2025 Wrap-Up: In Which I Hiatus a Lot but Hold My Ground

Hello my beauties!

Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2025 up. This was the year of hiatuses (5 months out of 12!!!), and yet, I managed to write a fair number of posts and to end it on a high note, blog-wise and comment-wise, so it wasn't a bad one...I even managed to make a new blogging friend (hi Ryan!). Now, life-wise, that's another kettle of fish (as English folks would say) or a whole new ball game (for the American crowd) - but well. So, without further ado, here goes my 2025 recap...

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 13 years and a couple of months!

This year was another hard one (because at this point, they're all the same...), but marginally better than 2024, since at least my husband started to go out a little after three years of being bedridden. Blog-wise, I gave myself permission to write more mini reviews, because if I had continued to review in full every book from 4 stars up (as I used to), I'd have read less and made myself miserable (full reviews take a real toll on me sometimes, especially since mine are very structured - but I like them that way...)...Also, even with five months' worth of hiatus in total, I was able to write 47 posts, that is, almost a post a week, which (as usual) was my tentative goal, so I'd call it a win...

This is what happened on Offbeat YA during the year, broken down by number of posts, books I reviewed, other bookish content/activities...plus an off-blog, real-life section!

a) Stats

Posts written in 2025: 48 / vs. / Posts written in 2024: 54 (-6).

Reviews (any length) posted in 2025: 47 / vs. / Reviews (any length) posted in 2024: 46 (+1).

Full reviews posted in 2025: 14 / vs. / Full reviews posted in 2024: 25 (-11).

Mini reviews posted in 2025: 33 / vs. / Mini reviews posted in 2024: 21 (+12).

ARCs reviewed in 2025: 25 / vs. / ARCs reviewed in 2024: 37 (-12).

     Note N°1: one wasn't a proper ARC, but a books that got reprinted by a different publisher... 

     Note N°2: as usual, I'm only counting the ARCs I reviewed, not the ones I got but haven't

     reviewed yet.

MG books reviewed in 2025: 0 / vs. / MG books reviewed in 2024: 0 (=).

YA or NA books reviewed in 2025: 20 / vs. / YA or NA books reviewed in 2024: 24 (-4).

Adult books reviewed in 2025: 27 / vs. / Adult books reviewed in 2024: 22 (+5).

DNF in 2025: 1 / vs. / DNF in 2024: 3 (-2).

Five-star reviews in 2025: 4 / vs. / Five-star reviews in 2024: 9 (-5).

Backlist books reviewed in 2025: 13 / vs. / Backlist  books reviewed in 2024: 5 (+8).

     Note: each backlist count only includes non-ARCs (of course) published before January of the

     current year.  

     To be precise, three of my 2025 backlist books were short stories, and I did a joint review for

     two of them, but I'm still counting those two separately when it comes to reads.     

Rereads in 2025: 12 / vs. / Rereads in 2024: 6 (+6).

2025 highlights:

- despite posting less that last year, I managed to write the same number of review +1, thanks to an increase in mini reviews;

- I went back to having more Adult reviews than YA ones, like in 2023 (one of the reasons being my getting less ARCs in that department);

- I received a lot less ARCs than I did in 2024, but still a few more than in 2023, when they were 21...so I'm not sure if the publishers' inclination towards Bookstagram and BookTok "influencers" has anything to do with it - maybe the approval shower I had in 2024 (37 ARCs!!!) was the real anomaly...

- my five-star amount was very low, even lower than the meager one I had last year, but I had quite a few 4/4.5 stars, so I'm not complaining;

- I managed to increase the number of my backlist reviews and to double up the number of my rereads with respect to 2024, and I want to keep at it next year - I'm planning on reading (and reviewing) more backlist books and on revisiting at least one book a month!

b) Reviews

These are the books I reviewed in full this year, broken down by genres/Reading Rooms (all YA or NA except where the contrary is expressly stated):

Supernatural (3): Voice Like a Hyacinth by Mallory Pearson (ARC review) | Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley | Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire

Contemporary with a Twist (1): Wake the Wild Creatures by Nova Ren Suma

Thriller (1): When We Talk to the Dead by Ian Chorão (ARC review)

Unwalled (genre-crossing) (2): Blue Ridge Calling by Olivia Neal (ARC review) | And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun (ARC review)

Adult (7), in the following genres:

     Supernatural (1):

        The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (ARC review)       

     Sci-Fi (1):

        Overgrowth by Mira Grant (ARC review)       

     Unwalled (genre-crossing) (5):

        The Way Up Is Death by Dan Hanks (ARC review) 

        The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi (ARC review)

        The Garden of Before by Ryan Leslie (ARC review)

        Djinn & Tonic by B.C. Johnson (ARC review)

        The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso (ARC review)  

 

Also, I posted 11 Review Morsels installments, featuring:

     Mira Grant (Newsflesh series Part 1)

     Mira Grant (Newsflesh series Part 2)

     Emily Yu-Xuan Qin, Dawn Kurtagich, Courtney Gould

     Seanan McGuire (3 books)

     Arkady Martine, Josh Winning, Alex Brown et al.

