BookTok – the hashtag community of avid readers on the social media platform TikTok – had another explosive year in 2024. Research reveals that the platform continues to have seismic effects on the industry, influencing an international decline in non-fiction revenue and a rise in fiction sales.
You’ll unlikely encounter many of BookTok’s biggest 2024 books on many other highly-read listicles this year. BookTok’s inherent anarchic quality means books can experience a massive surge in popularity years after their initial publication. While romantasy continues to rule the charts, the list is more genre-agnostic than may be presumed.
Women dominate BookTok and its avid readership, but popular male influencers aren’t unknown. In a sign that the industry is rushing to embrace the community’s explosive growth, stars like Jack Edwards have been invited to participate in influential polls and awards judging panels.
1. Anything by Sarah J Maas
No surprise, the godmother of contemporary romantasy, and BookTok’s favourite cool aunt, Sarah J Maas remained the platform’s favourite author in 2024. The year began with the announcement that Bloomsbury had entered into a new seven-book deal with Maas. In January, she released the third instalment in her Crescent City series, House of Flame and Shadow. The book was popular, but did little to diminish the impact of Maas’ previous series A Court of Thorns and Roses. The series follows a young human girl who falls in love with an immortal Fae lord.
2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The biggest BookTok release of 2023 remained a top favourite in 2024. Yarros took a break from her blockbuster romantasy series in 2024 to release a contemporary romance novel, Variation, just last week. She needn’t have been concerned about loss of momentum: her popular series that began with Fourth Wing remained at the centre of BookTok throughout 2024.
3. Anything by Emily Henry
If dragons and fairy lords aren’t your style, you may find comfort in the work of viral contemporary romance author Emily Henry. In 2024, she released Funny Story, which was quickly embraced by her fans. The book follows Daphne, a children’s librarian, and Miles, whose exes are dating each other. The book was lauded as another success in the adored catalogue of Henry’s works.
4. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Despite not releasing any new work in 2024, Hoover remained an essential part of TikTok. This was partly due to the release of the film adaptation of her first viral hit It Ends With Us, and its controversial publicity tour. Star Blake Lively was criticised for making light of domestic violence and abuse. The controversy sparked a social media firestorm and new relevance for Hoover’s books, which combine genres of romance and psychological thrillers.
5. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The unexpected darling of BookTok, A Little Life is the 2015, 700-page literary fiction novel that follows the lives of four friends. The book was nominated for the Man Booker and National Book Award in its year of release and is widely regarded as an exemplary novel. The emotional intensity of the book has proved the secret to its virality, as BookTok readers film themselves sobbing as they read devastating scenes.
6. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Moshfegh’s 2020 literary fiction novel rose in viral popularity in 2024, thanks to a sub-set of BookTok readers wanting to move against celebrated, heteronormative narratives of other contemporary romance. Seen as one of the best novels of recent years, the book’s narrator convinces her sketchy psychiatrist to over-prescribe her a cocktail of pills that renders her essentially comatose so she can enjoy a year ‘off’. The book’s dark humour and commentary on consumerism and feminism has awarded it a place in the BookTok community for readers who want to stand apart from the crowd.
7. Anything by Riley Sager
Quickly becoming the most influential horror writer of his time, Riley Sager is the pen name for Todd Ritter. Sager released a new novel in 2024 Middle of the Night, which helped the author maintain his position as the platform’s most reliable scare-producer, with readers filming themselves turning the pages on his various thrillers. His latest novel follows Ethan Marsh returning to his childhood neighbourhood to confront a long-ago disappearance.
8. Anything by Brandon Sanderson
For the enormous fantasy BookTok community, reading Brandon Sanderson is all but presumed. Sanderson’s prolific output includes multiple series that vary in tone, but his most celebrated is The Stormlight Archive series. The long-awaited fifth instalment is to be published next week. Sanderson represents a critical case study for 21st century publishing. He made waves in 2022 by breaking from traditional publishing to embrace a hybrid model, where he began crowd-sourcing funding for independent releases. It means he is not just an author, but a publishing juggernaut. He sits at the helm of Dragonsteel Entertainment, and releases weekly podcasts and YouTube videos.
9. Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
Experiencing a similar burst of success to Fifty Shades of Grey over a decade ago, Weaver’s most famous book is sexually explicit and is a dark twist on contemporary romance. The start of a series, this book follows Soane and Rowan’s cross-country annual scavenger hunt. They also happen to be psychopathic serial killers. Expect the hype to grow in coming years as Weaver adds to the series and releases the feature film adaptation.
10. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
The most popular of a sports-themed wave in erotic fiction, Icebreaker follows aspiring Team USA figure skater Anastasia Allen’s aggressively sexy affair with hockey team captain Nate Hawkins. The book has surprisingly affected the romance industry, inspiring a wave of hockey-related content and more steamy, sport-themed releases. You won’t be any smarter after reading Icebreaker, but you’ll join millions of worldwide readers who have enjoyed the book and everything that’s come after.
