BookTok can fixate on certain books, but following a range of BookTokers has supplied great SFF recommendations like Babel, Fourth Wing, Piranesi, and the Earthsea Cycle.
BookTok can be incredibly polarizing, though its impact on book publishing is indisputable. It’s also a great place to find science fiction and fantasy recommendations — if you know how to look past the big name titles that inundate the platform.
Over the past few years, BookTokers have built massive audiences by sharing their favorites from a particular genre, showing off gorgeously overflowing book shelves, or sharing reading strategies — like using color coded sticky notes to annotate and track favorite scenes. In particular, BookTok has popularized a style of video review where readers declare love and obsession over an emotionally evocative book and its characters, or a book with a high level of “spice” (BookTok’s way of indicating how smutty a book is.)
Thus, the books that have become overwhelmingly popular on TikTok are those that provoke an intense, emotional response. Perhaps no author has benefited more from this than Colleen Hoover, the author who outsold the Bible last year. Fantasy romance has also found a loyal audience in BookTokers, who have glommed onto the adventure and spice found within their pages. TikTok is also one of the few platforms to have demonstrably increased book sales, to such an extent that a lot of bookstores — including major chains like Barnes & Noble — now have a “BookTok” table or featured area.
BookTok has courted both ire from critics who push back against the kinds of books that tend to become popular with the audience — and the type of drama that tends to blow up on the platform. At the same time, BookTok has made the act of gushing about books more accessible, and become a kind of fan hub for books. Whether you only get an echo chamber of the same best-sellers or find creators who shout out truly hidden gems ultimately comes down to who you follow. The platform has introduced me to science fiction and fantasy books I hadn’t heard of, compelled me to dig into a book that I’d been putting off reading for a while, and given me a small community to gush over a book with.
But it’s a lot of work to wade through the many creators and videos. And so I wanted to share my favorite SFF books that BookTokers ultimately led me to or kept me in the loop about — ranging from science fiction novellas to literary fantasy to spicy romantic fantasies to genuine classics that I’d long let molder on my to read lists. The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
A number of BookTokers compared this underrated book to Alien, a film that I’ve always been way too scared to watch. But I love horror in written form — somehow what my brain creates is more tolerable than physical images — and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The Scourge Between Stars blends science fiction and horror in a classic alien suspense style story. It follows a space crew, helmed by Jacklyn Albright (nicknamed Jack) heading back to Earth after a failed colony mission.
It’s a quick read — both slim and fast-paced — and hits all the notes that you’d want if you’re in the mood for a monster-in-the-house kind of time. While it reads more like a thriller, it explores science fiction concepts like spacefaring, intergenerational trauma, scarcity, and what it means to survive a failed mission in space. Some of these core questions could use a little more unpacking — but for a debut, it’s pretty impressive. Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
The best-seller was already on my to-read list, as author R.F. Kuang had established her reputation as a fantasy powerhouse after publishing the Poppy War trilogy. However, I bumped the book to the top of my stack as it gained visibility through BookTok drama — specifically from an early reviewer saying that she rated the book “0 stars” as a result of feeling attacked as a white woman. Like other BookTokers, my curiosity was piqued.
The book is excellent, and one of Polygon’s best of 2022. From our blurb: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
I hadn’t read YA fantasy in a number of years — I don’t have anything against the genre, and used to really love it.
