BookTok Hypes Up So Many Books, So I Decided To Read The Most Popular Ones
Hi, I'm Farrah! If you don't already know, I read a lot of books. I basically turn into an overly excited puppy every time someone asks me for a book recommendation. So OF COURSE I am familiar with the bookish side of TikTok, aka BookTok.
It seems that the literary world cannot escape the power that is BookTok. In particular, voracious and passionate readers have spread the word about so many specific titles that it has launched many books onto bestseller lists. There are even sales tables dedicated to BookTok books at bookstores. So I decided that it was my mission — NAY, MY DUTY! — to read these especially hyped titles and tell you my thoughts.
1.First up is The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
My colleague Kirby told me to read Circe, which I really enjoyed. She also warned me that The Song of Achilles was a tearjerker, and she was not wrong.
Even if you don't have TikTok, this cover is pretty recognizable. It was published in 2012 (a decade old this year!) and reimagines The Iliad. The story is not from Achilles' perspective, however, but from Patroclus's POV.
Patroclus (who, in Greek mythology, is the close friend and presumed lover of Achilles) has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia, where he befriends Achilles, a son of a goddess who is destined to become the greatest warrior of his generation.
The two become close, eventually falling in love, but when Helen of Sparta is kidnapped and war begins, emotional tensions rise between Patroclus and Achilles as feelings of heroism and empathy slowly begin to tug them apart.
Here's what I really thought about The Song of Achilles.
2.I read Beach Read a few months prior, so I was really thrilled to read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry next.
It seemed as though everyone hyped up Beach Read when it released, and because I deeply loved that novel, I was so excited to dive into People We Meet on Vacation.
This book is almost an updated take on When Harry Met Sally. Through the narrative, told in both past and present tense, we're introduced to Alex and Poppy. The two friends first meet in college when they discover that, on the outside, they appear to be polar opposites with nothing in common. One road trip changes that, and the two begin to take up traveling together on a budget.
In the present timeline, Alex and Poppy have had a falling out, although Poppy is eager to become part of Alex's life again. She invites him on a work trip that isn't exactly for work, though it could possibly help them reconnect.
And here are my thoughts on People We Meet On Vacation.
Honestly, I loved this one more than Beach Read. The past-and-present timeline, the yearning, the friends-to-lovers aspect, the detailed descriptions of traveling...it made my heart sing with happiness. And that's exactly what I was looking for: a heartwarming book with an ending that could put a smile on my face.
Alex and Poppy are such rich, fully fleshed out characters, with flaws and problems that make them relatable. I specifically identified with Poppy's apathy and feeling stuck career-wise, despite working in her dream role. I think everyone is overwhelmed and overworked right now, and it was extremely relatable to follow her journey as she figures out why she loves working as a travel writer.
The past-and-present timeline made this an extremely compelling read, since you want to find out what happened between Poppy and Alex. This is the type of book that gives you a book hangover. You don't want the story to end because you're having such a fun time living in it! So, once again, I understand the TikTok hype.
3.My first CoHo book was Ugly Love, and because so many people on TikTok talk about It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, I decided to read it next.
I had many people screaming at me in my DMs when I admitted I'd never read a Colleen Hoover novel, and many told me to start with Ugly Love, which I did! Ugly Love is a straight-up smutty love story with tons of passion and emotion, and I really enjoyed it.
It Ends With Us is a contemporary romance with much more emotional depth than Ugly Love. Published in 2016, this book follows a woman named Lily as she starts her own flower shop in Boston. After her father's funeral, she meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, and the two slowly begin to fall in love.
But we also get flashbacks told in the form of Lily writing letters to Ellen DeGeneres (yikes, that did not age well) when she was a teen. Her neighbor Atlas Corrigan (who is 18 and homeless) is living in an abandoned house across the way, and Lily documents their connection to each other as she tries to help him out of his difficult situation.
But then Atlas shows up in Lily's present timeline, right when she's already met the perfect man...
And this is what I thought after I read It Ends With Us.
4.Up next, I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
If you haven't heard the buzz about this book, where have you been?! Netflix recently announced it's turning the novel into a movie. It's a book that's highly, HIGHLY hyped on TikTok.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows a reporter named Monique Grant, who is hand selected by the glamorous, aging, and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo to write an exclusive feature on her life. Monique has no prior connection to Evelyn, leaving her wondering why her? But after each interview, Monique begins to receive more clarity, discovering how her life intersects with Evelyn's in tragic and irreversible ways.
Here are my thoughts on The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
My first TJR novel was Malibu Rising, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I listened to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo via audiobook, which proved to be a good choice.
This is an extremely compelling story. As a reader, you're so curious to understand the connection between Monique and Evelyn and why she chose Monique to tell her story. And then there is Evelyn's story — her rise to Hollywood fame, the sexism and misogyny in the industry, her relationship with fellow actor Celia St. James as well as with her ex-husbands, and the extremely wild ride that is her life. I thought I could predict the ending 10 different times and got it wrong every time. It's emotional and enthralling and extremely well written. It made me immediately pick up Daisy Jones and the Six (which I also loved), so I VERY much get the hype surrounding this one.
5.I admittedly enjoy Adam Silvera's books, and since TikTok cannot stop talking about They Both Die at the End, I knew I had to revisit.
