Besties and the Books Podcast
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@BestiesandtheBooksPodcast
Liz
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@TheRealLifeVeganWife
Ashley
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@AshleyEllix
Email bestiesandthebooks@gmail.com
Episodes
159 episodes
Ep 116 “He does WHAT with his CORN DOG?!” Reacting to AITA & AIO 4th of July Stories
Live from the Barbeque Hotdog Store… It's Tuesday afternoon! Also known as our annual celebration of everything “American” and our Fourth of July 🇺🇸 | Am I the A Hole spoiler free episode! We take it even further this year to expand into...
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Ep 115 “TEARS EVERYWHERE!” Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A Parker | Book Reviews, Recap, Summary
We’re fiiine. Totally fiiine. We hope you're fiiine too! Here’s your reminder to go read The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A Parker. Book two in the Moonfall Series, the follow up to When the Moon Hatched, and what we now know to be...
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Ep 114 *NEW* Psychological Paranormal Horror with CJ Leede and Her Release Headlights | Author Interview
You asked for some horror coverage, and that’s exactly what you’re getting! Today we’re here with CJ Leede, THE Queen of horror, to get to know her, introduce her brand new book Headlights and discuss why horror with feminist themes is s...
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Ep 113 “THAT’S IT, I’M DNFing!” Ruining the Fantasy (books) some more with the Petty Problems! 🐉😝📚
So, here’s the thing… Today we’re bringing you a spoiler free, homework free, judgement free (kinda) episode where we ruin fantasy books for you by being naysayers. We’re bringing light to what we’re calling “Fantasy Probs,” aka those th...
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Ep 112 Liz makes Ashley Return to Oz, was it worth it? | West of Wicked by Nikki St Crowe
Did you see that we got to interview Nikki St. Crowe?! When the Queen of spicy fairytale reimaginings calls, you answer and promptly cover her new book West of Wicked! We thought we’d made it out of the Oz universe alive and *relat...
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Ep 111 Let’s UNRAVEL Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry | Book Reviews, Recap, Summary
Rites of the Starling, Rites of the Starling, Rites of the Starling…if you say it three times, does The Guardian appear? 😂 We jest, because we know this second installment in the Shield of Sparrows series by D...
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Ep 110 *WHAT HAPPENED IN* Shield of Sparrows? Recap Before Reading Rites of the Starling | Review & Summary Deep Dive
So what happened in Shield of Sparrows? Well, we will tell ya! We’re not sure about you, but we know that when we love a book… like five star love… infinity star obsession-level love… we forget absolutely everything that happened. It’s a...
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Ep 109 AM I THE A HOLE? + Bookish Unpopular Opinions & Unhinged Questions w/ Little Blonde Books!
Today’s episode is all spoiler free and fun vibes filled with unpopular opinions, hot takes, and even a bookish AITA! We’re doing our first book influencer interview and collab episode with none other than bestie of the pod: Kat over @li...
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Ep 108 *listen to this* When The Moon Hatched Recap BEFORE Reading Ballad of Falling Dragons!! Deep Dive, Summaries, and Breakdowns
Remember two years ago (almost to the day!) when this new dragon book came onto the Romantasy scene called When The Moon Hatched, we voted for it as a Besties & the Book Club read (going in completely blind), and it took us all by st...
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Little Women Book VS Movies Deep Dive Discussion ( + Christian Bale VS Timothée Chalamet)
Our 2026 Classics Series is coming to a close with today’s very special episode covering not only the 1868 novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, but also the 1994 and 2019 film adaptations. We deep dive, rate and review, and rank them...
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Ep 107 Have you tried DYSTOPIAN ROMANTASY? Why you need to read Above the Ashes + Deep Dive!
Did you read The Hunger Games or Divergent and love it with your whole heart but want more adult romance… or maybe even some fantasy? Do you love dystopian shows like The Walking Dead and Fallout but wish the entire time for those main c...
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Ep 106 Nikki St. Crowe whisks us back to Oz for her West of Wicked book release! | Author Interview
Let's travel back to Oz in this West of Wicked Book! The day we’ve been waiting for since we started this podcast has come… the day when one of our favorite authors of all time’s people pop into OUR inbox to talk with our people (just us...
