Reading Lately: August 2025 Book Reviews

Which books are worth the read and which should you skip? Find out what books I’ve been reading lately and whether I recommend them.

For years, it seemed like an impossible task: Read every book I own.

At yet, here I am! I have officially finished all the books that I own. Every single one!!!

When I became a book blogger seven years ago, I thought it was amazing that I suddenly got books for free. Between referral credits for Book of the Month, advanced review copies from NetGalley, and books sent to me from publishers, I have had plenty of books to choose from. And if I wanted a book I couldn’t get for free, I would just buy it on my business card.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being on top of all the new releases. I’ll still be getting plenty of them. But with so many free options, it was hard to say no. Eventually I found my bookshelves full of books I felt obligated to read that I had no room to borrow books from the library that I’d been meaning to read.

I went to my library the other day and just browsed the shelves, picking up five books that called to me. And it felt so good. I’ll read them if I feel like it, return them if I don’t. I’ll still use my resources to get new releases but I’ll be a little more choosy going forward. However, I will finally have a chance to make a dent in my poor TBR that has been rather ignored for the last five years.

Scroll down to see my reviews, and, as always, be sure to let me know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments!

Determined to win over the social elite in Winter Park, Florida, Nora Davies throws a birthday bash for her husband. Nora was a swim instructor at the local country club when she met the newly divorced Will Somerset, a hotshot lawyer twenty years her senior. When Will disappears after the birthday party, Nora must prove her innocence and figure out what happened to Will.

If you want a quick beach read about the scandals of the rich, Happy Wife will be an enjoyable read as long as you don’t expect much depth. Lavender and Shores aren’t subtle about laying on the social commentary about wealth and class. Though the story has plenty of twists, none of the characters are particularly gripping with many characters poorly developed and extremely cliché. With a fast pace and decent premise, Happy Wife is a read it and forget it summer thriller. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:

Publication Date: 24 June 2025
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Lily awakes to find herself a contestant on the hit reality tv show. Lily must live in The Compound with nineteen other contestants, doing group and personal challenges to complete for luxuries like lipstick and necessities for the house like a front door. To add a dating element, contestants must awake each morning with a member of the opposite sex or be kicked off. As Lily becomes closer to the others, she must decide how real her relationships to the other contestants are. When the line between needs and wants starts to blur, Lily begins to wonder how far she is willing to go to win.

I found myself completely hooked to The Compound, so glued to the pages that I forgot to put on my sunblock and got a terrible sunburn when reading by the pool. With a mix of Big Brother and Love Island, The Compound is a great blend of modern reality tv and a commentary on materialism. While I really enjoyed the book, I was expecting a thriller and what I read felt much more like a contemporary fiction thought-piece. The focus of The Compound is on Lily’s choices. What does she want? Does she want love? Stability? Or just rewards and prizes?

My Rating:
Publication Date: 24 June 2025
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V. E. Schwab writes about immortality, sexuality, and hunger through three different storylines spanning 500 years. In 1532, Maria is tired of being a pawn of men and jumps at an offer from a beautiful stranger to take a different path. In 1827, Charlotte is shipped to London after being caught kissing a girl and takes an invitation from a beautiful widow. In 2019, Alice’s one-night-stand with a beautiful girl turns her into a vampire.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a tale of lesbian vampires in a toxic relationship. Vampires not being my topic of choice, I might not be the best person to review Schwab’s latest book. Frankly, Schwab can write gorgeous prose. Except the novel was all vibes and no plot. The story is so slow that almost nothing happens for the entire book until you get to the super toxic relationship portion. To make sure you don’t miss her thematic point, Schwab insistently beats you over the head with the comparison between vampire’s hunger and the dangers homosexual desire in a world where it’s barred.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 10 June 2025
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Effervescent and ambitious Zoe and shy musical prodigy Cassie could not be more different even though they are sisters. Catapulted to fame as a pop duo sensation, the sisters spent a whirlwind year in the early 2000s touring the nation until they abruptly broke up. Now twenty years later, Zoe’s teenage daughter Cherry also wants to be a star and runs away to try out for a reality singing show. To up her chances of winning, Cherry is determined to reunite The Griffin Sisters if she can find her Aunt Cassie.

