Katie the Book Reporter

The Books I Abandoned in 2025

January 1, 2026

I think there’s an important distinction between books you abandon and books you DNF.

To me, DNF’ing is an active choice; you either dislike a book so much you can’t continue another second or there’s something you find objectionable about the book or the author. Meanwhile, abandoning a book – sidelining it? saying ‘see ya later’ to it? – means that maybe you hit a reading slump, got distracted or that it wasn’t the right book at the right time.

Now, y’all might yell at me over some of these (I’m looking at you, Atmosphere) but I think it’s better to restart a book later when you can appreciate the story rather than try to force it.

Here are the books I abandoned in 2025.
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‘Just Come’: Heated Rivalry and the Fun of Fandom and Communal Joy

December 7, 2025

Like everyone on my TikTok algorithm over the last week+, 99% of my thoughts have been consumed by “the gay hockey show,” Heated Rivalry. And I’m embracing it.

I blazed through the book by Rachel Reid and its direct sequel, The Long Game, in preparation for the show’s premiere on Nov. 28, and while I’m confident I would have loved Shane, Ilya and their love story regardless, my obsession has undoubtedly been heightened by the rabid public reception of the show.

My FYP has been flooded with fan edits, reaction videos from Heated Rivalry watchers after multiple episode viewings (I’ve watched the first two episodes three times myself!) and people trying in vain to find physical copies of the books after discovering the story through the TV show – and I eat up almost every video.

But TikTok wasn’t enough, and I moved on to devouring interviews with showrunner/writer/director Jacob Tierney and the show’s leads, Connor Storrie (Ilya) and Hudson Williams (Shane); checking out fan chat spaces; and making my own videos chatting about the show on my BookTok account, @katiethebookreporter.

It’s fun to feel swept up in something joyful and exciting and while undoubtedly sexy, also tender and wholesome.
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I Read Heated Rivalry, the Steamy Gay Hockey Romance That’s About to Take Over Our TV Screens

November 27, 2025

Not for the first time, the TikTok editors got me – this time it was with Heated Rivalry, the spicy gay hockey romance that’s been everywhere on my FYP in the lead up to the TV adaptation’s release this Friday, Nov. 28.

Based on the book by Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry follows professional hockey players Shane Hollander of Canada and Ilya Rozanov of Russia as they embark on a yearslong affair that blossoms into love. The story opens when the top NHL prospects first meet as teens and it follows them through the next decade as their careers skyrocket and the NHL builds up the rival narrative between them.

“We were supposed to stand alone at the top, but we will always be there together. We will keep climbing until no one else can reach us, but it will always be together.”

The book was adapted by Jacob Tierney, known for helming Shoresy and Letterkenny (he plays Glen in the show!), and stars Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov. Heated Rivalry is a Canadian production and is being released through Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the United States.

The chemistry in the show’s trailer goes crazy, but it wasn’t until I saw that HBO Max had picked up U.S. distribution – and I would actually get a chance to watch it beyond TikTok clips – that I knew I had to read the source material to know what everyone was raving about online.

And boy am I glad that I did!
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A New Chapter in My Hometown

July 22, 2025

Every time I visit my hometown, I keep an eye out for little changes: a new carwash down the highway, which business has moved into my favorite old bakery‘s spot, what color a neighbor’s house is painted now.

When I visit lately I get to see a more personal change up close – a bookstore has opened in the retail spot that used to be my mom’s.

About a decade ago, my mom ran Welcome Home and Garden in an old blue house on Lee Lane in Covington, Louisiana. The shop had warm wooden floors, a white picket fence, a stained glass window of a dragonfly above the front door and a sealed double-sided brick fireplace. It felt like the best interior design magazine come to life. Creamy, glorious smelling blocks of hand soap from France; vibrant pillows; gorgeous John Robshaw bedding; pretty tableware and cute gifts. My mom has always had great taste, and it was exciting seeing that come to life in such a big, shareable way.

The shop felt dreamy, and made me dream about what life would look like as an adult — what would my future home be like? What things would I fill it with?

Now, a new kind of dreaming is happening in the shop. One built around characters, plot lines and the doors to new worlds that only reading can open.
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What’s All the Fuss About? A Review of Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage

July 11, 2025

You know when a book is really popular, but you read it and you just can’t understand why people rave about it? That was my experience with Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage, the first book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series.

I listened to the audiobook of Done and Dusted, narrated by Stella Hunter and Aaron Shedlock, in a single day. It was a quick, easy listen, clocking in at just about 7 hours. I waited over 6 months for my hold on the audiobook to become available at my local library because of the high demand.

I thought I’d love it — a brother’s-best-friend trope relationship, a Western setting and horseback riding elements? Sign me up. I’d seen this book all over Instagram and TikTok, but after finishing it I don’t understand where the hype is coming from.

My main complaints: show v. tell, underdeveloped characters/character relationships and not a strong enough sense of place given the importance of the setting to the story. Sometimes books can be too long, but in this case I think Done and Dusted was too short to deliver on its premise well.
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