It’s a wrap on 2025. 🥂 In this "Year in Reading" episode, Katy & Elyse recap how many books they actually read (and why Goodreads is a liar), share their top 5 books of the year, and crown the best plot twist, worst third act, most unnecessary plot twist, and more.
We also get into trope MVPs (small-town found family vs. morally gray love interests), the genre shifts the podcast sparked, and what we’re chasing in 2026—more thrillers, darker romantasy, fewer fated mates (sorry, Omegaverse), and finally cracking social media + YouTube.
✨ Featured books & series include: Rose in Chains, Dungeon Crawler Carl, We Are All Guilty Here, Girl Dinner, Phantasma, Bourbon & Lies, Serial Killer Games, Silver Elite, Alchemised, Onyx Storm, and more.
📌 Remember: no genre shaming… unless it’s funny.
It’s our holiday special 🎄✨ This week on Genre’d, we’re diving into Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace—a cozy, low-stakes holiday romance packed with small-town charm, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine vibes, and just enough smut to keep things interesting.
Before we get into it, we do have some things to say: Hanukkah shout-outs, Goodreads goal confessions, audiobook chaos, and a brief detour into hockey romance discourse (as one does).
In the spoiler-free section, we break down the vibes, tropes, characters, and whether this Hallmark-coded romance hits or misses—plus an important discussion on wooden dolls, small business drama, and why fixing sinks is apparently very hot.
🎁 Spoiler warning: First ~20 minutes are spoiler-free. Full spoilers after.
❄️ Tropes & vibes: big city girl / small town boy, forced proximity, grumpy MMC, cozy Christmas setting, low angst
📚 Holiday rating: comforting, cute, and exactly what it promises to be
We’re off next week for the holidays, but we’ll be back in the New Year with our 2025 wrap-up. Until then—rate, review, subscribe… and remember: no genre shaming (unless it’s funny). 💚
This week on Genre’d: Off Book, we sit down with our forever friend Ankeen — Brooklyn massage therapist, philosopher-at-heart, and unapologetic romance lover — to talk all things smut, tropes, and why romance is so much more than “frivolous.”
We get into how Harlequin paperbacks and Nora Roberts’ Montana Sky turned her into a reader at age ten, why “tasteful” sex scenes still hit, and what makes a perfect gateway romance versus a full-throttle smutty series (rock bands, hockey players, high-end sex clubs in London… we cover it all).
Along the way we unpack big misconceptions about the romance genre, why men should absolutely be reading “books for girls,” the tropes Ankeen loves (brother’s best friend, sexy doctors, firefighters, found family) and the ones she’ll DNF without hesitation (college main characters, high-school second chance, surprise pregnancies, zero communication). We also talk about the unexpected overlap between romance novels, philosophy texts, and how we all crave intimacy and connection in every part of our lives.
Plus: where to find Ankeen for lymphatic drainage, cupping, Ayurvedic face massage, and witchy goodness at Uncle Nat’s and Enchantments in NYC.
This week on Genre’d, we dive into Alchemy of Secrets, Stephanie Garber’s glitter-soaked urban fantasy about a grad student, a ticking countdown to her death, and a magical scavenger hunt across Hollywood.
But first… we have some things to say about Girl Dinner, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and the emotional devastation of the Dancing With the Stars finale.
💥 Spoiler warning: The first ~30 minutes are spoiler-free; after that, we get into the twists, scene stealers, and magical scavenger-hunt reveals.
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In this episode:
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✨ New episodes every week, covering everything from romantasy to thrillers to whatever TikTok tells us to read next.
Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @genredpodcast
Email us: genredpodcast@gmail.com
🎧 If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe, leave us a rating, and share with a fellow book lover.
This week on Genre’d: Off Book, we’re joined by Elyse's longtime friend Melissa, a self-proclaimed dystopian-fiction girlie who swears she “doesn’t really read fantasy” (we have notes). We talk about the books that broke open her love of bleak futures and authoritarian governments, why The Giver in fifth grade was maybe a bit much, and how dystopian stories are secretly… kind of hopeful?
Come for the dystopian deep dive; stay for the celebrity memoir recs, curriculum hot takes, and a bonus mini-interview with Melissa’s four-year-old son Alex, who explains why Captain Underpants is his bestie and teaches us all how to take deep breaths when we’re sad or mad.
