Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Top Ten Least Favorite Books Of 2025
Ever notice how least-favorite lists light up the room? I lean into that energy and break down ten books from 2025 that didn’t land for me and why. Not to dunk for sport, but to get curious about craft, genre, and expectations. Some titles offered powerful insight with limp storytelling; others promised thrills but disappeared into pacing, lore dumps, or glossy advice that never turned into action.
I start with the fascination behind “worst” lists and the validation they spark, then move book by book. Fruit of the Drunken Tree delivers urgent history but loses steam in its length. Big Magic inspires faith in the muse, yet my practical creative brain craves steps over slogans. In romance, The Sound of Us brushes close to green flags but falters with cringey smut that mistakes intensity for intimacy. True Biz opens a crucial window into Deaf education and cochlear implant ethics, even as the plot feels thin. Sci-fi shows its seams in Mickey7’s lore-heavy detours and Hitchhiker’s brand of British humor that never gelled for me.
I also call out advice that works better as an article than a book in La Clave de la Confianza, and examine how a perfect-on-paper premise can still bore in Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. The countdown ends with The Monster of Elendhaven, where edgy style overshadows intent and leaves meaning behind. Through it all, I keep the door open: if you love these books, keep loving them. My aim is honest critique, not joy theft.
Listen, argue with me, and sharpen your own reading lens. If this resonates, follow the show, share with a bookish friend, and leave a quick review telling us which pick you’d defend—or ditch.
All episodes of the podcast can be found on our website: https://booksvsmovies.buzzsprout.com/share
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Welcome to Books versus Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question: Is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Juvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and today I will be counting down my top 10 least favorite books of 2025. That was much more in the spirit of Todd, but still not quite there. But anyway, yes, I don't know what it is about top 10 least favorite books that people are much more invested in that than knowing favorite books. It's like, don't you want to know what peop what's good? So you can check those out. And mind you, I'm aware that good is subjective. You might not match up with me perfectly. Like, you know, I love Dua Lipa. I'm in her book club. I read every single one of the books she picks, and I still ended up with three of her books on my least favorite list. But I ended up with four of them on my favorite list. So, you know, it we may not be book buddies, we may not be book twinsies, everything that I like, you might not like, and vice versa. But overall, just like a trend I've noticed in the book community, whether it be on BookTube or Bookstagram or Book Talk, people are a lot more invested on the things people don't like. And I'm wondering if it's just an excuse to it, like if it's a very popular book that someone puts on their list, it's like a feeling of validation of like, yes, exactly, that book does suck. And I'm glad to see that someone else agrees with me. But I feel like it's also people want to know so they can attack you, or it's like, how dare you not like this book that I absolutely loved. I don't know. Just just something that we've all noticed, like, but anyway, I guess that's not the point. The point is that you want to know what my top 10 least favorite books of 2025 are, and I'm here to let you know. So, starting off with number 10 is Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. I was really looking forward to listening to this book, and I just felt like it was a little too long. I feel like that kind of just slowed down the pacing for me, and it's a piece of history of Latin American history that I do not know about, that I'm not familiar with. This book takes place in Colombia during one of their most periods of most political unrest. And it's fairly recent when these events happened. It didn't happen all that long ago. This happened, I want to say it was about 30 to 40 years ago. So it's still fairly recent, maybe a little bit sooner. But I don't remember if the if the dates were mentioned in the book or not, but this is just based on what I what I've seen. Um one of my book club friends, Elena, shout out to Elena. She is a first generation American and her family is from Colombia, and her parents were alive when this happened. So maybe it was maybe even earlier. If she's around my age and her parents are around my parents' age, then maybe it was like even past 30 to 40 years ago. It had to have been. But anyway, maybe may I don't, I don't know. I don't know. The point is, it's fairly recent in history. This took place in the late 20th century. Late, yes, late 20th century. And so this was a fascinating aspect of history to learn about, and it's definitely something I'm more invested in learning about and reading this about this time period in Colombia, just because obviously we don't really learn this kind of history in our history classes here in the states. But I am interested in it. But the