I have listened to many episodes of this podcast. I find earlier episodes to be more humorous and balanced. Many of the books they read have positive and negative elements. At some point, it seems the focus became more negative and just to trash the books and the authors. I find more frequently they are talking as if their opinions are facts vs subjective opinions.

This is one of my favorite podcasts, I recommend it all the time. It’s joyful, funny, & a little snarky - which is also how my friends describe my sense of humor, lol. Thanks Kait and Renata for the many years of reading the worst bestsellers so we don’t have to!

Love this show, thank you ladies + Duarte

Highly recommending "If Books Could Kill" to anyone who, like me, was looking for an interesting book analysis pod. This just seems to be a hunt for the most surface-level reactionary takes possible. Their episode on Nora Sakavic's The Foxhole Court is an awful example on that front - actually the one that made me give up trying it! - with just the most blatantly bad-faith readings of content, out-of-context pulls for shock value, and overall shallow analysis. What's most upsetting is that they're not wrong about some points, there is some interesting stuff to unpack and some real criticism to be made, but what's happening here is not criticism; it's clowning and clickbait. No thanks.

I love the content of this pod, and I often find the hosts funny. I’d love to be in their book club! But the mics are often completely blown out, among other audio issues. I assume they don’t check/test levels before recording - if they did even the laziest check they’d notice someone is often way too loud and/or close to the mic, it sounds loud and obnoxious. I’m one of those people with very picky/irritable ears, if I find a voice or speaking style annoying, sometimes I can’t get past it enough to enjoy what I’m listening to. Both hosts drag out the last word to most sentencehhhhhssssss to the most annoying degreeeeeee. Like, do they not hear themselves? They both do it. A LOT. Like *strangely* frequentlyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I can’t. But if you’re luckier to have less irritable ears, and you enjoy a fun discussion of well-known books, this will prob be a great pod for you! Just turn your volume down; their complete lack of audio editing is more tolerable at the lowest volume you can handle.

I happened to find Kait and Renata in the wild (at a book themed inn IYKYK) when I heard them having a conversation in the library. After listening to them chat in real life I wanted to hear more. When I found out about the podcast I listened to my first episode and it was like being in the same room with them listening to them talking about books. I’m in heaven. Smart, funny, and books. The best of all worlds.

There’s definitely a chance that it’s me that’s changed. But I remember finding the show in 2020 and finding the episodes hilarious but now when I turn it on, it feels more mean and bitter. No book is without faults, but it feels like they’re going in trying to hate it as much as possible. But again, it could definitely be me that’s changed. One thing that really drives me insane is that these ladies don’t like romance. They say they do, but they like a particular sub genre. Whenever they read a romance novel, they criticize what a lot of romance novel usually contain. The romance novel you picked up has sex in it, why are you acting like you’re gonna vomit. I think I’m gonna have to move on and find a different book podcast.

I only listen to books I’ve read so I treat this podcast as my own personal book club. I love going through the archives and have listened to all the Twilight episodes. My one issue is the editing: there are ways to adjust the sound so one person isn’t exceptionally louder than the rest. Kait and Renata are rarely at the same volume and the guests are always off. I understand quality won’t always be equal but volume can be normalized in most editing softwares.

I’m obsessed with this podcast for so many reasons. I’d been listening casually to episodes about books I love and it snowballed to listening to the entire back catalogue of episodes. I think the flashback summers are my favorites. I don’t always agree with the opinions but I always appreciate them and feel like Renata and Kate are my own personal book club besties. Thank you ladies for all you do!

Came for the episode about Michelle Remembers thanks to a Reddit suggestion, but immediately scrolled through and saved a ton of interesting sounding episodes as soon as it finished. I enjoy the format and the commentary, and I love book talk/snark! Very happy to have found this!

I like the book reviews, and the ladies have great opinions…but I can’t get past Renata doing her social media vocal fry. Stop it! I have edited my rating because I realized it is Renata who does the valley girl vocal fry. Sorry, Kait! It’s hard to tell podcast hosts apart sometimes. I would also like to pile on to other peoples comments that the main hosts never let the guests speak. I often forget they have a guest in until near the end of the episode.

Through weird listening habits/coincidence I listened to the latest ep (212 The Last Boyfriend, Nora Roberts) which included a lot about Big Pretzel at Inn Boonsboro and then listened to Ep83 Handbook for Mortals and Renata mentioned going to the mall and getting a Big Pretzel and now I just want Big Pretzel ALL THE TIME. Anyway. I love this podcast, it keeps me company and I appreciate the sacrifice that Kait and Renata make for us every other week 🫡

I love this podcast because the conversation between Kait and Renata--and most of their guests, too--is so cozy! I would listen to this podcast no matter what it's about, but I'm glad it's about <checks notes> The Rock and Wolverine.

