Have you ever walked around a bookstore and seen displays that market books as #Booktok sensations? All of those books are either fantasy, romance or a blend, and they tend to follow the same basic plot.

BookTok is a popular community on TikTok where millions of readers from all over the world discuss popular books and series. “#Booktok” has received around 108 billion views, and has 52 million videos. The trend emerged in 2019 and became very popular during quarantine. With many trending books becoming New York Times bestsellers, #BookTok has become a large part of reading culture. While the platform can be a place where readers find communities of people with interests to theirs, it has also caused a decrease in book quality and diversity.

I have read many BookTok books, but the more I read, the more they blend together. BookTok has many popular tropes that readers tend to enjoy, but are overused in an attempt to go viral. Romance and fantasy authors market their books as enemies to lovers, fake dating and forced proximity tropes that have lots of potential but oftentimes fall short and lack depth. Authors know that they can sell copies if they use these trending tropes, so authors fall short in developing books with unique conflicts and thought-provoking themes.

Most books that include these tropes feel like they are following a formula, where the love interests usually hate each other, but then a factor forces them to spend time together. They will start dating for a couple chapters, then break up at the end just to get back together a few pages later. It becomes tiresome when there is no creativity and little to no plot to the book. 

One prime example of this is the popular fantasy trilogy, “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts. This series feels so bland and reused that it feels like nothing happens for three books. The main plot is overshadowed by the romance, which was marketed as a subplot, and it is just a lot of familiar situations thrown together into a novel. This book has even been accused of allegedly plagiarizing another popular fantasy series, “Red Queen,” due to their immense similarities in plot and characters. Both “Red Queen” and “Powerless” were immensely successful, highlighting how BookTok popularized books with similar plots.

Another main problem is that BookTok authors seem to value quantity over quality. Authors used to put out one good quality and well thought out book every year, or a couple of years. Now it seems like authors release multiple mediocre books every couple of months. One case of this is romance author Ali Hazelwood. She released six books in 2025, though none of them received as much love as her New York Time Bestseller “The Love Hypothesis,” which was the only book she released in 2021. It felt as if the quality of her books had gone down as the number of releases had gone up. Some authors can put out multiple best-selling books in one year, though when a lot of authors do this it overwhelms readers, texts lack substance and feels like a money-grab. Even many social media creators who began posting to share their love of reading have converted to sharing videos for the profit and not enjoyment. This can make the platform feel artificial.

Book trends are a lot like fast fashion, in a way. The amount of books being released each year is increasing, but the quality is continuing to decrease. According to Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 4.2 million books were published in 2025, which is 15 times greater than the amount of books released 20 years prior in 2005. While this may seem like a great thing for both authors and readers, the lower overall writing quality can discourage people from reading, and leads to authors receiving a lot of hate online.

It is important to note that BookTok isn’t all bad, it can be a place where readers find community with people that have similar interests and share the same love of reading. The platform has also encouraged many people to pick up reading as a hobby. The videos can be especially helpful for those who want to get into reading but are not quite sure where to start. I have found it useful to scroll through when looking for my next read, or trying to connect with the book I am currently reading. However, looking at the big picture, the quality of the BookTok books has decreased as the popularity of BookTok has increased.

Not all BookTok books are bad, and I personally have also found a lot of my favorite books through BookTok. Some recommendations include “The Nightingale” by Kristen Hannah, “Beartown” by Fredrick Backman and “The Naturals” series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. 

Although BookTok is a great place to start your reading journey, it is not the only one. Platforms like GoodReads and Fable are great options to find new books and connect with others. 

Reading is completely based on opinions and interests.  So, move beyond BookTok where opinions and interests are surprisingly similar, and branch out to discover what you truly love.