book itself, there were some really, really tense moments. There were some really, really sad moments. But I think all of that got bogged got bogged down to me because of the length of it. I feel like if there had some parts of it had been cut or some moments had been cut, it would have flowed a little bit easier for me. And I would have been able to like it a lot more. I still rated this three stars, so this still falls into the okay to good category in my rating system. So definitely not a bad book by any means. It was just, like I said, I think the length kind of just ruined it for me. But it is still a good book filled with lots of attention and gives you a glimpse of a piece of Latin American history that not everyone else is familiar with. Number nine, we have Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I this is a reread for me. I read this when I was already living in New York, I don't remember how long ago it was. I I think it was maybe five years ago that I read it, but I was really excited to read it, read it when I first read it, and then ended up rereading it again because it's on a list that I'm making my way through of like 20 inspiring books written by women for women. And I mean, this is just book is just very, it doesn't speak to me personally. That doesn't mean it can't speak to you or that it hasn't spoken to lots of people, but I'm a lot more practical when it comes to how I work my creativity, which may sound a little bit weird that that um, but I mean I need like tangible steps in order to make this happen. And this is very like trust in the universe and just put it out there, like manifestation, all that kind of stuff. I'm aware that like the way you view the world, if you have the more pessimistic view of the world, you're gonna encounter more pessimistic things. Vice versa, if you have the more optimistic view, I'm aware of that, and I try to view the world in a more optimistic lens, and I feel like overall I do that. I tend to see the good in people, and in certain of it's a little hard given the political climate right now, but I try. And that but that being said, I I'm not saying manifestation doesn't work, I'm not saying any of that I just don't think it works for me. That's not how I function. Like are there dreams and hopes and aspirations that I've spoken out loud into uh to other people or the universe or whatever you want to call it. Yes. But I also think that there's steps you need to take to make your dreams a reality. You can't just like speak them into the world and they're just gonna happen because you spoke it into the world. And I feel like that's my not that like people that believe in manifestation believe, but I feel like some people do. They're just like, I spoke it into the world. Now it's magically gonna happen, or whatever. Um I feel like this book definitely takes more of that route where it's like, well, I said it, so sit say it, speak it, and it'll become reality. And it's like, I don't think it quite works that way, but that's just me. I also just have uh issues with Elizabeth Gilbert's writing. I I don't see the hype. I know she's a very popular author. I personally don't see the hype, so this book was just not for me. Number eight, we have The Sound of Us by Sarah Castile. This was a romance book, finished it at the very start of 2025, so I don't remember too too much, but I think the reason it's on here is just my main issue with a lot of romance books. And this couple, I'm not gonna say is as toxic as other couples in romance books that I've read where I'm just like sound the alarm, like Tessa and Harden in the after series. I'm gonna keep bringing that up. So definitely doesn't fall into that kind of toxic category. But my issue with a lot of romance books, it they just I have I like romance, it's not one of my go-to genres, and I think one of the reasons it's not my favorite is now after experiencing the kind of love that no one should ever experience, and just being in a nice, happy, healthy, wonderful relationship now. Like, if I'm reading it and it does not compare to my husband or any of the other lovely men out there that are nothing but green flags and golden retrievers, I don't want it, I'm not interested. And this guy, while he's definitely not like a complete walk-in red flags, there is still aspects of him that I didn't like, and just some of some of the writing in romance books, especially when it comes to the men, I just don't find pleasant to read. The smut, I don't mind reading smut, but I think there's such a fine line between well-written smut that can turn you on, and kind of smut that's just cringy. And I feel like this one definitely fell more into the cringy category. So just not for me, and not the worst relationship ever in a romance book, but just also not for me. Number seven is True Biz by Sarah Novic. So this was one that I was really excited to read, and I really, really wanted to like it, and unfortunately, I just didn't. This is a book that takes Sarah Novick is a deaf author, deaf, deaf, wow, not a death author, a deaf author. And so she wrote this book. Uh, it takes place in a school for deaf students. It is about to be shut down because it doesn't have the funding. And there were a lot of issues brought up that people within the deaf community uh face that obviously those of us that