An Introduction to Romance BookTok
If you have spent time on TikTok and you’re a fan of reading, you may have already heard of BookTok. BookTok is dedicated to sharing books and the love of reading with a wide audience, and it’s amazing! There are some amazing creators who make incredible recommendation videos to help people find their next favorite book. And, because BookTok has become so huge, there’s never a shortage of great content.
Romance Booktok in particular has become really big over the past few months. The genre has seen a huge boost in interest and sales largely because of BookTok. If you’ve been to a Barnes & Noble recently, you’ve seen a table full of “As seen on BookTok” books. There’s no denying that Tiktok provided the perfect platform for readers to share their favorites and that it is having a vast impact on the industry.
If you’re new to BookTok or even TikTok in general and want to start following some amazing BookTokers, you are in luck! I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a few of the people behind some romance BookTok accounts, and ask them about their experience and content. These are the perfect accounts to start with if you’re looking for an introduction to romance BookTok. Each creator brings so much passion and excitement to their videos, and I rarely am able to scroll past without adding a book they’re talking about to my ever-growing TBR!
What is Romance BookTok?
Romance BookTok is a subset of BookTok, a small corner of the app TikTok. This is where people talk about everything related to books, reading, and other bookish content. Romance BookTok is comprised specifically of books that fall into the romance/erotica genre. The romance community on BookTok is huge! While some creators make videos about many different genres, there’s always plenty of great romantic content waiting for you. A good place to start is by searching #RomanceBookTok on Tiktok.
Who to Follow on Romance BookTok
amanisalahudeen
Amani hosts a quite popular Romance BookTok account as well as on her Instagram (@meetcuteromancebooks). I asked what she loves most about BookTok she said, “I love reading romance books where I feel represented and being a part of Booktok helps me to find more book recommendations.”
It doesn’t take long scrolling through her content to see that Amani cares a lot about the books she discusses. Her recent recommendations include All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (coming March 2022), Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali, and Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.
In addition to the amazing romance book recommendations, Amani posts about her love of Bollywood movies, K-pop, and K-dramas. Amani’s content is fun, engaging, and gives amazing recommendations. If you’re looking for an account that talks about great books and the importance of representation in the genre @amanisalahudeen is a great place to start!
thebookthief28
Her content is full of great books and engaging posts. It’s clear she takes a lot of time with her posts, and genuinely cares about the books she recommends. When I asked what she wanted to say about the experience of romance BookTok, she shared how much romance BookTok taught her about embracing herself as a woman and relationships. “Romance BookTok taught me it was OK to love dark romance and to be myself and that I will be accepted. Sometimes it gets hard on there because not everyone will like you and people might try and put you down but to be loud and proud about romance books has been a pleasure.”
@Thebookthief28 is the perfect account for spicy romance book recommendations, fun trope videos, and great discussion about the genre.
maya.reads
If you are looking for an account that covers the romance genre all the way from middle grade to adult be sure to check out @maya.reads. Maya talked about being apprehensive towards the romance genre until BookTok changed her mind. “”The romance genre has recently become one of my favorites. At first, I thought romance novels couldn’t be as impactful as other genres of books like fantasy and coming of age. However, BookTok’s diverse romance recommendations have shown me that romance is a genre filled with lessons about healthy relationships, consent, boundaries, support, and communication. Diving into the world of romance novels is a plunge I’m glad I took.”
It’s clear that she puts a lot of care into everything she posts, and the result is an absolute delight. Her account features recommendations from many genres as well as criticism and thoughts about the online literary community. Be sure to check out @maya.reads if you’re just getting into the romance genre, and are looking for books that overlap romance and fantasy!
andrearareads
For lovers of both spicy romance, and commentary on academia look no further than @andrearareads! This account covers everything from romance to classics, to writing. Andrea discusses her writing process as she works on her own book, as well as her experience going to grad school to get her master’s in literature. When not posting about writing and academia Andrea reacts to and recommends some incredible books. What I love about her account is that she always such insightful takes on the books she discusses, while still having fun and making jokes. Be sure to follow @andreareareads for great recommendations and videos to make you smile!
lluuuuuuu_
A star amongst romance BookTok is @lluuuuuuu_. Her content is amazing covering a wide range of sub-genres when it comes to romance books! In addition to reviewing and recommending books, Lu pokes fun at a lot of the classic tropes in the genre. Lu’s page is full of everything from spicy books to smut, to more meet cute reads. No matter what sort of books you like in the romance genre Lu has read them! What I love about Lu is that it’s clear she has so much fun when making her videos, and her passion for the genre shines through with every post.
azantreads
@Azantareads is a one-stop shop for those who love both the romance and fantasy genres. I’ve followed Azanta for a long time, and I’ve yet to come across a video of hers I didn’t enjoy. Her account is full of great recommendations and insightful reviews but also is full of clever commentary about what it’s like to be a reader. @Azantareads is the perfect account to follow if you’re looking into #RomanceBookTok and want to get honest and discerning recommendations.
There’s no denying that romance Booktok is a great place to go for all things romance genre. There are so many more great accounts to follow than the ones I’ve listed here, so there’s much more to discover! Make sure to check out these other bookish TikTok accounts for the rest of your reading needs.
