BookTok has lost the plot
Illustration by Layla Hajigurban.
Lauren Prattis, Audience Editor
I am a big believer in the idea that one can never have too many books, so I am always on the lookout for recommendations — and like most people my age, I frequently turn to TikTok to find a community with my shared interest.
BookTok is a TikTok sub-community in which people share their love of books, reading, silly videos and character fan art. It gained popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was isolated and trying to connect through niche online communities.
“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover is one of the first books that gained commercial success thanks to TikTok. It features both sexual and domestic violence and shallow portrayals of other types of abuse.
Now, this isn’t a book review, so I’ll keep my thoughts to myself. My issue with this is more related to how the internet handles books with sensitive topics such as this one. They take these traumatic life experiences and romanticize them, making them seem like the pinnacle of a healthy relationship.
Time after time, the algorithm favors books that share similarly disturbing plots. BookTok frequently pushes stories centered around the main character — usually a young white woman — experiencing some sort of trauma.
Popular BookTok novels have the same formula: A girl falls in love with a man who is significantly older than her, he then goes on to emotionally or physically abuse her, but it is all “in the name of love.”
There is a sub-genre of novels with a lot of online popularity called “mafia romances.” I find these books particularly disturbing. They showcase extreme violent crimes — kidnapping and murder — and leave readers misconstruing these as acts of love.
Some readers have become completely desensitized to this, going so far as to leave bad reviews on books that are “not violent enough.”
This is an extremely harmful way of promoting a book, especially to a younger reader who could very easily get the wrong idea about what a healthy relationship is.
While it is OK to reimagine a book cover or take creative liberty in recreating what you think a book character looks like, sometimes BookTok artists can take it too far.
I have seen countless negative reimaginings of characters’ appearances stray further and further from their original descriptions.
Most of the time, a female protagonist’s physical appearance is altered, making her appear smaller or with a lighter skin tone than she is written to have.
The books pushed on this platform rarely feature people of color, people with disabilities or those in the LGBTQ+ community. From the characters to the authors, there is not nearly as much diversity as there should be.
Because the books highlighting violence and abuse are at the forefront of readers’ minds, the stories of lesser-known characters or authors remain unknown or on the back burner.
It is OK for people to get online recommendations for their next read, but I would also encourage people to be cautious of what opinions they let dictate their decisions.
When I go to a bookstore, I love discovering hidden gems and getting lost in that cozy atmosphere. I would rather have a conversation with a bookstore employee to find out what I like instead of solely getting recommendations from algorithm-based suggestions.
Instead of scrolling for hours, maybe go to a secondhand bookstore and wander around the shelves — who knows what you’ll find.
