Opinion: Has the BookTok Boom Distorted Reading for Generations to Come?

Having been an avid reader for years, my taste in fiction books has changed over time and with my age. With the overconsumption of today’s social media and a rise in BookTok, how has reading been distorted, and will this phenomenon eventually lead us to a decline in reading overall?

If you’re Gen Z and aren’t living under a rock, then you’ve probably heard of ‘BookTok’. A massive subcommunity on TikTok that focuses on books and literature so much that we even now have our own ‘BookTube’ and ‘BookStagram’ pages. It’s so huge that libraries and bookshops have sections dedicated solely to the BookTok craze, and there are ‘BookFluenceres’ who profit and make a living off reading and recommending books to others.

The whole topic is somewhat morally grey because although it has brought thousands of people together to share their love for the hobby, it’s worrying that girls nowadays admire some questionable book characters. I must say that I’m not a book critic or Jane Eyre, and no, I don’t sit in my room pondering over some real fictional classics like ‘Tolstoy’ or ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Reading is no longer as pretentious as it once was, and people should read what they want! But, while I enjoy a fluffy romance, a thriller, and a mystery, my question still stands. Has the quality of reading and writing gone down?

Colleen Hoover is a famous author within the community who has risen to fame over the past few years, and her novel ‘It Ends with Us’ has recently been turned into a film

adaptation.

Having said that, it’s received serious amounts of backlash. The film, too, but also her books as a whole. Why? Because they’re mediocre, and her writing doesn’t do justice to important topics. As an example, ‘It Ends with Us' is a serious novel about domestic violence with sex scenes that I felt were unnecessary, a lack of complexity and depth, and even dumber quotes. Furthermore, the ‘Twisted’ series by Ana Huang promotes abuse, violence, and unrealistic characters who experience trauma and tragedy in their romantic relationships. I’m not saying that unhealthy relationships have never been written about before, but is this what we want to teach the younger generations?

It seems as if, instead of discussing a book based on its plot, character depth or writing style, it’s more like: “I liked this book because I liked it, and you’re not allowed to hate on it because you didn’t like it.” When shouldn’t a book be commented on, and isn’t that what it’s there for? Shouldn’t we analyse and strip them back and critique them based on our perspectives? I think that reading is, to some extent, quite subjective in terms of interpretation and experience, and while the words on the page are fixed, their meaning can vary.

Although it has become popular to hate on authors like Colleen Hoover, criticism is just another form of currency for her and many others. Despite my comments, it’s obvious that their writing is still well-enjoyed.

There are many other sides to BookTok and one that doesn’t particularly sit right with me is the increase in promoting ‘Dark Romance’ fiction. Books like ‘Haunting Adeline’ by H.D. Carlton, about a man stalking the main protagonist and then forcing her into a sexual relationship, or ‘There Are No Saints’ by Sophie Lark, which is a serial killer romance. While I strongly believe that people can write what they want and topics shouldn’t be taboo or judged, it’s the way these kinds of books are portrayed in the media – as romances with pretty covers and little or no trigger warnings. Nowadays, books are advertised based on what trope they are or the amount of sex the main characters have, and really, they’re just cheap copies of each other, and authors practically get away with writing the same thing. You can’t even identify the difference between a Young Adult and an Adult Romance in the bookshop, as they all have the same cartoon covers.

This, along with the focus on tropes such as ‘enemies to lovers’ and ‘fake dating’ and certain unrealistic book plots, also shows that people on BookTok seem to neglect books with substance. For instance, the most popular books read are centred around white, heterosexual relationships, so what are we really promoting here?

Again, there is nothing wrong with finding escapism within certain types of books. I certainly do that, too!

However, the popularisation of certain novels seems to have a negative influence on relationship ideals amongst young women, and certain themes are being glamorised in the wrong way. The BookTok trend has lured thousands of us to the bookshops, even in an era that is experiencing huge declines in print. But reading shouldn’t mislead young girls and leave them with the wrong message. Instead, it should inspire and teach.