2025 dragged on like it spanned a century, making it easy to seek refuge in stories. Several team members at Engadget dove into literature this year, discovering numerous compelling titles to immerse themselves in. Below are highlights from the staff's most memorable selections.
In Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy masterfully weaves a close-knit family tale against the threat of environmental collapse. The narrative centers on a father and his three kids isolated on an Antarctic-adjacent island, safeguarding a massive seed repository from a defunct scientific outpost. They endure for months, aiming to preserve the collection before rising waters claim it, until a survivor named Rowan arrives on their shores. After recovery, she builds ties with the group and their cause, while concealing her own ties to the island's past inhabitants and research efforts.
McConaghy excels at layering suspense from diverse angles, creating an ongoing unease as Rowan integrates with the family, heightening anticipation for potential fallout. Though intimate in scope, the encroaching catastrophe amplifies the tension dramatically. Her evocative language captures these emotions vividly, building on her skill for portraying plausible future ecological crises, as seen in Migrations, but here she intensifies the emotional depth profoundly. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
Moonflow delivers a wild, disorienting adventure that left me reeling in the best way, though it's definitely not for the faint of heart. It mixes terror, humor, revulsion, and odd enjoyment in equal measure. The story unfolds via two parallel threads: one tracks Sarah, a transgender woman and fungi trader in dire straits, while the other follows the female enforcers of a mad religious sect based in an accursed woodland. Sarah enters the forest hunting the King's Breakfast, a scarce fungus promising enlightenment, sparking total mayhem.
The author's prose draws readers into a sensory overload, making the scenes vivid in sight, touch, sound, and scent—sometimes overwhelmingly so. Characters echo exaggerated versions of real-life acquaintances, with cult names that are cleverly absurd and laugh-out-loud funny. The plot twists relentlessly, save for deliberate setups that build dread toward foreseeable outcomes. Overall, Moonflow offers a raw, indelible encounter. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor
Simplicity explores another enigmatic group, but this one captivates completely. I grabbed it based on online buzz from admired voices, thrilled to learn it's situated near my home in New York's Hudson Valley, reimagined in a dystopian Catskills of the future. Living here, it often seems like everyday choices could lead to unintended communal entanglements, forging an instant rapport.
Set in 2081, the book depicts New York City as a tech-dominated nightmare under a tycoon's control, while off-grid enclaves thrive upstate, including The Spiritual Association of Peers at their site, Simplicity. Lucius Pasternak, a transgender man, arrives from the mayor for an ethnographic study of SAP. Their free-spirited existence soon appeals to him, but eerie visions and brutal incidents disrupt the peace. As he delves into SAP's world and pursues the threat against them, themes of queer experience, self-discovery, community, and defense of values emerge touchingly. It's the sort of novel ideal for sharing among understanding friends, leaving many feeling deeply recognized. — C.M.
Consider Stephen Graham Jones' take akin to Interview with the Vampire. His work fuses historical elements with supernatural dread to craft a powerful vampire saga, uncomfortably confronting the historical violence inflicted on Native Americans by European colonizers. It opens with a weathered diary purporting to hold the account of Good Stab, a Blackfeet individual transformed into a vampire, recounted to Lutheran minister Arthur Beaucarne. The ensuing narrative details devastation, sorrow, and retribution in harrowing detail, positioning it as a timeless achievement. — C.M.
I use historical novels to sneak in education without realizing it. With outcomes predetermined, creators must engage through character and conflict beyond mere suspense. I got absorbed in Wolf Hall despite foreknowledge of Henry VIII's executions, expecting similar satisfaction from Isola.
The novel recounts the ordeal of Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, a French aristocrat deliberately abandoned on a Canadian coastal isle in 1542. Grounded in real events, the tale avoids predictable paths, but I wasn't braced for Marguerite's harrowing struggles.
Challenges plagued her from infancy, as greater powers repeatedly overshadowed her joys, yet she persisted resiliently. Goodman portrays her not as a stereotypical determined survivor, but as an insightful, practical figure prone to spontaneity and uncertainty.
The settings come alive, from grand French castles and swaying vessels to the island's stark, plentiful wilderness. Even in a 16th-century context, the themes resonate timelessly. The human struggle against nature's indifference is lopsided, but I cheered Marguerite throughout, racing through the swift-paced chapters. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter, Buying Advice
Among my early 2025 reads, Old Soul lingered powerfully. It spans eras and continents via interwoven plots, examining the ruinous trail left by an enigmatic, seemingly immortal woman who sows chaos wherever she goes. Barker's narrative grips tightly from the start, delivering a chilling, gradual escalation that burrows deep. — C.M.
Imagine a portal materializing unexpectedly—would you step through blind to its destination or return? In Meet Me at the Crossroads, seven such gateways emerge globally, drawing widespread fascination. Everyday folks risk entry, elites arrange private ventures, and faiths spring up around their enigma. Ayanna, raised in one such belief system, is a teen twin estranged from sister Olivia after their parents' divorce. During Ayanna's ritual passage through a door, Olivia impulsively joins, triggering profound consequences. The book traces an eerie, heartfelt path in response. — C.M.
As a middle-aged cisgender white male, grasping the journey of embracing a new gender is beyond my direct experience. Yet Emily St. James' first novel, Woodworking, provides a witty, sorrowful, and optimistic portrayal of two transgender women at varied stages of self-acceptance. Erica, a 30-something educator post-divorce, quietly realizes her trans identity at the outset. Contrastingly, her 17-year-old pupil Abigail boldly embraces hers in their rural, conservative South Dakota setting, where it's rare and risky.
Their lives overlap, positioning Abigail awkwardly as Erica's guide—drawing from her assurance, though she's a youth grappling with her own severe hardships. Alternating perspectives illuminate the distinct hurdles, feelings, and perils for trans individuals. Still, the supportive network forming around them underscores the rewards of authenticity, a message broadly relatable. — N.I.
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