by Liv Selman
West Laurens High School

Growing up as a reader, getting book recommendations from my friends was a memorable and fun aspect of my childhood. My friends and I would read a series together and obsess over characters and get excited together over plot twists.  

With the creation of social media and its ability to connect people across the globe, engaging in book recommendations became a larger-than-life fad for a community of mostly women on TikTok. Thus, the term “BookTok” was born.

At first glance, BookTok seems like a wholesome concept. It has really made reading fun and accessible for all people on the internet. However, it has gained a bad reputation from the types of books that it praises and recommends, specifically in the romance genre.  

It is common to find videos of people suggesting poorly-written books only because they are sexually-explicit. Although it is not typically categorized as porn, according to researchers, reading things like this can have similar negative effects on the brain, such as impulsiveness, desensitization to reward, and anxiety and depression.  

The creators that promote these books also fail to realize that they may be unintentionally encouraging younger viewers of their content to pick up these books. This coincides with the cartoon-cover designs that many publishers have chosen for these books that make them appear unassuming and kid-friendly. While these covers may make romance books less embarrassing to read in public(as opposed to a classic cover image of a bare-chested man), they can be misleading to young children on TikTok who are looking to get into reading.

TikTok user @nicolereadsalot said in a video about this subject, “Do not let book covers fool you, some of them look so sweet and innocent, but are filthy.”

BookTok has given the romance genre a bad reputation. Throughout time, certain romance books have been regarded as classics, such as Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With The Wind” and Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights.”  These books are all astounding works of literature that deeply explore the lives of the two romantic leads and the progression of their relationships.  These works represent the epitome of what the genre of romance should represent– an exploration of what it means to be vulnerable and human.  

However, when people on TikTok announce to the world that the romance book they just finished is “very spicy,” it doesn’t paint the romance genre or readers in general in a good light.

The problematic content of BookTok is not limited to literary porn.  Even worse, there is a sub-committee who promote books that romanticize abuse, which they have categorized as “dark romance.”  These books have plots based around female characters being stalked, assaulted, or kidnapped by their love interest.  Obviously, this can be very damaging to real life survivors of these things because it minimizes their experiences and turns them into entertainment.  

So, what can be done to combat the perversion of the romance genre on TikTok?   We cannot control what people choose to post or read, but we can control what books we choose to pick up and which creators we listen to.  One of the most powerful aspects of reading is that it is all about one’s own personal experience– we read what we believe is quality and what we are interested in.  That is the beauty of being a reader– it is all up to you.