are not deaf do not have to worry about or second guess. Sarah also has a lot of opinions that she makes known about putting in hearing aids, like permanent hearing aids into children that cannot consent to do so because it's one of those things the sooner you put in the cochlear implants, the more likely it is to work. The longer you wait, the less likely and less effective it is. But there are a lot of symptoms and drawbacks to it that I was not aware of that I'm glad this book brought to my attention. There's also a lot of moments in which there's like sign language manuals thrown in in between certain aspects of the book that teach you how to sign certain things or tell you how colloquially how deaf people speak. And it was really, really fascinating. But just the story itself fell flat for me. And I think I just I don't know if it was the characters, there was just something about it that I just think it was the maybe the way it was written, the circumstances the characters in were in. There were really fascinating moments. It's really hard for me to describe exactly what fell flat for me, but I really wanted to like it. And unfortunately, it just ended up being a disappointing read for me. Number six, we have Mickey Seven by Edward Ashton. This is this, I did a books versus movies episode on this. So a few months ago, so if you're interested in hearing more detailed thoughts on it, then please go check out that episode. This ultimately, science fiction is not my genre. It is very hard for me to like a science fiction book that I absolutely love and recommend. I can count on one hand, I think the amount of science fiction books, science fiction books that I love and absolutely recommend. This one, like I said, what what I think ruined it for me, it's a relatively short book. The pacing is very fast, but I feel like there were moments in which it was cut down to explain certain scientific weapons that obviously do not exist in the real, the nonfiction real world that we live in. These were fictional weapons that were created for this world. And it's like, I don't need an explanation as to how this works, or if it was like this was invented in this world of the book 50 years ago to make this part of life easier or whatever, and you want to explain that, sure, but that should take maybe a paragraph or two. Sometimes there would be like chapters, not long chapters, but there would still be chapters dedicated to explaining the history of particular weapons. It's like, I don't need to know that. If you tell me this weapon exists, I can suspend my disbelief enough to know that it exists in this world. And I'm not gonna question it because I know that it's not a world that I live in. So it was more things like that that I just it it just little chapters like that that I felt like bogged down the pacing because otherwise it should have been a really fast and easy read. Number five is Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter. This was one of Dua Lipa's book club picks of 2025, and this is a novella, so you can eat it, uh, eat it. Wow. I I'm I'm hungry. I'm in the process of making lunch while I record this, so excuse my miss my misspeech there. But uh so it's really quick to read. The style of writing is was just not for me. It's it's a very particular kind of prose. Uh it's told in two points of view. One of the points of view is a crow, and the crow is, I mean, it makes sense, it's a crow, and so it's very like scattered and clipped, and um yeah, I think it it's mainly that. So his chapters were kind of kind of felt nonsensical, but at the same time, there is something of importance there to help the family who's grieving in the book on their grieving journey. So it just the way it was written, the prose was not for me, the kind of like nonsensical language of the crow. I just cannot get into it personally. But so yeah, so just not for me. Number four, we have The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Again, this I have an episode on this book and it one of its adaptations that you can go check out if you want to go into it into more detail. It's just okay. It was just an okay science fiction book. And it's very British humor, but it's it's scientific British humor, which is uh like British humor is already so different from US humor. And I like British humor overall, but it just didn't work for me within the context of science fiction, which is already a genre that is not for me personally. I have read this book before. The very, very first time I ever read it, I hated it. I liked it a lot better upon the second read because I understood it a lot more this third time reading it, and this will be the last time that I read it. I still understood it. It's like, but now that it's had time to settle, and I'm not comparing it to like the very, very first time where I absolutely hated it. It's just, it exists. A lot of people find joy in it, and I will not take that joy away from you. I'm glad you love it. I'm glad you really enjoy it. Keep on reading it and enjoying it and laughing out loud at the very, very bizarre circumstances of the book. But just for me personally, not for me. Number three, we have La Clave de la confianza, el arte y la ciencia de la autoconfianza para mujeres by Claire Shipman and Katy Kaye. The English name of it is the confidence code. And