Came here to listen to women talking about books, and maybe some comedy. Another b o r i n g. wokefest podcast how refreshing. Cops are Bad, White people are bad, we get it everywhere and apparently here too. I’m so over it. Not for me.

This pod has been my background listening at work for the last several months, the episodes are such that they are really nice to listen to over and over again. The back and forth between Kait and Renata is so charming and the Ramona episode is my go to emotional support listening when I need a serotonin boost!!

After I saw this I just stopped listening Because maze runner is THE BEST!

This podcast makes me so happy. I love the friendship and energy between the two hosts and the games / activities they do after describing the book. It makes me laugh that they always choose Steaks n Cakes no matter what 😂 I also love the guests they bring, and appreciate sweet Duarte’s perspective. 5 stars because this podcast really feels like hanging out with two awesome, smart, funny friends, even if you haven’t read the books. Thanks Kait and Renata!! Keep it up!

This podcast single-handedly cured my adult-onset illiteracy.

I adore this podcast and not having to read things that sound terrible but I’m curious about. When they do cover something I’ve read, it’s validating to hear their criticism!

I cannot say enough good things about this podcast. I found it about 4 months ago and started from episode 1. I’m currently toward the end of 2019. I can’t stop binging but also don’t want to catch up! It is such a constant struggle to choose something else to listen to so that I can savor the ability to binge and not reaching the most current episode and needing to wait for new episodes. The hosts are funny and they do well with sticking to their shows format and moving things along.

Renata is incredibly rude to guests and hardly lets them speak. I have yet to listen to an episode where a guest is brought on in a meaningful way.

Love this podcast. Obvious that the hosts care about and respect each other, and are so smart and insightful while also being super fun. If you’re a Gen X and read VC Andrew’s, listen to the My Sweet Audrina episode first and you will fall in love!!!!

TLDR;

I am having a blast hearing about all the books I could never slog through. Thank you ladies.

Love the podcast. It truly makes me laugh out loud every time I listen.

Wonderful premise, laugh out loud funny and just consistently awesome. I can’t recommend this podcast enough!

I love Renata's and Kait's insight and humor. This podcast is hilarious whether or not you've actually read the book they're discussing. Worth the time! Thanks for everything you do Kait and Renata!

I really wanted to love this podcast. I listen to a few other book club pods and love them, especially the ones poking fun at popular books. But it turned into one long eye roll session. In the very first episode I listened to the hosts started pushing Health at every size dogma. Which is a ridiculous claim. It was the Rachel Hollis episode. I cannot stand her fit so many reasons, but most of the hosts’ criticism was centered around her “fat phobia” theorizing that she must not have been with the times and missed the whole fat acceptance thing. I assure you - she didn’t. None of us have missed it. We heard the spiel. It just makes zero sense. You cannot be healthy while morbidly obese. It’s a dangerous claim. Doctors disagree with you! Healthy at every size proponents are just like anti-vaxxers. Seriously, what exactly is the difference??? Both go against tons of research, data and medical consensus. Both have a tiny number of doctors who agree with their nonsense. I did get a good laugh when, while tearing Hollis down for her advice that people take care of their bodies and pay attention to what they eat, the hosts demanded to know what was the science behind her recommendation to drink a certain amount of ounces of water a day… Also, white people using the word “tribe” (as in “find your tribe!”) is now problematic?!?? Give me a break. White people used to live in tribes too (Slavic tribes, my ancestors). What’s with this need to be offended?? Also, telling women to be aware of their surroundings is not victim blaming. Victim blaming would be to tell a woman that assault was her fault because she wasn’t paying enough attention walking through the parking garage. Reminding women real world is dangerous is not problematic because it’s true. There are some bad people out there, always have been, always will be. So good luck fighting against human nature. I’m giving it five stars because I’m sure there is an audience that enjoys it. But it’s not for me. I was exhausted by all the performances of wokeness. Not subjecting myself to that again.

I was listening to your episode recapping and reviewing “The President is Missing”. I was enjoying it until you just had to go there: Instead of describing the admittedly lame plot element that had a non-technical president solving the problem that the “Dark Ages” virus would cause, was because he was a near Luddite, you just had to say it was because he was a Boomer. Newsflash: There are plenty of Boomers who are extremely tech savvy and lots of younger people who are only end users. Way to continue to propagate a stereotype. Being old is the last thing people can still be prejudiced and aggressively disdainful of, seemingly with impunity.

Kait and Renata make me laugh no matter what they’re talking about. Usually they’re talking about books that make me glad I didn’t read them. And sometimes they talk about Matthew McConaughey or Elvira, and make me realize that life still has so much to offer, we all just have to keep livin’.

