June 2025 reading round up

June was a pretty good reading month for me, as we're now officially more than halfway through the year I'm really pleased to also be halfway past my overall 2025 reading goal! Without further ado, here's everything I read in June with quickfire reviews and ratings...

Access All Awkward by Beth Garrod

I picked this up on a whim in the charity shop for a mere 50p; it's a YA and part of a series, none of which I'd read, and honestly it was fine but just SO cringe. It follows a friendship group finishing their A-levels, and focuses on one of the girls who is (obv) "super awkward". The girls go to a festival and get their exam results and have fall outs and run a protest and it's all just cute and sweet and fun but the language and dialogue is honestly an ick. It's not a bad book, and I generally do love YA, but I found this one more difficult to read than most! I gave this 3 stars.

Matched Up by Jenny Ireland

Another YA pick, and one I read as a NetGalley arc - this one was lovely, following a girl who plays (and loves) football as she navigates relationships, friendships, family drama, injury and more. Well paced with great character development and a really sweet plot. 4 stars from me.

Home Sweet Home by Ruth Irons

Another NetGalley arc, this thriller follows the fairly common trope of 'couple invite someone to live in their home and something terrible happens' - in this case, a woman keen to be the centre of attention at all times. She goes through quite a severe illness and finds community in this, but is everything as true as it should be? I liked this, nothing groundbreaking but a good thriller nevertheless although the characters were all rather irritating. 3.5 stars!

Murder High by Lauren Munoz

I loved the concept of this; it was another NetGalley arc, this time a YA thriller, and I really enjoyed it. It's set at a criminology school, who plan an annual murder mystery game - only this time, the body is real do they have an actual job to do trying to figure out who's responsible. It was just really fun and charming, with a great plot and plenty of drama. 4 stars from me!

Guilt Trip by Jo Furniss

This was another NetGalley arc (can you tell I was going through my requests?!) - a thriller which I had high hopes for. Ultimately it fell very flat for me; it's a dual POV following a mother and a daughter, the latter of which has been involved in an accident/kidnapping situation on her school minibus. We follow what's happening with her and her classmates, as well as what the parents are going through, and how everyone's past is coming back to bite them. It all felt super unrealistic and a lot of it just didn't make sense. Lots of questions. I gave this 3 stars in the end, but it's a low three...

The Tenant by Frieda McFadden

I don't love Frieda like many readers do, but I find her thrillers are decent enough audiobook reads when I'm working, cooking, cleaning or on one of my daily walks. This was one of her better ones, in my opinion, following Blake who has been let go from his job and takes in a tenant to make back some cash. There's that trope again! Of course, this turns into an absolute nightmare and has him questioning everything - the twist was brilliant, I really didn't see it coming. 4 stars!

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Wow. This was our book club read for June, and I read it on the plane on the way back from Italy - I was absolutely, wholeheartedly, blown away. It's not my typical genre, as I'm sure you can tell by my other reviews, but maybe I need to branch out more because this was honestly just brilliant. Following the story of a young wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father's servant, it weaves through their childhood and the devastation taking place across Afghanistan. As their lives go very separate ways, we learn so much about this country, about power, about fatherhood and trauma and so much betrayal. It's safe to say this book completely gutted me; I felt bereft when I finished it, and I cried a LOT. 6 stars genuinely!!!!

Freeing the Wild by Paisley Hope

The Silver Pines series is definitely my favourite cowboy romance series (sorry Elsie) and this one has been my favourite in the series so far. Following country singer Cassie (sister of Ivy from book 2 if you've read that already) and Haden, who works on the ranch, the story is one of first impressions, incredible chemistry, raw emotion and overcoming personal issues, together. Plus spice. LOVED IT. 5 stars.

Wolf.e by Paisley Hope

Two Paisley Hope books in one reading round up come onnn! She really is fast becoming a favourite author of mine, and for good reason. Her books are bloody brilliant, always balancing spice with plot - and this one certainly delivered. This was my first foray into dark romance, a motorcycle club book, and while parts of it were definitely a bit shocking, the overall story and of course the smut (there's a lot) were both fantastic. It follows a girl who moves back home after a break up, and bumps into an old friend who's dating someone from an MC - at first she disapproves, but time changes everything... I gave this 4 stars!