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Little Women for Dummies! | A Beginner’s Reading Guide to Literary Classics
We read Little Women and we want you to too! Even if after all is said and done we feel the unrelenting urge to store this beloved text in the freezer instead of on the bookshelf. IYKYK… and if you don’t, you will soon. We promise.
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Ep 105 RANKING & WRAP UP Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy Review, Summary, Deep Dive Discussion | Plated Prisoner Book 6
Well, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried; we’ve gasped and screamed and waited with breath that was bated… and now here we are, at book six: Goldfinch, the final installment and official conclusion to the Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy....
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Ep 104 Your New Post Apocalyptic OBSESSION!! Above the Ashes by K M Lister | Author Interview
You’ve heard us scream her praises over and over for the last two years and finally… She's here with a new book and big news to spill! K.M. Lister, the author behind one of our very favorite Romantasy rip-your-heart-out one offs The Shac...
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Pride & Prejudice HOT TAKES, UNPOPULAR OPINIONS, & DEEP DIVE | Literary Classics Series
Crow fam… we need to talk. We read our very first Jane Austen novel ever: Pride & Prejudice, and we may have some unpopular opinions. Will the fandom (and possibly you, our dear listeners) be upset with us? I guess you’ll have to lis...
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Ep 103 Gold by Raven Kennedy Review, Summary, Deep Dive Discussion | Plated Prisoner Book 5
Today we’re taking a deep dive right into book five in The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy: Gold. This is the book in the series where the tone completely changes, our main characters are forced to evolve individually,while “side...
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Pride & Prejudice for Dummies! | A Beginner’s Reading Guide to Literary Classics
Well, we finally read our first Jane Austen Novel… and OF COURSE it had to be Pride and Prejudice! We needed to know what the hype was about, and why this book is such a pivotal piece of the romance canon. What is that hand flex all abou...
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Ep 102 RomantasyCon TIPS + TRICKS for BookCon Attendees and Panel Hosts! | Los Angeles 2026
What’s it like going to a bookcon? What are some tips and tricks we have to make the most of your romantasycon experience? We’ll tell ya! At the beginning of this year we set some podcast goals for 2026 and shared them with you all… and ...
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Ep 101 Glow by Raven Kennedy Review, Summary, Deep Dive Discussion | Plated Prisoner Book 4
Today we’re taking a DEEP dive right into book four in The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy: Glow. What happens after the FMC realizes her power and lets her feminine rage free? And how does our MMC navigate that? This book is all...
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“Wuthering Heights” HOT TAKES & UNPOPULAR OPINIONS ‘The Movie… IS actually THAT deep’
“We can cover Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë in one episode. It’ll be fine.” 😂Yeah, that used to be us. Until we read it… and watched it, and became aware of the insane amount of social issues this story dives into, what people had to...
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Ep 100 OMG!! "LIVE FROM RomantasyCon ITS Slumber Party NIGHT!!!" | Happy 100 Episodes with Games, Giveaways, and Vibes!
Today is for the real MVPs. Just when you thought things over here at Besties and the Books Podcast couldn’t get any weirder… may we present to you our 100th episode filmed from our hotel room at Romantasycon Los Angeles 2026, slumber party sty...
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BOOK VS. MOVIE Wuthering Heights Deep Dive | "Haunt Me Then!" | Literary Classics Series
Famous last words: “We can cover Wuthering Heights in one episode. It’ll be fine.” 😂Yeah, that used to be us. Until we read it… and watched it, and joined the amazingly large and polarizing discussion about it on social media. Then it tu...
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Ep 99 Gleam by Raven Kennedy Review, Summary, Deep Dive Discussion | Plated Prisoner Book 3
Today we’re diving right into book three in The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy: Gleam. This book has one of the most satisfying character arcs we’ve ever read, culminating in an ending we never saw coming. If you enjoy a good fe...
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Ep 98 Ruining Fantasy Books!! aka Petty Things in Fantasy Books that Just Don't Make Sense...
We’re fantasy readers! You can get us to believe anything! Almost… Today we’re unpacking all those things in fantasy and romance books that have us thinking… 🤔what the heck?! Is that even possible? I feel like...