In this Off Book episode, we chat about:
How The Giver, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Handmaid’s Tale turned Melissa into a dystopian-fiction lifer
Why The Hunger Games is her go-to “starter pack” rec (and how classics like 1984 and Brave New World hit differently as adults)
The biggest misconception about dystopian books—and why she thinks they’re actually love letters to human resilience
Her favorite tropes: the “truth drop” gut-punch and the moment the rebel finally wakes up
Why high fantasy and magic systems don’t work for her, plus tech-y, near-future recs like Silo, The Power, Vox, and more
Her “cheat genre”: celebrity memoirs (including Mindy Kaling, Jessica Simpson, Drew Barrymore, and Britney Spears)
A very special kid-lit segment with Alex featuring Captain Underpants, The Pigeon Has to Go to School, rainbow bear Coco, and the world’s cutest breathing exercise
Light spoilers for The Giver, 1984, The Hunger Games, and The Handmaid’s Tale (all decades-old, but still).
This week on Genre’d, Katy and Elyse unpack Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake — a darkly funny, campus-set satire about ambition, sisterhood, and the messy, conflicting pressures of modern womanhood.
Come for the spoiler-free first 20 minutes; stay for the chaos, the academic gossip, the wellness-culture unhinged moments, and a twist ending we absolutely had to talk through.
💥 Spoiler Warning: First ~20 minutes spoiler-free; full spoilers after.
What we cover:
Satire, camp, and why this book toes the line between “too real” and “too absurd.”
Nina & Sloane: ambition, motherhood, identity, and the pressures of belonging.
Sorority culture, tradwives, wellness as a status symbol, and modern feminism.
The infamous “girl dinner” concept… and yes, the twist everyone wants to dissect.
Who this book is and isn’t for, and why it makes such a wild book-club pick.
Our one-line plots, unfiltered reactions, and final ratings.
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
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Katy interviews co-host and sister Elyse about her first love—fantasy. They talk origin stories (thanks, Oma!), gateway recs for brand-new readers, what to try if you’ve “read it all,” and why tropes like fake dating/marriage of convenience never get old.
Expect Tamora Pierce nostalgia, a passionate plea to (maybe) finish a certain unfinished trilogy, a defense of romance in high fantasy, and a spicy primer on… Omegaverse.
Highlights: what fantasy actually offers (social commentary in disguise), recs by age/experience level, and Elyse’s genre “cheat” list when she needs something lighter.
This week on Genre’d, we check into A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna — a cozy, witchy fantasy where found family, grief, and a sentient inn collide under one teapot-raining roof.
We talk about the quiet magic system, why “grumpy × grumpy” romances hit differently, and what makes a comfort read still feel substantial. Plus: vintage Nancy Drew hauls, Katy’s birthday Kindle chaos, and the great Dancing with the Starsstreaming mystery.
💥 Spoiler note: first ~17 minutes are spoiler-free; full spoilers after that (clearly flagged).
In this episode:
- Nancy Drew book haul and Hallmark season kick-off
- The Inn as a sentient character with main-character energy
- Representation we loved — autism, disability, and outsider themes
- Debate: what we’d change about that ending
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We sit down with writer/dancer/communications pro Dinah Alobeid to demystify literary + upmarket fiction—what it is, why it’s not “elitist and boring,” and how to fall in love with it (even if you’re Team Dragons 🐉).
Dinah's Reccs :
Gateway pick: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin) — friendship, creativity, and gorgeous prose.
Advanced stack: My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Ottessa Moshfegh), Sweetbitter (Stephanie Danler), Fates and Furies (Lauren Groff), The Immortalists (Chloe Benjamin).
Comfort zone vibes: slice-of-life, fish-out-of-water, multi-generational (think Tom Lake and Hello Beautiful).
Rom-com hot takes: beyond Emily Henry—try Nicholas DiDomizio, Georgia Clark, and Hannah Orenstein.
Music tangent we loved: Lauren Groff’s Florida and the “Florida!!!” era discourse.
Find Dinah:
• Play This at My Funeral — launching Nov 1st, on Spotify, Apple & YouTube
• IG: @playthisatmyfuneralpodcast
• Site: dinahsusanalobeid.com
• Substack: Write, Dance, Repeat
This week on Genre’d, we dive into Alchemised by SenLinYu — a sprawling, thousand-page dark fantasy that’s equal parts war chronicle, moral study, and emotional endurance test.