Though this book was published in 2017, the hype machine of TikTok blew it up during the lockdown of 2020, when Silvera noticed a huge bump in sales, which eventually led to the title sitting on the New York Times bestseller list for a year.
The book has both contemporary and futuristic, speculative elements. It follows two teen boys named Mateo and Rufus, each of whom receives calls from the corporation called Death-Cast. Death-Cast is responsible for telling people that this is their last day to live. The boys meet on an app called Last Friend and decide to spend their final hours in each other's company.
And here are my thoughts about They Both Die at the End.
6.I was SO hyped for my next pick because I couldn't escape the chatter about it! With great enthusiasm, I dove into The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab.
Do you ever pick up a popular book and think, What's the big deal about this book? Then you read it and are like, OH. Okay, I get it. I wasn't prepared to like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue as much as I did.
In the narrative, told between multiple time periods, beginning in France of 1714, we're introduced to Addie, who makes an unfortunate deal with the dark and is therefore cursed to walk through life as someone forgotten. Then one day in 2014, she meets a boy who does not forget her as soon as she departs, and she must figure out why.
Here's what I thought about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
7.Another book that's widely talked about is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, so of course I had to check it out.
A Court of Thorns and Roses was published in 2015, but this series has TikTok readers frothing at the mouth. Personally, I don't read a ton of fantasy. Oftentimes, it's hard for me to follow the world building and rules, especially if they aren't presented well, and I don't like feeling as if I have to WORK to enjoy something that should be revealed naturally.
However, I could not escape this book any longer than I already had. It had become a recurring topic of conversation in Slack chats with my colleagues. The size of this novel intimidated me (Goodreads says it's 432 pages), so I decided to give it a try via audiobook.
After she kills a predator in the woods, Feyre's punishment is to live among fairyfolk, away from her struggling family, who she believes will die without her hunting skills to feed them. Her captor is a Fae prince named Tamlin. Tamlin allows Feyre to live independently in his world as along as she obeys certain rules, and as the plot moves forward, we find Feyre on a mission to help Tamlin break his curse.
And this is what I thought about A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Kirby wasn't lying when she stated this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling! Though we enter a magical fairy kingdom, the plot very much feels like Beauty and the Beast. I didn't fully understand why Feyre wanted to return to her family even though they treated her like garbage. The characters and the world of Fae were intriguing, but some parts of it hit a lull for me, especially the end. It dragged on a little too long, for my personal taste. The scalding yearning between Tamlin and Feyre was truly delivered on a silver platter. Lucien was a personal fave of mine, though Amarantha fell a bit flat for me as a villain.
At this point, multiple people have begged me to give A Court of Mist and Fury (Book 2) a chance, so I will! A Court of Thorns and Roses isn't a bad book, by any means, but it also wasn't my favorite fantasy I've ever read.
8.My next pick was another book that is still widely loved: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
Published in 2019, this book was so widely talked about that it was hard to escape. I felt as if I were seeing the cover everywhere, even to this day! So of course I was going to check it out.
The son of the first female president of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz, and son of the royal family in England, Henry, do not like each other. When a photo involving an Alex–Henry altercation drops into the hands of the tabloids, the two young men are forced to fake a friendship to make things right. But what begins as friends quickly turns into something more.
And here are my thoughts on Red, White & Royal Blue.
9.My next pick fell within a genre I don't read too much of, but because so many people seem to love this book, I knew I had to read The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake.
Let me be honest: I didn't think this book was going to be for me. I didn't enjoy The Magicians, and the synopsis was giving me that type of vibe. But because so many people kept raving about it, I figured I would give it a shot.
In a tale told in multiple POVs, we're first introduced to the Alexandrian Society, a secret society of magical academicians who are sworn to protect lost knowledge. Each decade, only six will qualify for initiation, but just five will make it. The mysterious Atlas Blakely reveals that they will have access to the society’s archives and they will be judged on their contributions. The story unfolds through the eyes of Libby Rhodes, Nicolás Ferrer de Varona, Reina Mori, Parisa Kamali, Tristan Caine, and Callum Nova, all of whom possess unique magical abilities.
And here's what I thought about The Atlas Six.
10.Finally, I read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.
I actually had the opportunity to read an early copy of The Love Hypothesis. On a three-hour flight, I gobbled up the first 70% of the book and finished the rest at home.
Our main character is a woman in STEM, Olive, a third-year PhD student. She wants to appease her best friend, Anh, who thinks Olive is seeing someone. In order to make this lie a believable one, Olive kisses the first man she sees to prove it. This man in particular happens to be professor Adam Carlsen. Lucky for her, Adam agrees to fake-date Olive in order to keep up the charade for Anh. That's because Adam wants Stanford Universitiy to think someone's keeping him there, when, in reality, he's looking at other options. But then, of course, real feelings begin to form.
Here are my final thoughts on The Love Hypothesis.
Olive is a funny, smart, and proudly basic (Pumpkin Spice Lattes forever) character who is oftentimes in a silly, goofy mood, which led her to kissing Adam in the first place. The voice throughout this book was SO enjoyable to read, and the back-and-forth banter between a grumpy professor and a sunshine student had me cackling. Throw in steamy sex scenes, yearning, character growth, secret softies, and satisfying endings, and you have a helluva enjoyable ride of a book!
