The Best New YA Books of January 2025

The Best New YA Books of January 2025

As what feels like the longest month of the year—possibly the decade—finally begins to wind down, it’s okay to acknowledge that this January has had a few bright spots. Not many, of course, and most of them feel insignificant next to the utter awfulness of [gestures broadly around] everything else. But it’s precisely because things are so grim that we need to hold on to the things that bring us joy even harder. For me, and I’m sure for many others, that’s books. Thankfully, the young adult space is here for us, coming in clutch with new YA books in every conceivable subgenre.

Whether you’re looking for apocalyptic dystopias, contemporary romance, or full-on fantasy, there’s something for everyone among these new releases.  Here are the best YA books of January. 

The Last Bookstore on Earth Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

Release Date: January 7 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: A slow-burn sapphic love story set in a post-apocalyptic New Jersey on the eve of another potentially world-ending event, The Last Bookstore on Earth explores our need for human connection and hope in dark times.

Publisher’s Description: The world is about to end. Again.

Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It’s the one place left that feels safe to her.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs—the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes—and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.

As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them.

Build a Girlfriend Best New YA Books of January 2025

Build a Girlfriend by Elba Luz

Release Date: January 14 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: Amelia’s family is cursed (literally, according to her Puerto Rican family) in the realm of romance. When another seemingly promising relationship ends, she decides to take matters into her own hands: By revisiting each of her exes to figure out precisely what went wrong between them. With this information, surely she’ll be the perfect girlfriend! The joy of this story is watching Amelia slowly come to understand the joy of being seen and appreciated for who you truly are. 

Publisher’s Description: To the surprise of no one, Amelia Hernandez is once again single. It’s her family curse at work; whether it’s by heartbreak, scandal, or even accidental death, every romantic relationship that a Hernandez woman has will meet its demise eventually. And that may be fine with Amelia’s sisters, mom, and aunts, but definitely not with Amelia.

So, convinced that she is the problem, Amelia decides to embark on an “Ex Retrospective:” tracking down her exes, finding out where she went wrong, and using that information to finally become un-break-up-able for whenever her next relationship comes along. Because Amelia is determined to be free of the family curse…and her family.

However, when Amelia is unwillingly reunited with Leon, the ex to end all exes, she can’t resist having a little revenge on the side, too. After all, what better way to test out her new persona of perfect girlfriend traits than on the boy who broke her heart?

But old loves die hard, and as Amelia’s feelings grow more complicated, she suspects that she may be in for more than she bargained for.

The Queen's Spade Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

The Queen’s Spade by Sarah Raughley

Release Date: January 14 from Harper Collins

Why We’re Excited: In a story loosely inspired by Queen Victoria’s adopted goddaughter Sally Forbes Bonetta, a Yoruba princess whose family was killed in Africa. Given as a present to the queen, the real Sally grew up as a member of Victoria’s extended family, marrying a captain and Lagos philanthropist. In Raughley’s version of her story, Sally becomes more like Arya Stark, tired of being used as propaganda for the Empire, she seeks revenge on those involved in her kidnapping and subsequent imprisonment. This historical thriller is a satisfying blend of murder, political intrigue, and social critique.

Publisher’s Description: The year is 1862 and murderous desires are simmering in England. Nineteen-year-old Sarah Bonetta Forbes (Sally), once a princess of the Egbado Clan, desires one thing above all else: revenge against the British Crown and its system of colonial “humanitarianism,” which stole her dignity and transformed her into royal property. From military men to political leaders, she’s vowed to ruin all who’ve had a hand in her afflictions. The top of her list? Her godmother, Britain’s mighty monarch, Queen Victoria herself.

Taking down the Crown means entering into a twisted game of court politics and manipulating the Queen’s inner circle—even if that means aligning with a dangerous yet alluring crime lord in London’s underworld and exploiting the affections of Queen Victoria’s own son, Prince Albert, as a means to an end. But when Queen Victoria begins to suspect Sally’s true intentions, she plays the only card in Victorian society that could possibly cage Sally once again: marriage. Because if there’s one thing Sally desires more than revenge, it’s her freedom. With time running out and her wedding day looming, Sally’s vengeful game of cat and mouse turns deadly as she’s faced with the striking revelation that the price for vengeance isn’t just paid in blood. It means sacrificing your heart.

Love on Paper Best New YA Books January 2025

Love on Paper by Danielle Parker

Release Date: January 21 from Joy Revolution

Why We’re Excited: A contemporary YA story about an ambitious teen writer trying to live up to the legacy of her megasuccessful publishing family, Love on Paper is one part swoony rivals to lovers romance and one part journey of self-discovery as Macy Descano struggles to step out of her parents’ shadow and find her own voice.