We unpack the dense alchemical magic system (vitality, resonance, necromancy—oh my), trauma-bonded romance, and why this book might’ve worked better as a trilogy.
Also: Elyse’s Top Chef obsession, Katy’s Dancing with the Stars lore, and a quick detour through Manacled fanfic land.
💥 Spoiler note: first ~30 minutes are spoiler-free; full-on spoilers after that (clearly flagged).
🚨 Content warnings: war violence, sexual violence, torture, memory loss, body horror.
In this episode we chat about:
Tropes & vibes: dark academia, morally black love interest, trauma bond, power imbalance
Characters to watch: Helena (the healer who breaks herself to save others), Kane (obsession personified), Lila (warrior & reformer)
Themes: memory, identity, power, and how women are erased from the stories they shape
Pop-culture detours: Mistborn, Top Chef, and Dancing with the Stars
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
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Welcome to Genre’d: Off Book — our new off-week mini-series where we dive into the genres that made us fall in love with reading.
In our first ever episode, Katy takes the hot seat to answer five big questions about her favorite genre: romantasy. From Twilight to A Court of Thorns and Roses to Rose in Chains, she shares how this once-nameless category turned her from an occasional reader into a “can’t-sleep-until-I-finish” one.
We unpack the YA roots of romantasy, the golden age of dystopian reads (Hunger Games, Divergent, The Darkest Minds), and what makes wings, banter, and morally gray men so addictive. Plus — the books she hands to skeptics who still think it’s just “fairies and smut.”
Books Mentioned:
📚 Twilight — Stephenie Meyer
📚 A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) — Sarah J. Maas
📚 The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins
📚 Divergent — Veronica Roth
📚 The Darkest Minds — Alexandra Bracken
📚 Throne of Glass — Sarah J. Maas
📚 Magicians of Venice — Amy Kuivalainen
📚 Rose in Chains — Julie Soto
Favorite Tropes Discussed:
💥 Enemies to Lovers
💍 Marriage of Convenience
🚫 No Love Triangles (sorry, not sorry)
Listen for:
The exact book that flipped the reading switch
Why dystopian YA walked so romantasy could fly
A brief detour into Dancing with the Stars
The real meaning behind “men with red flags and wings”
🎧 New Off Book episodes drop every other week between full-length Genre’d discussions!
This week on Genre’d, we’re talking about We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter — a small-town thriller of fireworks, vanishing girls, and a deputy who can’t outrun what she ignored (plus an FBI profiler who blows the case wide open).
We unpack dual timelines, dynasty drama, and why this one felt like watching prestige TV in print (hello, Will Trent / Sharp Objects / True Detective energy).
💥 Spoiler note: first ~15 minutes are spoiler-free; full-on spoilers after that (clearly flagged).
🚨 Content warnings: harm to minors, sexual violence, murder, addiction/recovery, dementia.
In this episode we chat about:
Tropes & vibes: dual timelines, small-town secrets, morally gray leads, ticking-clock investigation
Characters to watch: Emmy (reluctant engine), Gerald (loyalty vs. justice), Jude (pattern-reading profiler)
Pop-culture detours: Will Trent, Sharp Objects, True Detective
True-crime sidebar: the Austin “Yogurt Shop” case DNA development and why it fits today’s themes
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
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This week on Genre’d, we’re talking about The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig — a gothic romantasy of cathedrals, omens, and a slow-burn pairing who’d rather quest than confess (plus one tiny gargoyle who steals every scene).
We unpack the inventive magic system, “too questy?” discourse, and why he falls first + banter had us grinning.
💥 Spoiler note: first ~20 minutes are spoiler-free; spoilers (incl. artifact/magic details) after 20:00.
In this episode we chat about:
Tropes & vibes: enemies→lovers, slow burn, he-falls-first,
Bartholomew appreciation: comic-relief and plot engine (’90s Gargoyles & Hunchback nods)
Pop-culture detours: Taylor Swift “Mirrorball”, Minority Report echoes, Men in Tights chaos
Spice check: 1.5/5 (PG-13) — romance is a strong B-plot
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
📱 Follow @genredpodcast on Instagram & TikTok for more chaos between episodes.