Jennifer Weiner’s latest novel has a great premise but struggles in the execution of the characters. I loved the idea of the backstory of Zoe and Cassie. Unfortunately, Weiner heavily lies on extremes for each character, failing to add nuance and layers. You can choose between the selfish talentless mean girl Zoe (who is obviously thin and beautiful) or the utterly fat-shamed shy Cassie with all the musical talent. To make it worse, the rest of the characters are as unlikable; Cherry was a selfish teen with no thought for others and the main love interest was completely spineless.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 8 April 2025
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Based on a true story, in the sixteenth century, Marguerite seems destined for a life of ease until she becomes orphaned. Soon her guardian has spent her fortune, forcing her into poorer and poorer circumstances until he insists she accompany him to New France. When Marguerite falls in love with her guardian’s servant, her guardian abandons them on a remote Canadian island with only her faith to help them through. 

Reese Witherspoon picked Isola for her February book club pick and I have to admit, I was unimpressed. Although the real life tale of Marguerite’s life is fascinating, Goodman’s fictionalized telling fell flat for me. Goodman spends most of the novel focusing on Marguerite’s inner thoughts which were boring to read because Marguerite was so complacent. I wish she had more fire. The entire book is rather depressing, though how women were treated back in the day is depressing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from The Dial Press. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 4 February 2025
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Ryan and Lily have the perfect meet-cute story and they expect to have a happy life together when Lily becomes pregnant soon after their marriage. Both want to avoid the trauma of their past. Ryan’s childhood was haunted by his abusive alcoholic father until his mother finally left. Lily got pregnant as a teenager and gave the boy up for adoption. Unfortunately, their daughter Jet grows up in the chaos of her parents’ marriage, torn apart by alcoholism. Years later, Lillian’s son comes looking for his birth family and Jet must revisit her painful past in this emotional family drama.

Sarah Damoff pens a compelling family drama that is just so sad to read. Ryan’s descent into alcoholism cuts like a knife and you feel awful how it just completely rules the rest of his life. Jet’s story growing up amid the trauma of an absent alcoholic father was powerful to read. The Bright Years is an emotional read. Although the story is good, it was hard to read because I just wanted things to be good for these characters I cared so much about but sometimes life just does not seem to want to go your way.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 22 April 2025
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One day after school, Amber rides home on her bicycle to the absolute shock of her mother. Because Amber was killed seven years ago riding her bike home from school in the days before her graduation. Given a second chance at life, Amber must now figure out who she was and who she wants to be. However, coming back isn’t easy since the grief from her death has dramatically changed her family and friends.

What do you do when you daughter is back from the dead? You hide it because you don’t want her to be worshipped or the accusations to fly that it was faked. This young adult read had an interesting take on this improbably scenario. I enjoyed seeing how grief changed the lives of her family but I also appreciated Amber’s growth and she realized what a bratty teen she was before she died. Amber’s boyfriend was awkwardly handled and I could have done entirely without his story. While definitely problematic in spots, this short well-narrated audiobook kept me entertained while I worked.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 7 January 2025
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With rumored workplace cuts coming, podcast producer Cecily Foster reluctantly agrees to host her own show – a dating profile where Cecily follows the relationship advice of upbeat influencer Eliza Cassidy. Although she agreed to twenty blind dates set up by Eliza, Cecily instead finds herself constantly thinking about a dashing man she ran into on the street. With pressure at work to make the show a success, Cecily must decide where her heart truly belongs.

While the serial dating premise might sound like a fun rom-com storyline, Back After This treats it as a vague sidenote instead of a fun part of the plot. I wish Holmes had hyped things up more and added drama because Cecily seemed idiotic to listen to any of Eliza’s dating advice. Instead of fun romantic comedy, Back After This mostly dealt with office politic tropes than didn’t satisfy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ballantine Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 25 February 2025
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Decades ago, Claire’s older sister Natalie disappeared and a man was quickly arrested and convicted. Now a investigative journalist, Claire returns home and takes a job at the South Carolina vineyard where her sister used to work. When Claire stumbles on an old journal of one of the owner’s, she is engrossed but a tale of youthful rebellion and love. As the journal starts to reveal details of unsolved crimes, Claire finds herself obsessed and can’t stop thinking it all connects back to her missing sister.

