H. J. Reynolds' 3 favorite reads in 2025

A standalone fantasy that gives complex world-building, a unique magic system, thoughtful character development and an epic ending that gut punches you. Truly an outstanding novel.

I'm mixed in how I feel about it compared to The Sword of Kaigen, also by M. L. Wang. On the one hand, I cried on a train all by myself reading The Sword of Kaigen, whereas I didn't cry (publicly or privately) reading Blood Over Bright Haven, although it certainly was an emotional read.

Ultimately, I think Bright Haven was written better and definitely had a more consistent pace. The themes of both works are very similar and they both had their info dumpy moments, but there's something completely captivating about this author's worlds and characters. I can't wait to read more from Wang in the future.

My new obsession is reading Hallie Rubenhold books. She's incredible at giving a voice to the women in history who have been overlooked and wronged by time. This latest novel is another fascinating read that flips the narrative on a murderer who was not particularly clever or justified in his crimes, though sickeningly he was romanticised even in his own lifetime.

I've read some criticism that this book doesn't deal with a grizzly or interesting enough subject, but really you have to be seriously desensitized to think this way. The man killed his first wife with repeated forced surgeries, and cut his second wife into pieces, even removing the bones so she would be the least human possible. He was a monster and Rubenhold lays bare his incompetence and callousness.

The book also goes into interesting details on how technology played its part in catching the murderer and shines a light on the kind of biases that affected the investigation.

I loved reading about Belle's life and the friends who genuinely loved her. They refused to let her murderer get away with it and the justice served is satisfying to read.

Hmm, how to describe this one. Well, it's bloody hilarious and although set in Ancient Greece, it's extremely Irish. It's also extremely human and goes into really dark topics but not in a lecturing kind of way. It's just a beautiful read that will have you smiling throughout and make you reflective about humanity in the least pretentious way possible. Totally out of the box for an ancient historical novel.