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Even if reading recreationally has declined in the last 20 years, there is still a large demographic of people who continue to read for fun. There is a subgroup of people on TikTok who discuss their latest reads and influence others to read them — and this is called “BookTok.”
With the rise of BookTok, the books that are being promoted are all just copy-and-paste versions of one another. Since books have started to go viral on social media, authors have been trying to capture the same appeal in their own works, attempting to create a viral book sensation, which is leading to various genres becoming watered down and lacking diversity.
Can BookTok be trusted for original content?
One of the most viral book series that TikTok has seen is Sarah J. Maas’ “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR). The series is about a young human girl who is kidnapped and taken to the faerie realm and forced to live among the faeries in this country. Over the course of five novels, the main character undergoes various trials and tribulations, ultimately becoming entangled in a significant conflict between the two worlds.
Of course, over the course of these books, the female main character has multiple different love interests. The one she ends up with is an ethnically ambiguous, brooding, borderline toxic partner.
This formula of one major conflict being dragged out over one too many books, with a questionable love interest — that many readers end up loving in the end — has been repeated an endless number of times.
The initial book series went viral on social media, causing not only the book but also the author to gain thousands of fans. Other authors looked at this trend and capitalized on it. This one series has caused the fantasy genre to be watered down to books that follow this blueprint practically word for word.
If you look online for books to read after the ACOTAR series, there are hundreds of lists that show up, all of which display the same book series and most of them have the same major plot points.
It is not only ACOTAR that has corrupted the fantasy genre. Author Lauren Roberts wrote a trilogy called “Powerless.” In this series, the female main character is raised in a world where everyone has some sort of supernatural power, well, all except for her, hence the title. In this series, the main character is in a love triangle between two brothers and she also goes through a competition where one person survives in the end.
This book takes the plots of the “Red Queen” series by Victoria Aveyard and “The Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins to form its plot. Some of the scenes in the “Powerless” trilogy are copied word for word from these other novels.
In “Powerless” and “Red Queen,” the main character has a best friend who sews. In these books, this friend is unfortunately a casualty because of the main character’s actions. In both books, the best friend says, “They broke her sewing fingers.” Not only did Aveyard write this line in 2015, but Roberts copied the line and published it eight years later in her own books.
In “The Hunger Games,” both main characters, Katniss and Peeta, discuss their favorite colors and describe them in such detail that it forever impacts the way the characters view one another. In “Powerless,” both main characters have the same exact conversation, with the author hoping that the dialogue will impact readers as much as Collins’ did.
However, this had the opposite effect; readers noticed the similarities and took to social media to dissect. Many found that they started to question Roberts’ creativity and did not read the trilogy. With cases like this, it only proves that the books in the fantasy genre have become way too similar to each other.
Trending romance books on BookTok are often monotonous
It is not only the fantasy genre that is seeing the same tropes over and over again. In romance books, it is well known that there is a list of cliché plot lines for books. This familiarity is one of the reasons readers keep picking up these novels. However, there is a point at which the same plot being repeated gets tiring.
When going to a bookstore and looking at the romance section, you may see an overwhelming amount of hockey romances. These books consist of hockey players falling in love with a woman who came into their lives on a whim.
If you scroll on social media looking for any sort of romance recommendation, there is no doubt that someone will recommend a hockey romance. The problem is, which one are you going to choose — the one about an ice skater and a college athlete, the other one about an ice skater and a college athlete, or the one about a former ice skater and a college athlete?
All of these books follow the same plot, where they meet on the ice, have some sort of drama, fall in love, have a third-act breakup and in the end, get back together. This is just another genre being diluted to the same story.
The solution to BookTok drama is branching out on your own
Social media can be a great resource to find what readers like. Influencers can post what novels they like and encourage others to read their favorite books. People who are looking for new books to read can follow these initial recommendations; however, readers need to branch out.
By taking what you like about a book you recently read, you can find others that have similar aspects. You can even note what you dislike and avoid books that contain these aspects.
Go to the bookstore or library and take the time to read the synopsis on the back and see if the story has what you like. Instead of giving in to social media, avoid being told what you like and take the time to reflect on what you enjoy and read based on that. By conducting your own research, you can also give smaller authors a chance.
All over social media, the same group of authors have their books go viral, but if a reader takes the time to explore a store or library, they can find an author they would have never picked up in the first place.
While social media did great things to make reading semi-popular again, it has caused authors to write the same story over and over again. Books in all genres are becoming copy-and-paste versions of each other and BookTok is to blame.
Ryleigh Beller is an English major at Florida State University and a Staff Writer for the Views section of the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at [email protected].
