The best SFF books BookTok made me read

polygon.com:

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