This week on Genre’d, we’re talking about Rose in Chains by Julie Soto — a dark romantasy where the war is lost and the princess is sold to her enemy… who also happens to be her longtime crush.
We unpack the fanfic-to-trad-pub pipeline (hi, Dramione), Handmaid’s Tale vibes, and why one kiss + mutual pining had us feral.
💥 Spoiler warning: full spoilers, including magic system reveals and the late-book twist.
In this episode we chat about:
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
📱 Follow @genredpodcast on Instagram & TikTok for more chaos between episodes.
This week on Genre’d, we’re in Fiasco, Kentucky with Bourbon and Lies by Victoria Wilder.
Elyse schools Katy with a full-on Romance 101 slide deck, we debate whether cowboys are really cowboys if they’re just making bourbon, and we break down one-line plots that set barns (and beds) on fire.
In this episode:
Taylor Swift’s engagement announcement derails us immediately
Romance novel beats explained (yes, Fabio covers included)
Our “Sexy Hallmark” verdict on Bourbon and Lies
Cocktail pairings for Grant, Lainey, Fiasco, and Grizz 🍸
💥 Spoiler warning: we get into all the twists, smut, and small-town drama.
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
📱 Follow @genredpodcast on Instagram & TikTok for more chaos between episodes.
This week on Genre’d, we dive into In the Veins of the Drowning by Kallie Cassidy — and we’re not doing it alone…
We’re joined by our younger sister, who brings unfiltered opinions, unplanned tangents, and the perfect amount of sibling chaos.
💥 Spoiler warning: We get into all the details, from deadly siren politics to our huh? moments.
In this episode we chat about:
Taylor Swift’s upcoming 12th album and our theories
Whether Katy would actually say yes to a marriage of convenience
And how terrifying the original Little Mermaid story is
📚 In the Veins of the Drowning by Kallie Cassidy
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
📲 Follow @genredpodcast on Instagram & TikTok for more chaos between episodes.
This week on Genre’d, we dive into The Compound by Aisling Rawle— and we’re not doing it alone…
We’re joined by Stephanie, author of Evitchka: A True Story of Survival, Hope & Love, who brings her hot takes, reality tv show knowledge, and a killer one-line plot.
💥 Spoiler warning: We get into all the details, from major plot twists to our wtf moments.
In this episode we chat about:
📖 Stephanie’s book: Evitchka: A True Story of Survival, Hope & Love – available now!
📚 The Compound by Aisling Rawle
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🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
📲 Follow @genredpodcast on Instagram & TikTok for more chaos between episodes.
In our second episode, we discuss Elyse’s pick, Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry — a swoony, introspective romance about ambition, grief, and finding your person when you least expect it.
💥 Spoiler warning: We get into all the details, from major plot twists to our wtf moments.
In this episode:
Mentions:
✨ New episodes every other week, covering everything from romantasy to literary fiction (and whatever TikTok makes us read next).
📚 Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry – https://www.target.com/p/great-big-beautiful-life-target-exclusive-edition-by-emily-henry-hardcover/-/A-94051610
📱 Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @genredpodcast
📩 Email us: genredpodcast@gmail.com
🎧 If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe, leave us a rating, and share with a fellow book lover.
In our first episode, we discuss Bryanna’s pick, Silver Elite by Dani Francis, a spicy dystopian romance packed with mind-reading orphans, elite military training, a rebellion, and a compelling enemies-to-lovers storyline.
Mentions:
@lunathionsitgirl
✨ Follow us for new episodes every other week, where we review books across fantasy, romance, thrillers & whatever TikTok tells us to read next.
📚 Book: Silver Elite by Dani Francis
📱Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @genredpodcast
📩 Email us: genredpodcast@gmail.com
Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the pod with your fellow book lovers!
The books, topics, and opinions discussed in this episode are for conversation and commentary. They do not reflect our personal political views or beliefs.
Three hosts. One wild book pick. Mayhem ensues as we read outside our comfort zones and (lovingly) roast every page. This is “Genre’d.”
✨ Follow us for new episodes every other week, where we review books across fantasy, romance, thrillers & whatever TikTok tells us to read next.
📱Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @genredpodcast
📩 Email us: genredpodcast@gmail.com
Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the pod with your fellow book lovers!
The books, topics, and opinions discussed in this episode are for conversation and commentary. They do not reflect our personal political views or beliefs.