Although I really enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s first two thrillers, I haven’t been impressed by her recent attempts. Forget Me Not has a decent premise but its pacing was all off. Willingham sets the atmosphere with an isolated Southern island vineyard but the characters fail to grab you and I bemoaned almost every single one of Claire’s choices. The initial setup was extremely slow and even the diary entries, the strongest part of the novel in my opinion, weren’t paced well. Each entry revealed so little that I just wanted to scream at Claire to start skimming the diary. Forget Me Not is an okay read that failed to live up to its potential.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 26 August 2025
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From the author of We Begin at the End comes a decades-spanning story filled with love and mystery. In 1975, Patch is a one-eyed thirteen-year-old who pretends to be a pirate. On his way to school, Patch stumbles across a man abducting Misty, a popular rich girl in his class. Although Misty escapes, Patch disappears and his best friend Saint is determined to find him. That one day in the woods will change the lives of all three for decades to come.

All the Colors of the Dark is an epic literary story in the vein of Demon Copperhead or The Goldfinch. I was completely gripped from start to finish in a tale that is practically three books in one. Patch and Scout were fascinating characters and I love how Whitaker made Misty multi-dimensional instead of a caricature of a pretty rich girl. Even though I wished for a happy ending, the literary nature of All the Colors of the Dark is a complicated story that is much more powerful than anything that ties into a neat bow.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 25 June 2024
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Sharon McMahon shares twelve stories of everyday Americans who are unknown heroes displaying the courage that makes America great. From a telephone operator to a schoolteacher to a formerly enslaved person, McMahon details the lives and accomplishments of unsung American heroes in her signature style of storytelling.

I enjoyed listening to McMahon’s collection of stories but only in small batches. At first, her outraged commentary, which comes across strongly in the self-narrated audiobook, was fun but it eventually started to grate. Think of a teacher using an exaggerated storytelling version of history for a room full of uninterested teenagers. While the stories were interesting, they jumped around quite a bit which often made the narrative hard to follow. Also, I could not specify the “twelve stories” from the publisher’s description because it wasn’t easy to separate tangents from the main story.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 24 September 2024
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Growing up, Shiloh’s friendship with Cary was the only thing that got her through high school in Omaha, Nebraska. However, after graduation they lost touch when Shiloh went off to college and Cary joined the Navy. Fourteen years later, Shiloh finds herself back in her hometown, a divorced single mom who lost her dreams along the way. When Cary returns for a friend’s wedding, Shiloh hopes to reconnect with Cary, whom she never realized she loved until he was gone.

Rainbow Rowell’s latest novel is a classic miscommunication and second-chance romance. Cary and Shiloh are so joined at the hip and yet both AWFUL about sharing their feelings. You just want to smack a little sense into them. Despite their numerous flaws, I was hooked by their love story and I think I’m realizing I’m a sucker for second-chance romances.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 30 July 2024
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Ellery is supposed to be celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary at the luxury Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Instead, she is visiting solo after a bitter divorce and, of course, there is a big wedding taking place the same weekend. After Ellery discovers the groom drowned in the pool, a mudslide closes the resort off from police and Ellery must use her wits as more people start dying.

Ally Condie presents a solid thriller of a midlife mom investigating a crime without falling in love with anyone. I liked that Ellery was just a regular teacher swept up into a mystery. With interesting characters and a gorgeous setting, The Unwedding was engaging enough to capture your attention though the ending was rather over-the-top. A great beach read for those in the mood for a quick thriller.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 4 June 2024
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Created under President Kennedy, the White House Situation Room has been the epicenter of crisis management in the United States for the last six decades. A former presidential advisor and well-known political commentator and tv host, George Stephanopoulos describes twelve high-pressure situations that were dramatic turning points in American history: including the moments after Kennedy’s assassination, the hours after planes struck the Twin Towers, the raid on Osama bin Laden, and the staff watching the unfolding events on January 6th.

