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Some of the best-selling books of the last few years have successfully transformed into record-breaking and award-winning TV shows and films. This year, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet quickly established itself as an Academy Award contender, while Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry has been a phenomenal hit, instantly launching the careers of its stars, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.
But what are the most popular recent book-to-screen adaptations? Experts at McLuck compared the original book’s GoodReads rating with the screen adaptation’s IMDB rating to analyse which TV shows and films have been most successful. The results probably won’t be too surprising to those who either fell in love with the original material or found themselves gripped to the screen. From We Were Liars to Frankenstein, to The Thursday Murder Club, these are the most popular book adaptions according to their research.
Most popular book to screen adaptations
While there have been countless adaptations of classic literature, the methodology focused on the on-screen adaptations of the last couple of years, creating a seed list from articles and data found in culture publication Variety, publishing house Penguin, and film rating site IMDB. The researchers then cross-referenced the IMDb and GoodReads reviews to create a score out of ten. Here’s what the data found:
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Top 10 books adapted for TV and film
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Book |
Author |
GoodReads Score /5 |
IMDB Score /5 |
% Between review scores |
|
1 |
Heated Rivalry |
Rachel Reid |
4.31 |
8.9 |
-3.1% |
|
2 |
Frankenstein |
Mary Shelly |
3.91 |
7.5 |
4.3% |
|
3 |
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West |
Gregory Maguire |
3.51 |
6.7 |
4.8% |
|
4 |
Hamnet |
Maggie O’Farrell |
4.2 |
8 |
5.0% |
|
5 |
We Were Liars |
E. Lockhart |
3.65 |
6.8 |
7.4% |
|
6 |
Shy |
Max Porter |
3.57 |
6.4 |
11.6% |
|
7 |
Die, My Love |
Ariana Harwicz |
3.43 |
6.1 |
12.5% |
|
8 |
The Map That Leads to You |
Joseph Monninger |
3.56 |
6.2 |
14.8% |
|
9 |
People We Meet on Vacation |
Emily Henry |
3.85 |
6.7 |
14.9% |
|
10 |
The Thursday Murder Club |
Richard Osman |
3.86 |
6.5 |
18.8% |
Read the books behind the shows and films
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
This hockey romance has seen a huge surge in sales following the success of the HBO show.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley’s classic was adapted for Netflix in 2025, directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Jacob Elordi.
Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
This is the global bestselling story behind the musical phenomenon, most recently adapted into major movies starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
The film adaptation of of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley is currently winning big during awards season.
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
Almost a decade after its release, E. Lockhart’s YA thriller We Were Liars became one of the biggest TV series of 2025.
Max Porter’s bestselling novel quickly became a Netflix film adaptation, retitled Steve and starring Cillian Murphy.
Die, My Love, by Ariana Harwicz
Ariana Harwicz’s ‘brutal’ depiction of a motherhood and womanhood is now a major motion picture starring Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence.
The Map That Leads to You, J. P. Monninger
This popular romance was turned into a film for Amazon Prime last year, with Madelyn Cline and KJ Apa at the helm.
People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry
The recent Netflix film starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth brought new fans to Emily Henry’s popular romance.
The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
Richard Osman’s record-breaking debut was adapted for Netflix, starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie and Ben Kingsley.
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