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Books on BookTok: Jackson’s Five Survive set to be a potential Christmas hit
The Bookseller talks to leading BookTokkers about books currently trending on BookTok.
Alice can be found on TikTok under her handle @bookswithalice. She joined BookTok after moving to London and “feel[ing] like a small fish in a big pond” and uses her channel to connect with “like-minded people”, share reviews and have “much-needed escapism from real life”.
The best part of BookTok, Alice explained, is that “there is something from any genre at any time”. Brittany, who joined TikTok in 2020 under the handle @whatbritreads, concurred: “I can never predict it. The books that have gone viral have been from such an array of genres and it just goes to show how versatile BookTok is.”
However, Brittany added that “genres like fantasy and romance will always remain a favourite on TikTok as they tend to be very immersive, character-driven, emotional reads”. Emily, who boasts 61,000 followers on her account @emilymiahreads, agreed noting that “new fantasy books, with a good romance, normally become popular”. In these genres, Alice identified perennial favourites such as Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Paradox (Pan Macmillan), R F Kuang’s Babel (HarperVoyager) and Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon a Broken Heart series (Hodder & Stoughton). Of the latter, Alice said: “Such a light and magical read.”
Buzz is already being generated around Five Survive (Electric Monkey) by Holly Jackson, which was picked as The Bookseller’s children’s December Book of the Month by previewer Charlotte Eyre. Eyre praised the novel as an “exhilaratingly claustrophobic mystery, packed full of gasp-inducing twists and plot reveals”. Brittany said: “With the success of [Jackson’s] A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder on TikTok, I think a lot of people will be adding Five Survive to their Christmas wishlists.”
Jennifer Saint’s Ancient Greek retelling of the huntress Atalanta, due to be published in spring 2023 by Headline, and Holly Black’s January 2023 title The Stolen Heir “are [also] stirring quite a lot of interest,” said Brittany.
Books trending this week include three fantasy titles: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (HarperCollins) by Juno Dawson, Belladonna (Hodder & Stoughton) by Adalyn Grace and Tracy Deonn’s Bloodmarked (Simon & Schuster) – the latter “still has fantastic momentum”, noted Brittany. Emily added that “anything” by Lauren Asher or Ana Huang is also doing well.
Travis Baldree’s Legend & Lattes (Tor) is still trending, wrote Emily. The latest hardback edition has sold 4,224 copies in its first two weeks on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan. “I feel like romance is slowly fizzling out for the year as fantasy makes a resurgence. I’m also seeing a sprinkle of crime and thriller books, to fit in the atmosphere of the darker and colder months,” Brittany concluded.