I was fascinated by Stephanopoulos’s well-researched look at American’ history framed through the lens of the Situation Room. The Situation Room provided interesting historical context and insight into crisis management by each administration while mixing in plenty of human stories. I wish I had listened to the audiobook since it contains actual audio clips form interviews. I will say, Stephanopoulos seems pretty politically neutral with all of the presidents except President Trump whom you can tell he obviously despises.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 14 May 2024
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In 1950s Communist Russia, MGB officer Leo Demidov never wavers from the Party Line. Until his confidence is shaken when he investigates the brutal murder of a young boy. After watching an innocent man tortured, Demidov is then asked the impossible: to arrest his own wife. Now he must choose where his loyalties lie as the child killings continue. How do you investigate a serial killer if the State says it has eradicated crime with its perfect system?

I was completely enthralled by Child 44 when I first read it years ago. I’ve been meaning to read the sequel for ages so I decided to reread this one first. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite hold up as well on a reread, likely because I wasn’t as shocked at the setting. Tom Rob Smith takes you into a deep dive into the stifling and violent culture of the USSR where the State has a chilling amount of power to justify any deed. Leo is definitely an imperfect character and I found myself much more interested in his wife Raisa and would have loved more from her perspective.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 3 March 2008
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In a sequel to Child 44, Leo Demidov is now the head of a homicide investigation unit in Moscow trying to parent his two adopted daughters who still don’t fully trust him. After President Khrushchev releases his secret speech denouncing the atrocities of Stalin, the entire country finds in turmoil. When a criminal from Leo’s past starts murdering officials, Leo finds he must himself the target of their vengeance with his daughters in the crosshairs.

As in Child 44, I found the historical setting of The Secret Speech fascinating. I learned a ton about Soviet history and the complications from Khrushchev’s speech. Unfortunately, the plot of The Secret Speech left a lot to be desired – rushing through improbable scenarios that were often hard. I might not have minded so much except I felt not connection to the characters and started to actively dislike Leo throughout the novel.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 6 April 2009
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Journalist Stephanie McNeal has always found herself fascinated by the lives of Instagram influencers and yet shocked at how little attention the media was giving them. After following three influencers for two years and interviewing dozens of others, McNeal gives a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of influencers and how the business side of Instagram influencers works.

In the ever-evolving world of social media, a two year book about the industry is already quite dated. Even for its time, Swipe Up for More! is nothing more than a puff piece. “Influencers are people, too!” McNeal avoids seemingly all controversy and the harm of influencer culture. Instead, she just wants you to take these women seriously. Although a valid point since women’s industries are often looked down on since they are structured differently, McNeal is not hitting that topic hard either. Swipe Up for More! is just a complete waste of your time and I don’t know why it was even published.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 6 June 2023
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After a string of victories by the Southern army, their defeat at Gettysburg was one of the turning points of the Civil War. What if things had gone differently? Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen imagine an alternate version of Gettysburg where General Robert E. Lee took a different path – flanking the Army of the Potomac instead of the doomed charge that actually occurred.

When my grandfather moved into assisted living a few years ago, Gettysburg is the one book I plucked from his bookshelf to read. Even though I’m descended from one of the Confederate commanders at Gettysburg, I’m not much of a Civil War buff so I wasn’t sure if this what-if scenario would capture my attention. Initially, I struggled with the dearth of miliary detail and keeping all the different corps straight. However, once the Alternate History portion started, I found myself captivated. Gingrich and Forstchen did a great job of writing likable characters on both sides and I was invested in the overall military strategy. Although the last quarter of the book got preachy, Gettysburg was much more enjoyable than I expected. 

My Rating:
Publication Date: 12 June 2003
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I always seem to have multiple books going at once. Here’s a peek at what I’m currently reading.

What’s up next for me? Before I let you go, here are a few of the titles I’m hoping to get through this upcoming month.

Be sure to come back next month to see which ones I read.

Which Books Did You Read in August?

What books did you love this month? Which books can you not wait to read? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Book Lists to Enjoy:

• Reading Lately: Summer 2025
• August 2025 Book Releases
• Fall 2025 Reading Guide
• Booklist Queen’s 2025 Reading Challenge

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