2025, I watched 26 TV shows based on books, which sounds impressive until you realize most of them were selected via a highly scientific method known as chaos clicking. Some were carefully anticipated, others were “oh, hey, that’s based on a book?” discoveries. All of them fed into my ongoing fascination with adaptations as their own weird, wonderful, occasionally frustrating art form.
I tend to approach adaptations with optimism. Not blind optimism, I’ve been burned before, but books and TV are fundamentally different beasts. Same DNA, different skeleton. I don’t need them to be identical; I just want them to be good. Sometimes, emotionally devastating in a satisfying way.
As always, this year’s lineup was a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, crime, drama, dramedy, and romance. I watch pretty much everything. There are shows that delighted me, some I liked while actively side-eyeing them, and a few mildly disappointed me. Let’s get into it.
Some honorable mentions
Before we get to the top, here’s a quick tour of the shows that rounded out my year:
Lockerbie: The Search for Truth, based on The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire, was a tough but important watch. I liked it, learned a lot, and felt appropriately haunted afterward.
Will Trent (Season 3) remains a must-watch, even though I have never read Karin Slaughter’s books. At this point, I’m just along for the ride.
The Sandman (Season 2) lived up to my expectations. Gorgeous, thoughtful, emotionally rich… and slightly heartbreaking to watch knowing it’s been cancelled. That knowledge takes a bit of the magic out, unfortunately.
Invincible (Season 3) remains wildly impressive, extremely gory, and consistently engaging while it’s airing, but once the finale hits, it exits my brain like it was never there.
Talamasca: The Secret Order, pulling from Anne Rice’s interconnected vampire and witch lore, has potential, but I’m waiting to see what it actually wants to be.
The Terminal List: Dark Wolf is… fine. I liked what I saw. I still have two episodes left. I am in no hurry to finish them.
Wednesday (Season 2) was fun, though I remain skeptical about the two-part season strategy. We’ll see.
Lynley, Elizabeth George’s new Inspector Lynley adaptation, was a pleasant surprise. Comforting, and very middle-of-the-road in the best and worst ways.
Ironheart was… complicated. I enjoyed the show, but knowing the tidal wave of bad-faith hate waiting for it dampened the experience. It’s hard to fully relax when you know discourse is looming.
Mayfair Witches (Season 2) was a case of hope-watching. I wanted it to improve. I wanted to love it. Instead, it mostly reminded me why I still haven’t picked up book two.
John Grisham’s The Rainmaker was my strangest experience this year. I liked it, while kind of hate-watching it, yet I couldn’t stop watching it. I vaguely remembered the Matt Damon movie, but nothing felt familiar in the show. A legal drama fever dream.
Ballard, based on Michael Connelly’s Renée Ballard series, was a genuine delight. I jumped in without having seen Bosch, and honestly? No regrets. Loved it.
All of these set the stage for the shows that really stuck with me.
My Top 5 TV Shows Based on Books
5. Dexter: Original Sin
I’ve never read the Dexter books, but I’ve seen every previous iteration of the show, so I came into Original Sin cautiously optimistic. And honestly? It worked.
The casting is inspired, genuinely one of the show’s strongest assets, and the writing sits comfortably alongside the better seasons of the original Dexter. It understands what made that universe compelling without trying to reinvent it for the sake of reinvention. A very solid entry that earned its place on this list.
4. Dept. Q (Season 1)
I’ve read the book. I’ve watched the Danish movie adaptation. I thought I knew this story inside and out. And yet, this Scottish TV version still managed to surprise me.
The adaptation smartly reworks the setting to fit its new location without losing the soul of the original story, which is no small feat. Matthew Goode and Alexej Manvelov as the leads certainly don’t hurt either. Familiar, fresh, and deeply satisfying.
3. Boots
Against my better judgment, I read Greg Cope White’s The Pink Marine just days before Boots premiered, something I usually avoid. Turns out, it was the best possible way to experience this story.
The book and the show feel complementary, each enhancing the other. The cast is excellent, putting several actors firmly on my radar, but the writing shines brightest here.
Sergeant Liam Robert Sullivan’s storyline made a particularly strong impression on me, edging out the rest emotionally. My one complaint? The classic streaming nonsense: renewed, then cancelled. Even though season one covered the entire book, I was intrigued enough to want more.
2. The Wheel of Time (Season 3)
I finished the entire book series this year, hyping myself up for the storylines I knew were coming. And season three finally delivered.
This is the season where the show felt like it was firing on all cylinders. The writing was confident, the performances were top-notch, and the story took meaningful strides toward becoming the epic it’s meant to be. It felt like The Wheel of Time was finally stepping into its power.
1. Heated Rivalry
Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series – particularly books one and two, but let’s be real, mostly book two – Heated Rivalry takes the top spot without hesitation.
It’s NOT a recency bias. I didn’t just read this book. Heated Rivalry is one of my favourite books of all time. Not a “that was nice” favourite but a Favourite-favourite. A yearly reread. So when the adaptation was announced, I was shocked, terrified, and deeply invested.
And then… it worked. Everything worked.
The casting, the writing, the clever production design, the emotional pacing, all spot on. The performances are wonderfully physical, and I don’t mean just the steamy scenes. The actors communicate so much through facial expressions alone, letting us see their characters’ thinking in real time.
Do I have critiques? Of course. I think the show needed more butt shots lol.
They Deserve A Shout Out
Ilya Rozanov. Shane Hollander. Sergeant Liam Robert Sullivan. These characters now live rent-free in my brain.
Miles Heizer absolutely carried Boots for me; his reactions to the world around him were the emotional linchpin that made everything else click for me. Cameron Cope’s inner thoughts being externalized could have gone terribly wrong, but instead, it was an instant yes for me.
What This Year Says About My Taste
Apparently, I’m gay as hell lol, I mean I gravitate toward adaptations that respect their source material without being enslaved by it. Adaptations that aren’t afraid to make bold emotional choices, and feature performances shows subtlety.
This year reminded me why I love adaptations in the first place: when they work, they don’t replace the book; they expand the experience. And when they don’t? Well, the book becomes a bigger refuge.
Here’s to another year of book adaptations.
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