In the past, I have done several BookTube Made Me Read It posts. However, it seemed like a huge part of the bookish community has made its way to TikTok, calling itself the BookTok community. For me, it has been interesting to see the shift to BookTok. I have found many popular books and series are making a large reappearance, such as A Court of Thorns and Roses. On the other hand, I have found the adult contemporary romance genre to be a lot bigger on BookTok than Booktube, which seemed to always lean toward young adult fantasy.
However, like with Booktube, I have found myself adding recommendations to my TBR. One problem I usually find though is that the more a book is hyped up for me, the less likely that I am to enjoy it. Overall, on this list, the books that I have picked up based on BookTok recommendations have been average for me. That being said, I don’t think all of this books on the list were necessarily right for me, so I can see why others really like them and would want to recommended them
Any book with a book review will be linked to the book’s title.
Here are my “BookTok Made Me Read It” books:
- Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
I have seen Icebreaker by Hannah Grace pop up on my for you page nearly every day. I have to admit, the cute cover did draw me in. I was apprehensive about this book because it does occur in college, and since I have been out of college for several years, I wasn’t sure that I would be into it. This one is currently a “BookTok made me buy it” rather than read it book, since I am still reading it.
- The Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy
I always see the Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy recommended for sports romance books. Like with Icebreaker, I was apprehensive about this series because it occurs in college. For me, this series was really hit-or-miss and one that I think would have been more enjoyable if I read it when it was published or when I was a little younger. Like with many books in companion series, these books started to become a little repetitive, even when they focused on different tropes, and I found it difficult to push through as the series went on.
- The Wall of Winnipeg by Mariana Zapata
The Wall of Winnipeg is another sports romance which I see recommended a lot on BookTok, This book definitely had a strong start and premise to me. However, it moved a little too slowly that my interest started to wane as the book went on. The Wall of Winnipeg is a very long book and I think it could have been more enjoyable if it was shorter.
- King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair
Scarlett St. Clair is an author that is frequently recommended on BookTok for her fantasy romance series. I tried reading her series A touch of Darkness, which I see recommended the most, but I couldn’t get into the story. When I was reading King of Battle and Blood, I was very into the story. This book is very dramatic, so it keeps readers wanting to move on to the next chapter. However, months later, it isn’t very memorable to me and I don’t know if I can see myself picking up the next book in the series.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Ali Hazelwood’s first book, The Love Hypothesis, so I wasn’t keeping track of any new releases by her. However, on BookTok, I saw people mentioning the release of a few novellas, as well as a a new full length novel. For me, I found the novellas to be average and a bit repetitive. That being said, I did really enjoy Love on the Brain. I was in a huge reading slump in the middle of the year and it was the perfect fun, quick read to get me back into reading.
From Blood and Ash is constantly recommended as a series to fans of Sarah J. Maas. I was looking for a new adult fantasy romance, so I decided to read this series after seeing it recommended so much on BookTok. From Blood and Ash was an average read for me. I was really interested the first half of the novel, but the story started to fall apart for me in the final act where it felt like a completely different book. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the tropes which occurred in the final act as well. As a result, I am not sure if I will continue this series.
What books have you read because of social media?
Beauty and the Bean Boots 
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