By Maria-Nefeli Andredaki,
2024 was a great year for books. With the popularity of BookTok peaking in the previous year, the reading community was able to connect, explore new genres, and promote books and authors, helping them climb the New York Times best-seller list. Whether we are talking about already established and well-loved authors, self-published books, or spin-offs of popular series, reading skyrocketed as a hobby among social media users and helped shed light on many undiscovered gems. It seems that 2025 will follow a similar route so, without further ado, here are the most anticipated book releases for this year:
1) We Do Not Part – Han Kang
Starting off strong with the 2024 Nobel Prize winner, Han Kang is expected to release her newest novel this January. Actually, the novel has been already published in Korean, Kang’s mother tongue, since 2021, but this year, translators e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, are bringing the work to the author’s English-speaking audience. The main character of the book is faced with the challenge of rescuing a pet bird from Jeju Island, in adverse weather conditions, which leads her to uncovering Korea’s dark political history.
2) Onyx Storm – Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros became a huge success on TikTok with the promotion of her Fourth Wing series, a “romantasy” involving dragons, dragon-riders and the enemies-to-lovers romance that ensues between two “war college” attendees. The author made great use of the extremely popular enemies-to-lovers trope and, following the footsteps of Sarah J Maas, created a lucrative series that became successful in no time. Although she faced a lot of backlash and controversy regarding potential use of AI in her writing, Yarros has a large fanbase who cannot wait to get their hands on the latest installment of the series. Let’s hope that it will live up to its hype!
3) Sunrise on the Reaping – Suzanne Collins
Collins must be one of the most adored authors of our lifetime, as the creator of the Hunger Games series, which was a huge part of millions’ childhood and teenage years, heavily influencing fandom culture and attributing to what it is today. The author made a big comeback in 2020 with the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which finally explored the history behind the Games and what led to their creation. With this new part of the series, Collins explores something that her readers have been asking for ages; the backstory of Haymitch and the tragic tale of the 13th district winner’s success in the Games. Sunrise is set to be released in March and we can expect a movie adaptation too!
4) The Emperor of Gladness – Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong is one of the most unique writers out there, constantly transcending the bounds of genre with every piece he publishes. His insight as a Vietnamese immigrant regarding the topics of identity, family, queerness, and history is an integral part of his prose and poetry, shedding light to new, raw perspectives in the current world of literature. His newest book, set to be released in May, will be nothing short of painful and illuminating.
New year means new books and I sincerely hope that you find your next favourite soon! Giving a chance to fresh authors and new releases is what keeps this industry going and, though you might miss a couple of times, discovering a new book you love is comparable to real-life romance… at least in my case… Good luck with your reading!
References
- 30 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025. Vulture. Available here
- Most popular books published in 2024. Goodreads. Available here
