Young adult novels are in for the end of 2025 — just ask BookTok.
Maybe you preordered the next Lightlark novel, Crowntide, eons ago — or have never even heard of author Alex Aster (who’s great, by the way). But there are several YA book series on Us Weekly’s ever-growing TBR pile, and while we’re sad that some of them are coming to an end, it just wouldn’t be fair to gatekeep these titles.
Newbies, you can start at the beginning of these series, and fans, consider this your alert for new releases! Keep scrolling for breakdown of the biggest YA releases before the end of the year:
‘The Book of Dust’ by Philip Pullman
Number of Titles: 3
What It’s About: After the His Dark Materials trilogy, author Pullman continued the tale of scrappy young Lyra Belacqua (she had her own prophecy!) here.
Why We Love It: Not to be cliché, but the worldbuilding is beyond your imagination, like the idea of human souls manifested as animals called daemons.
What’s New: In the just-released wrap-up, The Rose Field, Lyra is alone in a city haunted by daemons, and her own, the pine marten Pan, is missing. (out now)
‘Secrets of the Nile’ by Isabel Ibañez
Number of Titles: 2
What It’s About: In Ibañez’s historical fantasy set in Egypt, orphaned Inez Olivera inherits a fortune and starts to delve into her parents’ deaths.
Why We Love It: Three words: enemies to lovers. You’ll heart the romantic tension between Inez and her guardian’s assistant, Whitford Hayes (even that name, swoon).
What’s New: What the River Knows and its companion, Where the Library Hides, are special-edition paperbacks with trendy sprayed edges. (out November 4)
‘We Were Liars’ by E. Lockhart
Number of Titles: 3
What It’s About: Lockhart tells the saga of the uber-rich Sinclair family; their private island, Beechwood; and all their secrets, both old and new.
Why We Love It: The plot twists are sure to have your mind in a pretzel. The first book (2014) ended with a bombshell that readers (and fans of Prime Video’s adaptation) still talk about.
What’s New: Different characters and island, same lies. In We Fell Apart, Matilda’s dad she never met invites her to Hidden Beach. (out November 4)
‘The Inheritance Games’ by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Number of Titles: 8
What It’s About: Avery Kylie Grambs stands to inherit billions … from a stranger. But the teen must move into the family mansion, where they hate her. Somehow a love triangle ensues.
Why We Love It: Author Barnes is a total mastermind, delivering puzzles as intricate as a revved-up Knives Out.
What’s New: The Same Backward as Forward gives his-and-hers accounts of an unlikely romance for Hannah Rooney from Games Untold. (out November 4)
‘The Lightlark Saga’ by Alex Aster
Number of Titles: 4
What It’s About: Aster’s series opens with Isla Crown being thrust into the Centennial competition among rulers of six realms. A win would lift a curse, but she has no powers, and her heart gets in the way.
Why We Love It: The love triangle! It’s steamy (you’ll be yelling, “Kiss!” at the book); also, Oro and Grim represent two paths for Isla, light or darkness.
What’s New: In Crowntide, Isla aims to defeat her warmongering magical ancestor Lark, by any means necessary. (out December 2)
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