Books on BookTok: Ali Hazelwood leads trending titles
This week BookTok creators highlighted the books currently popular on the platform alongside the titles experiencing a resurgence.
Ali Hazelwood’s Deep End (Little, Brown), her latest romance following elite athletes Scarlett and Lukas, was picked as a trending book by many of the creators. “Any Ali Hazelwood release inevitably comes with an influx of posts and excitement for a few weeks”, said Brittany (@whatbritreads; 57,900 followers). “She seems to push the boat out and do something completely different with each romance book she releases, and I absolutely love that about her books.” Alice (@aliceandherbookshelf; 998 followers) agreed that she is “seeing so much love for Deep End at the moment”, while Sanziana-Dana (@sanzireads; 2,931 followers) said the “love” for Deep End “is currently very strong on my For You Page”. Suraka (@surakajanebooks;16,500 followers) and Alice flagged another romance title, First Time Caller (Pan) by BK Borison, which published today. The novel “has been all over my feed”, said Suraka. “It’s a charming romance that’s going viral, especially with readers who love cosy and heartfelt love stories”.
The latest addition to the Hunger Games series, Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic), by Suzanne Collins is due to be published next month and “many readers are rereading the original trilogy and remembering why we loved it in the first place”, noted Suraka. Lewis (@achilleanshelves; 18,500 followers) is also seeing “a lot of excitement” for the novel and #thehungergames has been used in over 387,000 posts on TikTok at the time of writing. Another series experiencing a resurgence, except with no new books, is Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices, a YA fantasy trilogy which follows a clandestine group called the Shadowhunters. Both Emily (@emilymiahreads; 84,300 followers) and Alice noted the renewed interest around the books. “I’m definitely seeing more content about the Infernal Devices series”, said the latter. The series’ protagonists – Will, Tessa and Jem – “will never not break my heart”.
Other popular backlist titles include two epic fantasy series: Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy and Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. “I’m currently seeing a lot of Brandon Sanderson’s series regain popularity again”, said Brittany, who added that Hobb is also “making the rounds”. Sanderson’s trilogy was released between 2006 and 2008; by contrast the first instalment in Hobb’s Farseer trilogy, The Assassin’s Apprentice (HarperCollins), was published in 1995 and the third and final book in the series was released in 1997. The hashtag – #robinhobb – has received over nine million views on the app.
Rebecca Kuang’s Katabasis (HarperVoyager), scheduled for publication in August 2025, is experiencing a strong headwind as buzz builds on the app. “Even though this one hasn’t come out yet,” Brittany wrote, “a lot of early readers have been creating organic buzz.” She continued: “There is a lot of discourse about the recommended reading you can do before reading the book too, for some reason. People have created some fun reading lists based on the influences Kuang used as inspiration for the novel.”
Shout-outs in romantasy went to Helen Scheurer’s independently published Blood & Steel, the first book in the Legends of Thezmarr series, Julie Soto’s Rose in Chains (HarperCollins), publishing in July 2025, and Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Rebel Witch (HarperCollins), the sequel to The Crimson Moth. Suraka is “so excited” for The Rose Bargain (Electric Monkey) by Sasha Peyton Smith which publishes today. “It’s been described as Bridgerton meets The Selection with fae.” Laura Steven’s Our Infinite Fates (Penguin), publishing on 27th February, was called “romantic, magical, heartbreaking” by Suraka: “A beautiful story.”
Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm (Piatkus), the third romantasy novel in the Empyrean series, continues to be popular on the app. Suraka noted that publication “continu[ed] the hype from the first two books and, now that people have had time to read Onyx Storm, posts are picking up”. Sanziana-Dana agreed that the “hype” remains “very strong”.