     Dete Meserve, Samantha Mabry, Kate Alice Marshall

     Peyton June, Kelly Murashige, Anna-Marie McLemore

     Kat Ellis, Joelle Wellington, Elizabeth Anne Martins

     Karen A. Wyle, Kate Alice Marshall, KC Jones

     Matthew Edwards, Ren Hutchins, B.C. Johnson

     Christine Ferko, Carly Racklin, Darya Bobyleva

Most read genre in 2025: Supernatural and the likes (Urban Fantasy, Portal Fantasy), just like last year, mainly in the YA category - though as a matter of fact I read a ton of Unwalled (genre-crossing) books that more often than not mixed Supernatural with Sci-Fi and/or Thriller and/or Multiverse...

(Note: there was a lot of body/bug horror in my reads this year - I don't know if it was a 2025 trend of I simply chanced upon a run of graphic, bug-infested books LOL).

c) Extras

It had been a while since I got the chance to help one of "my" authors with their craft, but apparently, when it rains it pours! and this year I was involved in two of their projects at once...

Beta-reading: Erin Callahan (author of The Art of Escaping) trusted me with her current WIP, an Adult thriller with a sci-fi/time-travel angle (it used to be more supernatural-oriented, but things changed in between drafts) tentatively titled The Beach Key. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope it will see the light of day soon, so I can pester you until you read it gently nudge you in its direction 😅.

Authenticity-reading: Josh Winning (author of The Shadow Glass, Burn the Negative and Heads Will Roll) asked me to have a look at his latest book, Be Still My Unbeating Heart, set in a very real tiny Italian village (though he took some liberties with it of course 😉), and to feed back on the Italian aspects of the story. That was something I'd never had the chance to do before, so it was fun! The book comes out on August 4th, and the main character is a reformed vampire...

f) Life

I'm going to try and keep it short, since if you've been reading my monthly recaps, you already know most of what's happened this year, except for this very month. December will be covered in my next Offbeat Offline installment in a few days, but in the meantime, you get the highlights below. Anyhow, year-wise, here's a recap of the most notable things I went through...

THE BAD:

• Health nuisances. After some tests and exams to investigate my tummy issues, I found out that I'm lactose intolerant, but even trying for a lactose-free diet, I'm still suffering from bloating (probably due to severe IBS). Plus I have this hip pain that comes and goes, and I'm still deciding if I should try and get therapy or not (suffice to say, for a couple of reasons, it wouldn't be a straightforward process in my case).
• Mom scare. Earlier this year, my mom lost consciousness and was admitted to the hospital for a week. That particular problem was taken care of, but due to all her ongoing health issues, she's very frail at this stage (she's also 87, but damn - have you seen Dick Van Dyke at 100? 😯). She's still fighting like a lioness though...
• Hair disasters. You all know by now that I can't seem to get a decent perm anymore with the new, blander chemicals...In May, after a number of tries, I had to accept that this one would be a bad hair year, and that I would have to suffer for twelve months before I tried again to get a whole perm (I only got my bangs redone in November), since the overpermed lengths must be cut...
• Same old, same old. I mean, my life sucks in so many ways, the house is crumbling around me, and old age is getting nearer and nearer...

THE GOOD:

• Hubs walking. After being bedridden for three years due to a nasty foot and leg ulcer, my husband (already an amputee in his other leg after an accident at 4) started to go out again...mind you, he's not as much walking as he's going around by car, and even when at home, he spends a lot of time in bed. Still, progress...
• The book community. Just like last year (I'm copy-pasting the next couple of sentences from my 2024 wrap-up, because the sentiment hasn't changed), my books, my blog and my blogging friends have been pretty much the only upsides...you're still with me despite all my hiatuses and general inability to blog-hop consistently, and I don't know what I'd do without you all - fellow bloggers and authors I've developed a relationship with. My life is a super-hot mess, and I don't have anything but my blog, my books and my virtual friends, which is why I appreciate you even more and you never fail to make my day 🥰.

Pt. 2: Goals for 2025

Every year, my only goal is to post at least once a week and survive...It looks like striving for 52 posts is a working strategy, since these latest years I've been either slightly below or above that number (well, this year I've only managed to post 48 times, but considering I've been on hiatus for a total of 5 months, I'd call that a success...). That's why I'm keeping to my usual tentative plan and setting my usual goals for 2026: post weekly (or better, produce one post per week, which isn't the same) and incorporate more backlist books into review schedule - which I started to do this year and went well, especially since I had far fewer ARCs than in 2024. So that's the plan again, unless I go back to get showered with ARCs next year...(which I wouldn't hold my breath for LOL).

Pt. 3: Holidays Hiatus

As usual, I'll be away during the countdown to 2026, though I plan on visiting your blogs/interacting with you on social media. You all know by now I'm not a Christmas person, and my life doesn't lend itself to celebrations anyway, but at least I can luxuriate in a little "me" time without blogging obligations while the rest of the world does Christmas 😉. Blog-wise, I'll be back on January 1st with my December recap! and I'll take another hiatus after that, but more about it in my next post...

In the end...

...Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year 😃

(or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate)!

See you next year! Take care 😘.