onto the fantasy genre.

However, I'm going to pick Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

As a YA writer and avid reader, I knew I had to read Noughts and Crosses at some point. It's considered a modern classic that is relevant today, and that's why it surprised me.

The dystopian novel tackles tough topics and themes, delivering them in a way that a young adult audience understands without feeling patronised. It also surprised me with just how emotional the book is.

I didn't expect it to have such a lasting impact on me as a reader, and that's why it's a five-star read. It is complex and harrowing, but also beautiful.

You can read my full review of it here.

Least Favourite Book

Unfortunately, Q3 of 2025 did have some disappointing books, in my opinion. Out of the 25 books read, there were three I rated under 4 stars, and these were: Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

For me, Butcher and Blackbird, whilst I enjoy dark romance, just didn't live up to expectations. I thought I was going to really enjoy this, and whilst it was a fun read, I found myself wanting to get to the end. I didn't really connect with the characters, and some parts were rather disturbing. However, I will give book two a go.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House was a sweet book and I did enjoy it. However, the ending let me down because whilst I like the story, there's something that happens towards the end, causing the third-act break-up, which I felt was unnecessary and didn't fit with one of the characters. That being said, I still enjoy the series.

The final book is sadly Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Now, I'm a huge fan of the musical (I've seen it twice), and I love the movie. However, this book is completely different. Going into it, I knew it wouldn't be the same as the musical/movie, but I didn't realise how much it would change — it was almost like reading a completely different story. Also, it is darker, grittier and I just didn't vibe with it.

25 Books for 2025

Q3 of 2025 was great for progressing with my 25 Books for 2025 list. I managed to tick off five books on the list below, which were: The Seven Year Slip (Ashley Poston), Outlier (Susie Tate), Wicked (Gregory Maguire), Butcher and Blackbird (Brynne Weaver) and Addicted To You (Krista and Becca Ritchie).

I've got ten more books to read to complete my 25 Books for 2025 list. However, I do have quite a few Christmas books lined up in the coming months of Q4.

But I'm hoping to read as many as I can from above before the festive season begins.

I hope you enjoyed my reading review of Q3 2025. If you haven't read some of the books mentioned in this post, I hope I've inspired you to give them a go, and if you've read some of them, feel free to let me know what you thought in the comments below.

Until next time...