Mini Book Reviews – April 2025
Mini Book Reviews – April 2025: What To Read & What To Skip
Welcome to my regular round up of mini book reviews of what I’ve read this past month! April included a variety of genres, including a sci/fantasy that blew me away and a nonfiction book I couldn’t put down!
In my list of mini book reviews, I include everything I’ve read recently that I finished. I like to share both my five star reads and any misses to help you get a better idea of what you should read or might want to skip.
As always, I love to hear if you agree or disagree with my ratings! Let me know in the comments what you thought of my April 2025 mini book reviews.
*Disclosure – I earn a small commission for any items purchased through the links below at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my book blog!!
Mini Book Reviews – April 2025
Physical Books:
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
I think this may be one of the funniest books I’ve ever read! This is a total “bookstagram made me do it” read and I’m so glad I gave it a chance despite the truly horrible cover. This is a fantasy? dystopian? alien? novel about a man who enters a competition to try to stay alive through different levels of a dungeon after most of Earth is wiped out.
Carl and his cat (who turns into a truly incredible side character) basically end up playing a video game / dungeons and dragons type scenario where they have to gather loot, level up, and defeat enemies to make it further through the competition – all of which is filmed for the entertainment of aliens. I know this sounds weird and wild, and it absolutely is, but it just works! It reminds me of a more sarcastic and gruesome Ready Player One? 5 Stars | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target
The Wager by David Grann
I’m normally a one nonfiction book per year reader and this turned out to be an incredible pick! The Wager is an almost unbelievable true story of the horrors faced by the men aboard The Wager, an English man of war ship, after they endured a grueling voyage, survived a shipwreck, desperately fought for their lives on a barren island and ultimately cobbled together vessels that would bring them back to civilization.
There were tales of mutiny and murder, starvation, and endless diseases. It’s a horrifying story but incredibly fascinating to see how these men found the strength to survive! I loved the writing style, since it’s narrative nonfiction and feels like you’re reading a thriller. There was enough background info about the English Navy and life at sea to feel helpful but not overbearing. 5 Stars | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target
Most Valuable Playboy by Lauren Blakely
Don’t miss this republished sports romance from Lauren Blakely! The new shiny cover looks amazing and this edition includes a cute football design on the inside covers!
. It’s fun to have a romance told completely from the guy’s perspective!
You’ll find all the best tropes in here, including the best friend’s little sister, fake dating, and childhood friends
3.5 Stars | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target
AudioBooks:
As always, I recommend using Libro.fm if you’re an audiobook listener!! Libro.fm directly supports indie bookstores, but costs the same as Amazon’s Audible! You can get TWO audiobooks for only $15 with my link and code CHOOSEINDIE.
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
One of the most anticipated books of the year for fans of The Hunger Games! I was a bit hesitant going into this one because I didn’t love the other prequel, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Plus, we knew how Haymitch’s story ends, so a lot of the shocking moments weren’t entirely unexpected.
Overall it was interesting to hear about Haymitch’s life and his experiences in the games, but this didn’t have the same heart-pounding thrills as the original trilogy. I know this was incredibly emotional for a lot of other readers, but I think knowing that Haymitch ends up with no one close to him made all of the deaths more expected and thus not as shocking.
This is definitely Suzanne Collins giving the fans what they wanted, so it wasn’t incredible but it was worth the read for anyone who wants to head back to Panem. | 4 Stars | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target
eBooks:
What The Wife Knew by Darby Kane
The premise of this thriller sounded fascinating, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my hopes. Addison is a newlywed who finds herself a widow less than 100 days into her marriage. She’s wondering who killed her husband, since her plan was to do it herself… As the prime suspect, Addison is now left wondering who else had a motive for murder and how she can clear her name.
I was excepting lots of twists and turns and exciting reveals, but this was a slow burn that never really paid off. 3 Stars | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target
For more mini book reviews, check out What I Read in March 2025!
The Wager was a 5-star read for me too, so happy to see someone else loving it 🙂
And I have a feeling I might succumb to the Dungeon Crawler Carl hype eventually and give it a try – literally everyone seems to be reading it at the moment!