BookTok: Saviour of Reading or the Doom of Literature?

If you are a reader and you’ve lived on Planet Earth for any time over the last few years, surely you know about BookTok. Even if you aren’t a social media junkie or a TikTok expert, you’ve heard about how BookTok has made reading cool again and catapulted more than a few authors into successful careers (Colleen Hoover, Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry, Rebecca Yarros, Sarah J Maas). In fact, in some circles BookTok + Covid19 has been credited with saving the entire publishing industry from certain ruin.

Essentially the world’s biggest online book club, BookTok is a virtual place to share a love of reading, to recommend and discuss specific titles and authors, and to get excited about news of upcoming releases. BookTok fans love the sensation of having “a friend” recommend a great read, as well as the entertainment inherent in any visual medium.

“‘You’ve got a real life person on the other end, and people build up a lot of trust in these users,’ said [Caley] Routledge, who said he particularly enjoys ‘aesthetic’ videos, where a user might show off their colourful, meticulously arranged bookshelf, and ‘book tags’, where users answer questions such as, ‘Which book would you love to read again for the first time?’ and then “tag” others on the app to answer too.” ~ The New Statesman

In addition to giving opinions about specific books, BookTok enthusiasts often virtue-signal their love of reading by a specific aesthetic. They buy dead-tree books rather than ebooks because physical books can be put on elaborately arranged bookshelves. They annotate what they read, sometimes with sticky tabs color coordinated to the book’s cover. They never buy one book when they can indulge in a “haul” of many. And, perhaps most baffling to me, they often present books with the spines turned away from the viewer.

While I can understand hiding spines in a video in order to maintain secrecy or suspense, I don’t understand why you’d do so on a bookshelf. WTF?

Side note: I have since learned that some readers shelve books that they have already read with spines in, leaving TBRs with spines facing out. I understand the theory but don’t like the look.

Anyway, there has been much discussion about how the BookTok phenomenon has affected the book industry and whether or not it is a net positive or negative. 

Some have accused BookTok of being focused more on the image-bump one gets for being seen as an avid reader rather than actually being an avid reader. The emphasis on the markers of extensive reading – overflowing bookshelves, book hauls, reading goals based on quantity – seem to indicate this may be the case for at least a few. 

Others bemoan the fact that BookTok emphasizes marketability over artistry (my argument as well). There are complaints about the relationship toxicity in so many of the most popular BookTok titles and how they are negatively affecting teen readers’ perceptions of what makes a healthy relationship. (Note: while I agree with the concerns voiced in the linked article, I do think it makes some outlandish accusations, such as it being self-published or older-generation writers who are pushing toxic books on innocent teens. 70% of TikTok users are under the age of 34, and Colleen Hoover is far from a self-published author these days.)

And then there is the competitiveness and cliques that always come with popularity. 

On the flip side, some would argue that BookTok is a democratic system offering something for everyone. And that there is nothing wrong with promoting your love of reading through the aesthetics you adopt. Really, is it any different than the fan of a sports team buying all the team-branded merch they can get their hands on?

While I am always supportive of anything that encourages people to read more, my issue with BookTok is in how it elevates books and writers who don’t necessarily deserve the hype, especially when there are so many better options. What makes BookTok unique is the relative youth of its creators and consumers and their arguably amateur status as literary critics.   

“BookTok is not dominated by the usual power players in the book world such as authors and publishers but by regular readers, many of them young, who share recommendations and videos of themselves talking about the books they love, sometimes weeping or screaming or tossing a copy across the room.” ~ The New York Times

Perhaps in backlash to the dry, thematic classics they are required to read for academic purposes in high school and college, these readers-for-pleasure are far more focused on presenting the emotional effects a particular story evoked than any actual storytelling merits it might offer.

