Since its rise to popularity, TikTok has been the basis of countless trends, content creation and overall cultural movements. Recently, there has been a revival of the written word on the social media platform. What was once an underground or dying industry, has become a trending community.

The trend is lovingly known by its followers as “booktok.” As a sub-section of the endless content filtered through the platform, it consists of authors, reviewers, overall book lovers and creators.

A new generation of readers has sprouted from the books featured across the signature “foryou” page. And with them comes a new set of best-sellers and talked-about books. Causing a trade-in of the more traditional classics with a younger, more inclusive set of novels, poetry and self-love readings.

Today we are going to look at a few of the most popular and highly recommended booktok books and authors that continuously grace the average bookworm’s foryou page.

Colleen Hoover Books

As one of the leading ladies of “booktok” authors, Colleen Hoover is set to come across your recommended videos at least once. With titles ranging from “It Ends With Us” and “Verity”, Hoover covers everything from domestic abuse issues to grief and murder. Although she attempts to highlight and bring awareness to these sensitive societal issues, her books remain based in the romance-genre.

I truly did want to love these books as much as everyone else, but I couldn’t really get into them. It wasn’t that they were necessarily unenjoyable, they just weren’t anything different or special to me. They felt similar to every other dramatic rom-com. Despite my personal opinion, they are a great way to get back into reading if it’s been awhile, as long as you are comfortable with the subject material and trigger warnings.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I didn’t really expect to like this book as much as I did, but it proved to be one of my favorite TikTok recommendations so far. The story is from a struggling journalist’s perspective and involves the enigma of an old Hollywood actress and her seven husbands. It is an interview-style story with the book focusing on a journalist getting the interview of a lifetime and a cultural icon discussing her dark past.

I didn’t really expect to like this book as much as I did, but it proved to be one of my favorite TikTok recommendations so far. The story held enough mystery, intrigue and emotional turmoil to keep me invested from start to finish.

Sarah J. Maas Books

The “Throne of Glass” and “Court of Thorns and Roses” series are responsible for the reboot in modern YA fantasy. Maas takes the traditional fantasy genre and combines it with strong female characters and romance. All the books take place in the same world, making them genre in themselves.

While other YA fantasy authors have achieved this same type of fantasy modernism, Maas’s books standout due to their popularity and fan-base from booktok. From these books, trends such as the love for the morally-gray character and the enemies-to-lovers trope, are beginning to spread like wildfire. I personally enjoyed them and definitely consider them a great introduction to modern fantasy reading.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

“The Midnight Library” is one of those books that displays a sort of magical realism that can be almost difficult to adjust to. The plot follows Nora, who enters a sort of limbo after she tries to take her own life. This limbo is actually a library where she can read “books” of all the lives she could have lived if she had made different choices along the way.

This book can be uncomfortable, heart wrenching and endearing all at the same time. It really makes you think about life and the choices we make in it. Unlike some over trending books, this one feels like both the story and its lesson will stand the test of time.

As smaller authors and self-published books begin to rise in popularity from the video-sharing app, so do the debates of what is actually worthy of literary merit.

At the end of the day, what’s most important is that you are supporting authors that inspire and reading what you enjoy.