The Next Big TikTok Books

As Zajechowski (2023) noted, romance has taken center stage on BookTok, and I’m predicting this compelling romance by Seressia Glass will become a big TikTok book in the new year, as it also promises a gamer storyline, something Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has popularized as well. While Samara Reynolds moonlights as a gamer under an anonymous screen name, by day, she works as a consultant advocating for equal representation in video games, and her work sparks a surprising job opportunity from the game’s company’s CEO.

Ngozi Ukazu’s delightful YA romance merges together the BookTok uptick in hockey romances like Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker and Elle Kennedy’s The Deal with popular queer romance graphic novels like Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series. Former junior figure skating champion Eric Brittle has started his freshman year of college on the hockey team, and his moody team captain may have just caught his eye.

With her Summer I Turned Pretty and To All the Boys book series, Jenny Han has become another iconic BookTok author, and this new YA romance by Brian Wasson promises many of the heartwarming feels found in a Jenny Han book. This story, in particular, gives off some Lara Jean Covey energy from To All the Boys with its focus on friendship, family, love, sweet treats, and faking it ’til you make it. As the son of two famous therapists, candy-selling high school sophomore Kalvin Shmelton may have bitten off more than he can chew when he becomes the school relationship expert in a plot to win over his crush.

One only has to notice the Goodreads Choice Awards adding the Romantasy category this year to know this sub-genre is exploding. With books like Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses getting so much traction on Booktok, I think it’s fair to assume romantasy will continue to grow in 2024. After her bestselling debut, The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood has remained a popular BookTok author, and this popularity, combined with her first romantasy publication coming out in the new year, is sure to make this book big. This story involves the marriage of convenience between the daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman and the leader of a pack of Weres. Here’s me throwing my vote in for a resurgence in vampire romances next year, too.

Speaking of romantasy, mythology retellings melded with romance like The Song of Achilles have grown big on TikTok, so I think this new 2024 queer Greek mythology retelling by Carolina De Robertis will get lots of notice too. When the beautiful Psyche gets left for dead, nonbinary Eros whisks her away to a palace where the pair will soon discover fiery passion and new love.

While Fourth Wing’s popularity on BookTok seems to be contributing to the surge in romantasy fans, I think it’ll also spark an increase in interest in dragon books in general. As a dragon book kid, this makes my heart very happy. I think this new addition to the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini will be another big TikTok book in the new year, especially since TikTok appears to generate interest in books from 10+ years ago. Murtagh is such an endearing and complicated anti-hero from the original Eragon series, and it’ll be fun to see where this new dragon rider’s story takes us.

Books that give you all the feels definitely make for a major TikTok trend, and this heartfelt YA read by Adib Khorram is a backlist title I’d love to see make it big on TikTok in the new year. This story blends together the emotional ups and downs, exploration of mental health, and queer romance of other popular YA TikTok reads like They Both Die At the End and All the Bright Places. Plus, it’s got some cozy foodie vibes like another BookTok favorite, Legends & Lattes, with Darius’s love of tea making. As Darius navigates life with depression, he takes a memorable trip to Iran with his family.

Here’s another book with all the feels that I think will get a TikTok spotlight in 2024. This story also has a screen adaptation in the works with Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning, and Elle Fanning, and book-to-film adaptations often seem to spark a sizable amount of BookTok interest. When Margo gets pregnant in college, she decides to keep the baby and gets creative on how to make ends meet.

I am very much here for books like Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, another popular BookTok book, and this upcoming title by Lisa Ko promises lots of those feels as well. Like Tomorrow, this poignant story intertwines the nostalgia of the 1980s and ’90s eras with themes of complicated friendships and creating art. Plus, it’s got a dystopian slant, as it shows a dark near-future world — which, judging by The Hunger Games’ popularity on BookTok— is sure to make this one generate intrigue, too.

Another genre I predict will keep growing in the new year and cause a ripple effect on TikTok is climate fiction or cli-fi. I’ve been noticing these books on the rise, and I think they will continue to surge to the forefront of people’s minds, especially as dystopian reads like The Hunger Games are still trending. Set in the near future, Ava lives with her girlfriend in the remnants of a Brooklyn ravaged by climate change, where the only hope to survive lies in weather-resistant, city-like structures.