These novels are my favorites of 2025, the titles I most recommended to friends and Largehearted Boy readers (my personal definition of “favorite”).
Adelaide Faith’s novel Happiness Forever is a totally absorbing debut, a coming-of-age story with an unforgettable protagonist.
Paula Bomer’s novel The Stalker is a brilliant and unsettling portrait of modern male toxicity.
Ariel Courage’s debut Bad Nature is a delightfully cynical road novel with an unforgettable unlikable protagonist.
Colwill Brown’s novel We Pretty Pieces of Flesh is a startlingly innovative debut that examines female friendship through the lens of vulnerability.
Cynthia Weiner’s A Gorgeous Excitement is a riveting debut, a coming-of-age novel as hypnotically told as it is suspenseful.
Dennard Dayle’s How to Dodge a Cannonball is a Civil War novel that impresses with its dark humor and social commentary.
Emily Hunt Kivel’s novel Dwelling is one of the year’s most magnificent debuts, a book as much fable as it is warning.
Erica Peplin’s novel Work Nights is a masterfully-told debut with an unforgettable young queer protagonist, and immediately became one of my favorite NYC novels.
Isaac Fellman’s novel Notes from a Regicide smartly explores themes of identity and family through a dystopian, queer lens.
Maggie Su’s novel Blob is a stunning debut, a book as entertaining as it is insightful.
Sebastian Castillo’s Fresh, Green Life is dark, funny, and profound, and features a fascinating anti-hero protagonist.
Zoe Dubno’s novel Happiness and Love is a stunning debut that exposes the dark side of the art world and privilege.
also at Largehearted Boy:
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2024
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2023
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2022
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2021
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2019
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2018
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2017
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2016
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2015
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2014
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2013
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2012
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2011
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2010
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2009
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2008
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2007
Largehearted Boy favorite nonfiction of 2025
Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2025
Largehearted Boy favorite poetry collections of 2025
Largehearted Boy favorite short story collections of 2025
Online Essential & Interesting 2025 Year-End Book Lists
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