this was on that list that I was mentioning earlier of 20 books written by inspiring books written by women for women. This one was it's it's a self help book. Again. Self-help genre is not usually for me just because a lot of the tips and tricks given in self-help books don't necessarily work for me personally. They may work for some people, but they don't necessarily work for me. Um, I feel like self-help books tend to be very general so they can speak to a lot of people, but it's sometimes so general that it ends up not speaking to a lot of people at the same time. I don't know if that makes sense, but it's like so general that like 50% it speaks to like 50% of the population and doesn't speak to the other 50%. That's more what I'm trying to say. But anyway, so yeah, the self-help genre is not for me. And I want to clarify that the books on the 20 inspiring books are not all self-help books. This one just so happened to be one. But I just felt uh so this book started off as a magazine article, if I'm not mistaken, and then the authors wanted to expand on it and made it into a book. It is, again, a really short book. It's under 200 pages, if I'm not mistaken, or slightly over 200 pages. It is not long at all. But even then, I felt like most of the ideas presented were could have easily been contained in that one, were probably contained, and you knew everything that you needed to know from that magazine article. And I don't think that expanding on it really added anything. There was a lot of moments in which I felt were repeated or kind of just I noticed this about my life, and it's like, well, that's your life, that's not my life. Um, so yeah, so just just I felt like if you check out this book, there's really only one chapter you need to read, and you get the thesis of it, you get the crux of it, you don't really need to read anything else beyond that. So this book was just I just felt like it was a little redundant and unnecessary at points. Number two, we have Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarchuk. This is this was one of the very first 2025 book club pick for Dualipa, and I really wanted to like it, and or not that I really wanted to like it, I thought I was gonna like it. On paper, it sounds like something that I would absolutely love. It's a mystery, love mysteries. There are it it talks about animal rights, love animals and their rights. There is revenge, which I am completely in favor for. I'm okay, that sounds odd. Not that I'm for revenge, but the revenge in this book I feel was justified, and I'm all I stand behind the character that's seeking revenge. So, all in all, it sounds like a book that has Juvia's stamp of approval written all over it. And yet I found myself to be quite bored the entire time I was reading it, and I was very disappointed that I did not like it. So, yeah, this I think this book this I just found this book to be really boring, and I I just I did not like it. It makes me very sad that I didn't like it. And number one on my top ten least favorite books of 2025 is The Monster of Ellenhaven by Jennifer Giesprecht. This is a short novella. It's only 160 pages, and this is a book that I brought with me on one of, I think it was when I went to Florida with my family. So this was the book I read on the plane. So I read it in one sitting very, very easily. I wanted to DNF this book really, really badly. But I had no other books with me. And it's so short that by the time I was like, I should just DNF it, I was like, well, I'm already halfway through, might as well just finish it. It's not like I'm gonna be slogging through 300 or however many more pages before it ends. It's I literally only have 80-something pages left. So might as well go for it. So I didn't DNF it. I still don't necessarily regret not DNFing it. Like I said, what else was I gonna do on this flight? I could have watched a movie, I guess, but again, it it was just hard for me to justify DNFing it because it was so short. But I just I did not like it at all. And I it it was like the story, it was the way it was written. It's it's written in a way that I felt was like the author felt like they were being edgy and artistic, and instead it came off as nonsensical to me. And kind of like you're just writing that part for just shock value, but it's not adding anything to the story. I was really excited to read this one. This was a blind date with the book that I picked out a while ago, and I was really intrigued by the cover, I was intrigued by the description, and then I started reading it, and I was like, what am I even reading? Like this, none of this, none of this makes sense. I have nothing to do on this flight but focus on this book. I'm not, I can't get distracted, and yet I still have no idea what's going on. So, yeah, just I did not like it, and I would personally not recommend it. There's other books on this list that I might say, sure, check it out. It wasn't for me, but it might be the right book for you. This is one, I mean, I'm sure it's the right book for someone somewhere. But this one I just personally would not recommend at all. That is it for my list of top 10 least favorite books of 2025. Next up, I have my top 10 favorite films that I watched in theaters, and my top 10 least favorite films that I watched in theaters. I will see you next time. Bye.