Genre’d 2025 Wrap-Up — Year in Reading

genredpodcast
6 days ago
5 min read

And that’s a wrap on 2025. 🥂 This week on Genre’d, Katy and Elyse close out the year with a full “Year in Reading” debrief: the books we loved, the ones that personally attacked us, the tropes that carried, and the reading habits we’re taking into 2026.

We also have things to say—namely: Goodreads is doing absolutely the least, the “reading challenge” math is suspicious, and somehow we started a podcast and lived to tell the tale.

Spoiler note: This is a wrap-up episode. We discuss books at a high level (vibes/tropes/ratings), but we don’t go into detailed plot spoilers.

What we cover in this episode

The 2025 Reading Recap

How many books we actually read (not what Goodreads claims)
- Katy: 30 (at time of recording)
- Elyse: 84 (and Goodreads tried to say 99… politely, no)
The Great Goodreads Rant™: double-counting, missing finish dates, and why the Amazon ecosystem should be smoother than this

Genre shifts

Elyse’s mission: escape the Omegaverse spiral (progress was made!)
Katy’s mission: leave romantasy-only land and rediscover thrillers + romance

Our “one-line plot” of 2025

Elyse: Podcast to escape Omegaverse → dipped into fantasy → fell for cowboys → became devoted to Carl + Princess Donut
Katy: Read faster than ever, left her comfort zone, gave out more 3-star ratings than she thought humanly possible

Our Top 5 Books of 2025

Elyse’s Top 5

#5 (tie): Girl Dinner (the book she “hated” and then couldn’t stop recommending)

#5 (tie): I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (short, genre-bendy, “fever dream” energy)

#4: Bourbon & Lies series (standout romance series; thriller/mystery undertones; not your standard third-act breakup)

#3: Serial Killer Games by Kate Posey (trope-satire romance chaos in the best way)

#2: Rose in Chains (romantasy/romance that stands on its own and earns the hype)

#1: Dungeon Crawler Carl (LitRPG surprise obsession; Carl + Princess Donut supremacy)

Katy’s Top 5

#5: We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter (twisty, twistier, twistiest)

#4: The Gift by Freida McFadden (short story, holiday-ish, unexpectedly hilarious twist)

#3: Silver Elite (dystopian-leaning romantasy comfort zone: no notes, had fun)

#2: Phantasma (January five-star, instantly recommendable romantasy)

#1: Rose in Chains (devoured; world + magic that feel coherent and fresh; can’t wait for what’s next)

Only crossover in our top fives: Rose in Chains (as it should be).

Superlatives: rapid-fire chaos edition

Best book boyfriend: Ace Fox (Bourbon & Proof) / Cross Redden (Silver Elite)
Character we’d most want to hang out with:
- Katy: Clara (Holiday Ever After)
- Elyse: Bartholomew (icon behavior)
Sequel we’re most excited for: Rose in Chains / Silver Elite (depending on who you ask + publication reality)
Best plot twist: We Are All Guilty Here (plot twists with plot twists)
Book we can’t stop thinking about: Girl Dinner
New-to-us author: Freida McFadden / Matt Dinniman
Worst third act: The Compound / The Magical in Keeping
Most unnecessary plot twist: The Magical in Keeping (respectfully, why)
Books that felt like a personal attack: Girl Dinner / Alchemized
Adapt for TV immediately: Dungeon Crawler Carl / The Compound

Overhyped books of the year

Katy: Onyx Storm (still loves the world, but the middle got questy to the point of “wait what are we questing for?”)
Elyse: Alchemised (beautiful and tragic, but didn’t fully stand on its own without the universe shortcut)

Trope MVPs of 2025

Favorite trope

Elyse: Small-town + found family (Elsie Silver’s fault, lovingly)
Katy: Morally gray / dangerous love interest (dark-ish romantasy era activated)

What we’re tired of

Elyse: Fated mates (especially as the default engine of Omegaverse)
Katy: “Messy women / women behaving badly” satire (it’s not landing for her, she’s at peace with that)

Trope we didn’t expect to love

Elyse: LitRPG (plot twist: the book is a video game and she’s seated)
Katy: Holiday edition everything (seasonal mood reading… who is she?)

What we learned from starting Genre’d

Podcasting isn’t “hard” in theory (boys do it), but doing it even a little bit well requires a shocking amount of equipment
The hardest part is social media consistency (because if you don’t market the pod… no one knows it exists)
Off Book happened because: everyone has book opinions, and everyone wants to be on a podcast

2026: what’s next for Genre’d + our reading

Reading intentions

Katy: more thrillers, more darker romantasy, more McFadden & Slaughter, and a better balance between pod reads + comfort reads
Elyse: more memoirs (redemption arc), “missed” series/books (like Red Rising), maybe revisit big fantasy, keep Omegaverse to ~10% (one a month… unless mental health says otherwise)

Pro tip from Elyse: Podcast books as audiobooks; comfort books at bedtime.

Podcast intentions

Keep the format: 2 book episodes + 2 Off Book interviews per month
Expand Off Book beyond friends: authors, book influencers, creators we’ve met through the online book world
Finally build a repeatable workflow for posting across platforms + get more episodes onto YouTube

Mentions (books/series + authors)

Rose in Chains — Julie Soto
Dungeon Crawler Carl (series) — Matt Dinniman
We Are All Guilty Here — Karin Slaughter
Girl Dinner — Olivie Blake
Phantasma — Kaylie Smith
The Gift — Freida McFadden
Bourbon & Lies (series) — Victoria Wilder
- Bourbon & Proof — Victoria Wilder
Serial Killer Games — Kate Posey
Silver Elite — Dani Francis
Onyx Storm — Rebecca Yarros
Alchemised — SenLinYu
The Compound — Aisling Rawle
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping — Sangu Mandanna
Holiday Ever After — Tessa Bailey
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year — Ally Carter
The Mistletoe Mystery — Nita Prose
I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman
Red Rising (series, mentioned as a 2026 goal) — Pierce Brown
Brandon Sanderson — author mention (future reading plans)

Join the conversation

What was your most overhyped read of 2025? Your best plot twist? And did Goodreads lie to you too? Tag us and tell us your Year-in-Reading superlatives.

And if you laughed even once: rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. It truly makes our day.

Remember: no genre shaming… unless it’s funny. 💅

FAQs

What is the Genre’d 2025 Wrap-Up episode about?

Katy and Elyse recap their 2025 reading year—top books, trope MVPs, bookish superlatives, and what they want to read (and improve) in 2026.

Does this episode include spoilers?

Not really. It’s a high-level wrap-up focused on vibes, tropes, ratings, and reading trends—not detailed plot breakdowns.

What were Katy and Elyse’s top books of 2025?

Katy’s #1 was Rose in Chains. Elyse’s #1 was Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Rose in Chains was the one top-five crossover for both hosts.

What tropes did they love most in 2025?

Elyse’s favorite was small-town found family. Katy’s was morally gray/dangerous love interests.

What are their reading goals for 2026?

More thrillers, darker romantasy, and better balance between podcast reads and comfort reads—plus Elyse’s plan to keep Omegaverse to a smaller slice of her reading.