Tiktok has become a big part of our lives since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has created communities on any topic you could think of. One of these communities is booktok, where readers recommend books and/or share other book-related videos. While searching for recommendations, I came upon three books of my favorite genres (romance and fantasy) that caught my attention.
The first book I read was The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, which made me swoon the whole time. This romance novel follows a Spanish main character named Catalina Martin, who had gone through a bad breakup three years prior and wasn’t over it yet. She was freaking out because she needed a date for her sister’s wedding, and that’s where her archenemy, Aaron Blackford, comes in, offering to help her. They get into a fake relationship, so her family doesn’t find out that she’s still single, and in exchange, she helps in out, too.
If you are looking for a steamy slow-burn romance novel, this is for you. It’ll get you cringing and laughing out at times. As a Latina, reading a book featuring a female main character similar to me makes me feel represented. The only thing I would have liked was to see more of the wedding itself in the novel as it was such a big deal for Catalina. But overall, this book exceeded my expectations.
The second book was It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, and it broke me for about a week. Growing up with an alcoholic parent who was emotionally abusive, I could relate a lot to this book. There are a lot of trigger warnings, including domestic abuse, mentions of suicide and depression, attempted rape, etc. The story follows Lily Bloom, who had recently graduated college and is about to start her life. She meets Ryle and falls in love with him, but an encounter with her first love, Atlas, causes friction between Lily and Ryle.
This book made me physically sick and I reflected on traumas that were brought up because of it. The second half of the book made me sob in a way I never thought possible. And upon talking about it in therapy, I realized that it helped me let go and healed some wounds from the past. The end is beautiful, and it made the whole reading experience worth it, especially because Colleen Hoover has recently announced that a sequel to this book will be released in October.
The last book I read was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, a fantasy novel that I enjoyed so much that I didn’t want it to end. The story follows a cast of characters who have distinct magical abilities. They’re all part of a mysterious circus (Le Cirque des Rêves), which serves as the venue for a challenge between two powerful magicians, Celia and Marco. Since childhood, both trained for this battle of imagination, will, and balance. What they didn’t expect was to fall in love, leading to dire consequences.
The characters are so well-developed that you can’t help but feel deeply for them, and the writing style is so beautiful that you won’t be able to put the book down. At some point, I wished to be inside the novel to experience the spectacles housed inside the black-and-white striped tents because the descriptions of the performances, the spectators, and the food they sold made me feel like I was there.
After this positive experience, I’ll definitely keep searching for recommendations on booktok. Some people criticize the community, but I think it’s a great place to share your favorite books and find people who also enjoy them. Therefore, maybe I’ll join the booktok community soon with my favorite books. Who knows? I’m just glad that these amazing books lived up to the hype.