The Best Book of the Year has been revealed, with an emerging author taking the title over much-loved Mel Robbins, Freida McFadden and Booker Prize winner David Szalay. Amazon UK has confirmed that a gripping romance thriller has taken the top spot on this year’s list.

Previous winners of the title have been author R.F. Kuang in 2023 and David Nicholls last year. The decision ultimately comes down to the Amazon Books UK team, who weigh reader reviews and book charts alongside their own expert opinion. This year’s winning book was released in March and has already secured a film adaptation.

The panel has declared Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall as its Best Book of the Year in the UK.

Broken Country managed to beat Intruder by Freida McFadden and bestselling The Let Them Theory by award-winning author and podcaster, Mel Robbins.

The book is set in the English countryside and was inspired by Hall’s home. The plot follows Beth, who lives on a farm with her husband Frank. However, her life becomes fractured by the return of her passionate yet forbidden first love, Gabriel Wolfe. Broken Country explores love triangles, family tragedy and courtroom drama as readers uncover the extent people go to for love.

Hall’s book was already a Sunday Times bestseller and received acclaim from Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Speaking of her win, she said: “It is such a great honour to have Broken Country chosen as Amazon UK’s Best Book of the Year.

“It has meant the world to me to see readers connecting with Beth, Frank and Gabriel’s story, and I am truly delighted.” Jen Barrett, Amazon Books UK Editor, added: “Clare Leslie Hall’s sweeping, unputdownable novel expertly fuses the heartache of a great love story with the pace of a domestic thriller, making it a worthy winner of our Best Book of the Year for 2025.

“There was such a breadth of talent across this year’s shortlists, but Broken Country completely captivated us with its sophisticated, emotionally charged look at impossible choices and the lasting imprint left by a first love. Hall’s writing is lyrical and beautifully evocative, pulling readers deep into the Dorset landscape, which serves as a backdrop to simmering secrets and devastating betrayals.

“The narrative masterfully moves between past and present, building unbearable suspense as an old love triangle, grief, and jealousy culminate in deadly consequences and a murder trial. You’ll find yourself recommending it far and wide.”

As well as revealing this year’s winner, Amazon has also shared the shortlists for Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction, and Best Young Adult or Children’s Book. Top non-fiction books included To the Women by Donna Ashworth, When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between by Ruth Jones & James Corden, as well as The Traitor’s Circle by Jonathan Freedland.

Children and young adult books in the shortlist included Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, A Poem for Every Question by Brian Bilston and Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell.

Amazon UK’s Top Ten Best Books of the Year (across all categories, in no particular order)

• WINNER Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall – John Murray Press

• The Names by Florence Knapp – Headline

• Flesh by David Szalay – Jonathan Cape (PRH)

• The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins – Hay House (PRH)

• Padella by Tim Siadatan – Bloomsbury Publishing

• The Intruder by Freida McFadden – ‎Poisoned Pen Press

• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins – Scholastic Ltd

• Shadow Thieves by Peter Burns – HarperCollins Publishers

• Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane – Hamish Hamilton (PRH)

• When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between by Ruth Jones & James Corden – Bantam (PRH)