Booktok is Ruining People's Perception of Literature
It was a cold, snowy morning in early November and I had just wandered into Barnes and Noble Bookstore in search of a hot chocolate and a good book. As I scanned the endless shelves, my eyes fell upon the impossible-to-miss sign that read, "As Seen on Booktok." A dozen teenagers swarmed the table, picking up titles such as It Ends with Us, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and A Court of Thorns and Roses -- all books that blew up due to Booktok.
Booktok is a community of people on TikTok that discusses popular books, typically young adult fiction. The trend of discussing people's favorite books on TikTok grew in popularity in 2020, and has only gained traction since. While this is seemingly harmless, problems arise when some of the most famous books featured on Booktok portray abusive relationship dynamics and involve the romanticization of toxic relationships. With the majority of the audience being young and impressionable teenagers, this can lead them to thinking that type of behavior is okay. As well as the issues regarding the thematic content of many of the books, most Booktok books just lack literary depth. Each story follows the same stiff and formulaic plot structure, littered with worn-out cliches that lack originality.
One of the most popular Booktok authors is Colleen Hoover. One of her most popular books is titled It Ends With Us, in which the main character, Lily, grapples with an abusive relationship with a man named Ryle. Throughout the story, Ryle physically abuses her and while the story concludes with Lily leaving him, their relationship has still been romanticized in the media despite the clear toxicity and abuse shown. I have seen many young girls discussing the characters and saying how they sympathize with Ryle's character and find him attractive despite his actions -- something I find disturbing and difficult to overlook.
It Ends with Us isn't the only book of Hoover's that features 'dark' romance and abuse -- in fact, her common theme in writing is sexual assault, abuse and … romance? I do think it's important for books to portray these heavier, more mature topics because many books about these issues are honest and can help sufferers of abuse. However, the problem arises when Hoover portrays these themes as romantic and uses domestic abuse for a shock factor. She also continuously associates abuse and toxicity with romance and love. The Pitt News described It Ends With Us as one of the worst books they have read, saying that it takes "what is a frequent, devastating experience [domestic abuse] and turns it into a soap opera."
Now, I'm not saying every book on Booktok is bad. I have also fallen prey to the trending book conversation, and I read the story Normal People by Sally Rooney solely because I kept hearing about it on social media. Normal People also featured a main character who suffered from physical abuse throughout the story -- but the difference with this story is that it was never treated in a way that romanticized what that character went through.
Normal People was also a well-written book, and, in my opinion, was way more deserving of its popularity than several other books trending on Booktok. Romanticization aside, the most popular books all follow a similar formula of latching onto the trending tropes in the young adult fiction world. It seems as if every single video I see on the topic of Booktok is the same -- the creator is either reviewing a book that followed the 'friends to lovers' trope, the 'enemies to lovers' trope, the 'coworkers to lovers' trope … you get the point. As these types of books continue to generate millions of young fans, the quality and originality of Booktok books continues to decrease. How many times can I read about a 'manic pixie dream girl' falling in love with the 'mysterious bad boy with anger issues'? Enough is enough.
Opinion by Lily Saylor
