8 TV Shows I Would Read as Books

There are so many books being adapted into TV shows these days, I can’t keep up. But I try, as I love the experience of seeing a story and its characters brought to life. Or, the opposite, seeing the live action and then wanting the source material. Just recently, I got sucked into the Bridgerton hype (usually not my thing, but they got me with Season 3’s friends-to-lovers trope 😅), and after that carriage scene, reading the book was an absolute must.

It was a relief to have something to turn to while waiting for Part 2 of the season, and it got me thinking. About all the content I loved that I couldn’t get the same relief with. Here are some of the shows that don’t have books to turn to, but totally should. And I’m not talking about companion books, because I know those exist — I’m talking about fully fleshed out books that would actually cover the whole show.

1. Young Royals

Plot: The prince of Sweden enters a prestigious boarding school, and in the sea of rich, stuck-up students, he meets and falls in love with a lower class boy, challenging everything he’s ever known.

I 👏 love 👏 this 👏 show. So much, I can’t even tell you. On paper, the story sounds pretty basic, but it is incredibly layered and nuanced. With complicated characters, complicated relationships, that all feel very human. It’s the perfect teen drama beautifully packaged into three short but sweet seasons. I rewatch it all the time (especially since the series ended), and it kills me that there isn’t also a Young Royals book series I can reach for.

2. 18 Again

Plot: A 37-year-old man is going through a painful divorce, when some magical force sends him back into his 18-year-old body, giving him the opportunity to discover what’s really important in his life.

I was obsessed with the 2009 film 17 Again (partly because, um, ✨Zac Efron✨ but mostly because of the premise), so it was only natural I latch onto the Korean drama remake. The original story is fun and full of heart, and the K-drama somehow made it even more. With all the new characters and themes it introduced, I couldn’t help but think how great it’d be laid out in a novel.

3. I Hear Your Voice

Plot: After witnessing the traumatic murder of his father, a young boy develops the ability to read minds. Years later, he reunites with the girl who helped put the murderer behind bars, and he helps her solve legal cases with his power.

If you know this K-drama screenwriter, you know how special her stories are. IHYV is definitely my favorite, and the one that will always have me giggling and kicking my feet at how cute the romance is. On top of being cute, the drama is also funny, thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and downright thrilling. Since it’s an episodic case-of-the-day type drama, I could see it being split up into several books.

4. Teen Wolf

Plot: A high schooler is introduced to the supernatural world after he’s bitten by a werewolf and becomes one himself. And a lot of crazy what-the-fuckery ensues.

Oookay, this show is bonkers. But it’s like it knows it’s bonkers, which makes it a good time. I especially enjoyed the bromance with the MC and his best friend and would love to see that on the page. That and all the wild shenanigans they get themselves into. I can see it being a guilty pleasure YA series like Twilight or The Mortal Instruments.

5. Alchemy of Souls

Plot: In the fictional world of Daeho, an assassin experiences a spell called the “Alchemy of Souls” and accidentally switches bodies with a weak blind woman. She encounters a nobleman who agrees to keep her identity a secret if she trains him to become a warrior.

In this case, I need books based on the story because I wanted to love the K-drama more than I did. Which was disappointing, as it has all the right ingredients. But it’s a little too much lore for me to digest, similarly to how Star Wars is too much for me. As an epic fantasy book series, with more room to breathe, though? I think I would come around.

6. Lost

Plot: A plane crashes onto a deserted island, and the survivors soon discover that there’s more to this place than meets the eye. (There’s obviously more to it, but yeah *dismissively waves hand* iykyk.)

Like Alchemy of Souls, Lost is one of those shows that is rich with a unique world and rules that can be hard to follow. The whole point of Lost, and what made it fun, is how cryptic everything is and how you have to slowly piece it all together. Of course, being a long running show over the course of six years, it had its fair share of frustrating storylines and plotholes. I’m sure if this was a book series, it’d face the same problems, but hell, I’d still have a blast reading it.

7. Twenty Five Twenty One

Plot: In the late ’90s, the IMF crisis ruins the lives of two people — a girl whose fencing team is disbanded and a boy whose family goes broke. They find solace in each other and continue to cheer each on throughout the years as they fight for their dreams.

I have a lot of opinions on this show, which I won’t go into because, ya know, spoilers. (If you don’t mind getting spoiled, I wrote a lengthy rant about it here.) But let’s just say I was ready to call this my favorite K-drama of all time until the last two episodes. I’ve come to accept that the ending is er, fine, but some factors like editing and acting didn’t make it work. So, perhaps, in a different medium, the execution would be more satisfying.

8. Kyle XY

Plot: A young man with no memory (and no belly button) is found wandering around and is taken in by a loving family. Over time, he learns what it means to be human while also learning about his mysterious past and superhero-like abilities.

Not much to say here, except WHY WOULD THEY CANCEL THIS SHOW??? You can’t give us an addicting sci-fi series only to cancel it ON A FREAKING CLIFFHANGER! I’ve seen interviews of the creators talking about what would’ve happened, had they had another season, but it just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more then, and now, fifteen years later, I still want more.

*sigh* I guess there’s always fanfiction?