Publisher’s Description: Macy Descanso is a writer. Who cares if her bestselling author mother pulled some strings to get her into a prestigious writing retreat? Macy belongs here. Even when the coordinators unexpectedly announce that this year’s theme is romance, Macy—a total cynic—is up for the challenge.

But she’s not prepared for her critique partner to be fellow publishing nepo baby Caleb Bernard. While Caleb may be what most romance writers would describe as “swoony,” he’s off-limits, because the Descansos and Bernards have beef.

With a chance at publication at their fingertips, though, Macy and Caleb have to put aside their issues. But is four weeks enough time to fight through writer’s block, step out of their parents’ shadows, and find the courage to create their own love story?

The Rival Most Anticipated YA 2025

The Rival by Emma Lord

Release Date: January 21 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: Emma Lord, author of such books as Tweet Cute and Begin Again is in sparkling form with The Rival, an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy about two high school rivals who wind up at the same college. The shifting expectations of this next stage of their lives—and their childhood memories—are relatably drawn and the dialogue crackles with Lord’s signature fast-paced wit.

Publisher’s Description: At long last, Sadie has vanquished her lifelong academic rival — her irritatingly charming, whip-smart next door neighbor, Seb — by getting the coveted, only spot to her dream college. Or at least, so she thinks. When Seb is unexpectedly pulled off the waitlist and admitted, Sadie has to compete with him all over again, this time to get a spot on the school’s famous zine. Now not only is she dealing with the mayhem of the lovable, chaotic family she hid her writing talents from, as well as her own self doubt, but she has to come to terms with some less-than-resentful feelings for Seb that are popping up along the way.

But the longer they compete, the more Sadie and Seb notice flaws in the school’s system that are much bigger than any competition between them. Somehow the two of them have to band together even as they’re trying to crush each other, only to discover they may have met their match in more ways than one.

The Wilde Trials by Mackenzie Reed

Release Date: January 21 from Storytide

Why We’re Excited: The latest novel from the author of The Rosewood Hunt, The Wilde Trials is a delightedly fast-paced mix of dark academia, high-stakes competition, and teen drama. At an elite New Hampshire boarding school when students fight to be crowned Champion of the annual competition known as the Wilde Trials rather than valedictorian, Chloe Gatti is willing to do anything if it means claiming the $600,000 cash prize that’s up for grabs. But even she’s not entirely ready for how quickly she’s targeted by her peers, facing increasingly threatening blackmail and sabotage attempts. And that’s all before she finds herself in an uneasy alliance with her smoldering ex-boyfriend.

Publisher’s Description: Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win her elite boarding school’s annual competition, the Wilde Trials. In the two weeks leading up to graduation from Wilde Academy, a dozen seniors are chosen to compete in a series of seven ultimate physical and mental tests, and the winner will take home over half a million dollars—money that Chloe needs to help her sick sister.

But the competition is fierce and includes her brooding ex-boyfriend, Hayes Stratford, whose brother was the only student to die during the trials a few years ago. When someone starts blackmailing Chloe during the competition, she’s forced to strike a deal with Hayes—if he helps her discover who is sabotaging her, she’ll help him solve the mystery his brother left behind.

Following clues from Hayes’s brother, the unlikely allies discover that something isn’t right about the Wilde Trials. With a life-changing prize looming over her head and her buried feelings for Hayes rising to the surface, Chloe will have to decide what’s really worth fighting for, and if the cost of competing outweighs the potential consequences, even if that includes ending up like Hayes’s brother—dead.

On the Wings of La Noche Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

​​On the Wings of La Noche by Vanessa L. Torres

Release Date: January 28 from Knopf Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: This emotional tale of a young woman whose mythic duty requires her to escort the soul of her dead girlfriend to the afterlife is a poignant and meaningful exploration of life, love, and what comes afterward.

Publisher’s Description: Death waits for Estrella (Noche) Villanueva. In her human form, she is a lonely science girl grieving the tragic accidental drowning of her girlfriend, Dante Fuentes. At night, she is a Lechuza who visits her dead girlfriend at the lake, desperate for more time with her. The longer Dante’s soul roams the earth, the more likely it is that she will fade into the unknown, lost forever, but Noche cannot let go . . .

That’s when a new kid comes to town, Jax, another science nerd like Noche. They connect in a way she can’t ignore, seemingly pulled together by an invisible thread. For the first time, Noche begins to imagine a life without Dante. As Noche’s heart begins to beat for two people, her guilt flares. Then, she finds herself at risk of losing both Jax and Dante, and Noche is forced to question her purpose as a lechuza and everything she has ever believed in.