This might be one of the few podcasts that I get excited about when I see it pop up in my feed so much fun, super chill, I might write a terrible book just to get on this podcast

This is so much fun. I’m so glad I found this podcast. Thank you!!!!

This is my favorite podcast! I started listening to it during lockdown and haven’t stopped. These two are so funny and so knowledgeable about pop culture! Just listened to the Courtney Summers episode and loved it. I love her books! Please have her back for a goosebumps book

I’m so glad I found this podcast. Their insights and humor are hilarious, and I can’t get enough! Currently binge listening. Love the topics and the guests. One of my favorite podcasts already!

I love this podcast! It has gotten me through surgery, long trips, bad breakups, you name it. It’s exactly what I want in a podcast, and I find myself going back to listen to old episodes when I run out of new ones. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I guiltily relish vicious reviews of media, and listening to this crew roast bad books without me even having to read them first is so ideal. They’re funny, have a great rapport, and I also appreciate that they take authors to task for various problematic portrayals when it’s called for. Plus, the audio is v clear, which is kind of a low bar but an often failed one.

I love to listen to them while i sew :)

One of my favorite book podcasts. Renata and Kate are funny and caring hosts, and they have a great selection of guests. No matter the discussion, they are delightful. Even if they never were to discuss books ever again, keep listening for candy recommendations and fanfic tips.

Love this podcast! It’s always entertaining.

I found this podcast doing some research on book podcasts for work (I’m also a Librarian)! I spend most of the fall and winter of the pandemic binging the back catalog of episodes, and god, I love it! Kait and Renata have amazing chemistry, and I love their insights on these books. I even love them crapping on books I loved. P.S. Duarte, I’m a huge fan!

I, too, marvel at the success of some bestsellers - maybe even most - so am so pleased to find a podcast that covers the worst of the top. One star docked because the sibilance is terrible and is an easy fix and makes it hard to listen to with headphones.

Kait and Renata have wonderful chemistry as hosts. Even if I’ve never heard of the book they’re talking about, I know I’ll enjoy their analysis of it. Overall a funny and absorbing podcast.

Thank you guys so much! I love reading and love listening to this podcast!!! Especially when you do books that I like because you always point out things I hadn’t seen before! I always laugh so hard! Would you consider doing Majesty, the sequel to American Royals, by Katherine McGee? I liked that one more than American Royals and would be interested in seeing your take on it! Either way thanks so much!!!

I’m sorry, but a book podcast that can’t summon up one episode of end of year best/worst books? We all loved The Child and sure it was 2020 but what? The moment I couldn’t anymore.

Not too many podcasts talk about Nora Roberts *and* The Babysitters Club Books, but this one does and they are delightful in equal measure. I love the discussions, the dramatic readings, the book recommendations and of course the candy pairings and would absolutely recommend this podcast to anyone who wants a nice in-depth look at “The Worst Bestsellers” - some you’ve probably read and some you might not have ever heard of, either way you’re in for a good time.

This is a new favorite! I just discovered this podcast a few days ago and have listened to a bunch of episodes. Funny and insightful discussions with a great group of hosts and guests! I enjoy episodes even when I haven’t read the book. So happy they have a ton of episodes out since I will be burning through them!

I love that the hosts aren’t afraid to talk about both bad writing and bad representation/effects of some of the best sellers. But they also talk about things that worked in the books and parts that they loved! It’s a good mix of genuine analysis and enthusiasm, as well as dunking on the more ridiculous parts of the books. Very funny! Plus, Duarte’s corner brings an important cat perspective to the show.

Thank you for explaining the rage headache that is Rachel Hollis. Maybe you could revisit either her other book or Dave’s trash book in light of their divorce news? Their divorce just highlights how inauthentic they are as they sold thousands of tickets to their marriage retreats over the past few years.

Glad I found people who hated this book also haha! As someone who is well versed in the body positive community/ IE / HAES etc. I would have liked if you guys delved more into why her body image ideals were so problematic and where they stem from with diet culture. I just kept hearing “yeah that’s bad” after certain parts but really not diving into that more. I know dismantling diet culture and summing it up really quickly is really difficult but maybe have a few quick points you want to hit on it as to why it’s so problematic could be useful and interest people who are not familiar with the world we are in. For instance, I am a first time listener and if I didn’t know about those topics you just grazed over I wouldn’t have understood exactly why these things are bad. Because diet culture is somewhat a “social norm” (unfortunately) I just suggest doing a little more on your end educating others to spread the word of body love especially in an episode like this! So I am giving this 3 stars because I found it relatable and far as opinions go but it was kind of all over the place and the discussion seemed relatively surface level on more than just the body positively subject.

This podcast is truly delightful! The way that Kait and Renata are able to discuss truly awful books while acknowledging the nuggets of light is what I need right now. My favorite episodes though are those where they talk about books they liked- especially when it was unexpected.