The most popular videos don’t generally offer information about the book’s author, the writing or even the plot, the way a traditional review does. Instead, readers speak plainly about the emotional journey a book will offer.” ~ The New York Times

Not that these people are not wholly qualified to judge what they love or what brings them joy. Everyone is entitled and encouraged to read what they want to read without any apology at all. It’s when they begin to promote a book based only on this “emotions evoked” parameter as the reason for it being a “great” book that I start to have concerns.

Because given that BookTok posts are algorithmically controlled, as is all social media, variety and differing opinions are given almost zero weight. Popular content creators with high followings drive the discussion, with books and authors that they champion boosted into ever increasing exposure, creating a reverse-death spiral of sorts.    

“Every time I went on TikTok looking for books, it seemed impossible to discover different fiction. It was the same 20 books over and over, reinforcing the idea that if you aren’t reading that Colleen Hoover book (no shade! Haven’t read!), you’re not in the club.” ~ Stephanie Danler, Bustle

When you constantly see the same twenty books or handful of writers appear in your TikTok feed over and over again, it’s easy to believe that EVERYONE loves that book/writer and there must be some legitimate reason for that love. But there is never any discussion of specific reasons why that book/writer deserves the hype they’re receiving. You’re just supposed to agree, and if you don’t love the book/writer or find faults, there must be something wrong with you, or you missed some key component, or you simply didn’t read the book. Dissent is not tolerated, honest debate not welcomed.

And this is where traditional book review sites like this one come into play. Because while there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving a book that makes you feel a certain way, I believe there is still value in examining the actual components of a story when offering a review. I’m not talking about personal preferences determining “good” vs “bad”, but rather evaluating the mechanics of storytelling, such as plot, characters and writing before making a final call on a particular title’s merits.

When I pick up a book that has received rave reviews and a lot of positive hype, there are certain things I expect to find. I expect the writing to be solid and have passed through an editorial process. I expect characters that are realistic and relatable (they don’t have to be likable!) and who make understandable choices given their circumstances. I expect plots to make sense in general, and any worldbuilding to have a consistent internal logic. In the end, I may not like a story for a variety of reasons, but at the very least I expect that I won’t be pulled out of it by process issues.

But too often, this is what I encounter when I read a highly touted BookTok book. Not all the time of course, but in may cases, the writing will be downright bad or in desperate need of deep editing. Or maybe the plots will have massive holes or contradict themselves. Characters will be shallow or stereotypical or TSTL, and tropes will be used only to make a book more marketable rather than as useful tools for good storytelling. When I encounter these poorly written books, I scratch my head in bafflement and am filled with a sense of frustration and disgust that it’s being promoted as “amazing” and “so good” and “the best thing I’ve ever read!”

Personally, I can’t have any feelings about a book that I can’t actually read because the mechanics are so distracting. I suppose I envy those who can overlook problems and focus on the feels. If you are one of those readers, good on you!

But books cost a lot of money, even ebooks, and there is nothing more frustrating than purchasing a much-lauded book only to want to throw it against the wall. So, I’ve made it a goal to read books that are hyped on BookTok to see if I personally think they deserve the praise and to post honest reviews on this site of why I think as I do. I understand that this is 100% subjective, and what sinks my boat may be what floats someone else’s. But as I said before, there is value in seeking out opinions outside the world of BookTok.

And to prove that I’m not here to simply bash BookTok hits, here is a non-exhaustive list of BookTok favs that have gotten (mostly) positive reviews at AAR.

Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan (B+)

Beach Read (B)

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter (A-)

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (A)

Bride by Ali Hazelwood (B+)

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (B+)

Bully by Penelope Douglas (D-)

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (A)

The Deal by Elle Kennedy (B)

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (A-)

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (A-)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarrows (A/D+)

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (A)

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (A)

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (C+)

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (B-)

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey (A-)

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (A-)

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood ( C)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (A)

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry (B+)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (A-)

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (B+)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (A-)

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (B)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (B+)

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (A)

Verity by Colleen Hoover ( C)