Top 5: Current BookTok Books
Despite being a niche online community, BookTok sure knows their books.
Malaika ArifBe prepared to give up your entire evening to any of these addicting BookTok books. Here are some of my favourite BookTok recommendations:
1. Verity by Colleen Hoover
If I had to describe this book in three words it would be: unpredictable, sinister, and addicting.
Verity is a page-turning, mind bending, psychological thriller that you won’t be able to put down. Each time you expect the story to go in a certain direction, it turns around and does the exact opposite.
The book follows Lowen, a struggling writer, who takes up a job to finish writing the remaining books in a now injured Verity Crawford’s successful series. While researching, Lowen uncovers an unfinished and sinister autobiography.
Hoover delivers an ending that lives up to all the anticipation you will feel while reading each chapter. She eloquently ties in chilling sections of the autobiography with the present timeline leaving you terrified, but yearning for more.
2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This book has been all over BookTok for months, and I can concur that it is deserving of all the hype surrounding it.
It follows an older Hollywood icon doing an interview about her intensely private life. Everyone knows of Evelyn Hugo but no one knows her. Evelyn details every tragedy, love affair, and aching secret she has carried in her life. The book is made even more intriguing by the fact that we never actually see inside Evelyn’s mind.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a riveting and endlessly entertaining novel. It delivers heavy subjects in an easy manner that leaves you satisfied at the end. Evelyn Hugo is probably one of the most complex and interesting characters I have ever read about. I would eagerly read a dozen other books about her elusive and exciting life.
3. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Silent Patient makes sure that readers are kept on their toes the entire time. Right up until Michaelides’s signature psychological twist at the end of the novel.
This story is told through the eyes of two narrators, one occurring in present time and the other years ago. Firstly, brilliant painter Alicia Berenson who has not spoken a word out loud since she shot her husband. Next, we have Theo Faber, a criminal physiotherapist, bordering a slight obsession with the mysterious Alicia.
What makes this book so thrilling is that it gets in your mind and makes you think everyone is suspect. Michaelides vividly shows each character’s personality through the page and draws you in until you are convinced you must get to know them.
The writing is magnetic and ensures that you keep on turning the page to uncover the darkness.
4. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Ali Hazelwood crafted the most fun and laugh out loud book there is on BookTok. The banter between the characters is off the charts and it carries the entire storyline. The Love Hypothesis has all the typical Rom-Com tropes we love: fake dating, yes; grumpy/sunshine, yes.
The protagonist, Olive, a PhD candidate, accidentally kisses a young (known-to-be-mean) professor named Adam Carlson. This leads to a fake-dating charade in which Olive tries to convince her friend she has moved on from her ex-boyfriend. They are probably the most exciting, interesting, and lovable scientists you will ever read about. And want to reread as well.
It’s the perfect light and quick read that left me in a book drought afterwards because I couldn’t find anything half as perfect. If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh in public then you need to read this.
5. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
A story of magic, fairies, and the most brilliant female protagonist. Told through the perspective of Jude, a human in the realm of fae, The Cruel Prince is the first of three books that takes you on an addictive journey that includes death, love, and too many betrayals.
Jude Durant is terrifying, slightly immoral, insecure at times, and consumed with hatred for Prince Cardan. Yet, you can’t help but root for her anyway. This book succeeded in almost every way: the characters were exciting and unique and it didn’t compromise on the plot. I read all three books in three days because I simply had to know what happened.
If you were a fan of Shadow and Bone and other fantastical series then The Cruel Prince should definitely be added to your to-be-read list.