The Scorpion Queen Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

The Scorpion Queen by Mina Fears

Release Date: January 28 from Flatiron Books

Why We’re Excited: Inspired by a Malian fairy tale about a princess whose suitors are challenged to gruesome trials, The Scorpion Queen features political intrigue, a complicated love triangle, intriguing magic, and a disgraced heroine determined to grab hold of her own destiny. Surprisingly brutal and dark at times, but memorable throughout.

Publisher’s Description: Deep within the imperial palace at Timbuktu, Amie has suffered a devastating loss. Once the daughter of a prosperous salt merchant Amie’s life was cruelly overturned in a matter of months. At sixteen, Amie now finds herself disinherited, framed for a scandalous crime, and forced to serve Princess Mariama of Mali. Her father, Emperor Sulyeman, has created a series of impossible trials for his daughter’s suitors. When they fail, he publicly boils them alive, littering Mariama’s path to marriage with ninety-nine corpses.

At first, Amie’s life at court is drudgery—the chores are difficult, the servants despise her, and Princess Mariama is prone to mood swings—but the more she learns about the princess’s circumstances, the closer the two girls become. Amie and her intended, Kader, plan to escape Timbuktu and make a new life far away from the shadow of death that has fallen upon the emperor’s court, but she finds herself increasingly drawn to the princess in ways she doesn’t understand.

When a mysterious discovery forces her hand, she must choose between fleeing with the boy she loves or helping the princess to end the trials forever. Amie will need to draw on all of her strength and courage to make the perilous journey through the desert to seek the aid of an exiled god in a final, desperate attempt to take charge of her own destiny.

The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn

Release Date: January 28 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: A hilarious, heartfelt debut about a gay teen in small-town England, who dreams of both being an actor and finally getting a boyfriend. Come for the laugh-out-loud funny narration as Patch sorts through his options, stay for the warm and heartfelt ode to being yourself.

Publisher’s Description: Patch Simmons has decided that this is the year he will get a boyfriend, so it’s goodbye to his French pen-pal Jean-Pierre and hello to the world!

Unfortunately, the only other “out” boys in his school year are dating each other, so finding a boyfriend isn’t going to be easy… Until fate finally intervenes and two new mysterious boys join drama club: Peter, who’s just moved from New York (very chic) and his best friend, Sam.

Patch is confident that one of them (although either of them will do!) will be his first boyfriend. So armed with his single mum’s outdated self-help books, his over-supportive best friend Jean and an alarming level of self-confidence, Patch is confident that this mission will be a complete success. Whether or not they actually like boys or him is a problem for later.

I Am Not Jessica Chen Best New YA Books January 2025

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

Release Date: January 28 from HarperCollins

Why We’re Excited: The latest contemporary YA novel from the author of such favorites as I Hope This Doesn’t Find You and If You Could See the Sun, I Am Not Jessica Chen follows the story of a teen who gets her heart’s desire when she makes a wish to become her perfect cousin, Jessica.  A vulnerable emotionally resonant story with a dash of magical realism that reminds us that everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about. 

Publisher’s Description: Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard.

And Jenna Chen will only ever be a disappointment.

So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of . . . but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined. Worse, people seem to be forgetting that someone named Jenna Chen ever existed. But isn’t it worth trading it all away—her artistic talent, her childhood home, even the hope of golden boy Aaron Cai loving her back—to be Jessica Chen?

Carving Shadows into Gold Most Anticipated YA Books 2025

Carving Shadows Into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer

Release Date: January 28 from Bloomsbury YA

Why We’re Excited: The long-awaited second installment in Brigid Kemmerer’s Forgiving Silver Into Shadows series—itself a spin-off/sequel to her popular A Curse So Dark and Lonely trilogy—sees its trio of POV characters deal with the fallout from the events of the first book. In the wake of a royal kidnapping and widespread fear of magic, the tenuous alliance between Emberfall and Syhl Shallow is tested to the breaking point, as Callyn, Tycho, and Jax wrestle with personal questions of loyalty, duty, and forgiveness. 

Publisher’s Description: The King’s Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Gray’s life, one false move could end everything.

Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges–and unlikely adversaries.

After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen’s side, with magic on her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can’t trust anyone–including the man she thought she loved.

Cast apart, Tycho, Jax, and Callyn must learn to wield the magic that is dividing their kingdom. As the magical scravers attack from the north and the king’s rivals gain strength, time is running out.

War is looming. Love is tested. And magic could be the only answer. . .


Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB

 
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