Ever since I learned how to read books have been some of my favorite things in the world. But as I got busy with school and because of social media, reading became something I could not do as often. However, thanks to the very addictive Tik Tok, I started reading a lot again. There is a side of Tik Tok called “Booktok”, where different creators give book recommendations and talk about books they read. By watching multiple Booktoks I found out that there are some books that are very popular in the community and some of them I had already read. So here is my list of 4 Booktok books I read and where I will tell you whether they are worth the hype or not.
- Shadow and Bone
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Shadow and Bone is the book out of the four that I have read most recently. I read it in March because I wanted to read the book before the Netflix show came out and I was pleasantly surprised. The story had a fantasy universe different from the ones I read before. The story is based in Ravka, a fictional country that is separated by a dark mist called “The Fold”. The Fold is populated by blood-thirsty creatures called the Volcras and because of them, crossing the fold is difficult. Alina Starkov is a mapmaker who is going to cross the fold for the first time, and as she is crossing the Fold, she and the people she is crossing with get attacked. When she sees a best friend in danger, she displays a talent that no one knew she had. Thanks to her talent her life will completely change, and she will become someone different, someone, special.
Shadow and Bone is a great book, like I said the universe the author created is amazing and the story has a plot twist that made me go crazy. I heavily recommend
- Shatter Me
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Shatter Me tells the story of Juliette, a 17-year-old girl whose touch can paralyze and kill living organisms. At the beginning of the book, she is in an asylum because she killed someone by mistake. She is taken by the Reestablishment a government that controls the world. They want to use her as a weapon to torture prisoners when they are interrogated.
Shatter Me was a great surprise for me, I did not know what to expect when I started the book, but I loved it. I read it back in 2014 or 2015 and I just recently bought the sequel I cannot wait to read the whole series.
- The Selection
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The Selection takes place in a dystopian world where everyone is divided by castes (which there are 8 of). The main character, America Singer, is a 5, the caste of the artists. The prince, Maxon, of Illéa (where the story takes place) announces that just like his father he will hold a competition for the prince’s hand in marriage and the crown, the Selection. America enters the Selection after being bribed by her mother and she starts competing with 34 other girls for the heart of the prince.
The main reason why I wanted to read the book was that it had a royal setting and I love those and was a little bit like a Cinderella story. The book is very interesting the best of the entire series in my point of view.
- Anna And the French Kiss
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My personal favorite from this list. It tells the story of Anna, a high school senior, who is forced to attend a boarding school in Paris, France. There she becomes friends with her roommate, Meredith, and her group of friends Rashmi, Josh, and Etienne St. Clair. Anna starts to develop a crush on the very popular Etienne who has a girlfriend. I won’t say more if you are curious, read the book. I really recommend this book it’s one of my favorite books I have ever read, I even read it twice. The story is amazing it takes you to another world sometimes the characters can be REALLY frustrating but it’s worth it.
There are so many more books that are recommended on tik tok but I haven’t read them yet, I bought a few of them so hopefully, I can write a follow-up article where I give my opinion on the books.