Books on BookTok: Sunrise on the Reaping makes an impact
This week, BookTok creators considered the impact that the publication of Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic) has had on the app.
The publication of Sunrise on the Reaping, the prequel to the Hunger Games series, was marked with 110 midnight parties across the UK on 18th March. “It’s all anyone is talking about,” said Brittany (@whatbritreads; 58,300 followers). “Literally every other video on my feed is the Hunger Games and I am loving it.” Suraka (@surakajanebooks; 16,600 followers) attended the Waterstones Piccadilly midnight launch and described it as “incredible, the atmosphere, the excitement, the sheer number of people”. She added: “Sunrise on the Reaping was already one of the most anticipated releases of the year online, but the launch event has completely taken over BookTok.”
Brittany bought the novel from a branch of Asda – “It was the last copy; it sold out everywhere near me”. She commented: “There’s such an outpouring of content and excitement on a level I haven’t seen before, I don’t think the Fourth Wing hype was as intense as this. It goes to show the sheer reach of the series and the cultural and social impact [the series] has had on us.” Libbie (@bookish.daydreaming; 1,397 followers) agreed that her For You Page is “flooded with Sunrise on the Reaping videos”. She hopes that the success of the midnight parties will “encourage bookshops to do more authorless events and midnight openings because they look like so much fun”.
“One of my favourite things about the past 24 hours has been the immense sense of community I’ve felt,” added Brittany. #sunriseonthereaping has been used in over 23,000 posts on TikTok at the time of writing, while #hungergames has been used in over one million posts.
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For Evie (@eviemaddaloni; 3,777 followers), “the political commentary in the Hunger Games series is loud and clear”. She continued: “I believe the publication of Sunrise on the Reaping has come at a critical time where it is important readers are reminded of the political impact of books.”
Evie and Libbie believe that Lauren Roberts’ Fearless (Simon & Schuster), the final instalment in the Powerless trilogy publishing in April, will be “big on BookTok”; it is “bound to bring a lot of love back to BookTok for the Powerless series”, said Libbie. Brittany added: “Alchemised by SenLin Yu is a highly anticipated one, as well as Katabasis by RF Kuang.” Ali Hazelwood also has two new novels with Little, Brown publishing this year – Mate and Problematic Summer Romance – which Brittany imagines “will be all over my feed”.
Brittany believes that “romantasy and dystopian will remain the big hitters” on the app. Suraka and Emily agreed that dystopian fiction will continue to be popular. The former said that “there is a definite revival happening right now” and Brittany agreed that “dystopia is so in right now”. Suraka added that Dani Francis’ Silver Elite (Del Rey), publishing in May, is “tapping into that nostalgia but with fresh takes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more dystopian books gaining traction over the next few months.”
Of the titles that are currently trending on the app, Kobe (@frostgalaxy; 40,700 followers) highlighted Laurie Gilmore’s The Strawberry Patch Pancake House (One More Chapter), which debuted at the top of the charts this week. However, Libbie “was expecting the new Laurie Gilmore to take off in the same way the last few have but, so far, I haven’t seen it do a lot”. Evie selected Lucy Rose’s debut The Lamb (Orion), which is “all over my TikTok”.
She continued: “Lucy’s gorgeous writing is disturbingly juxtaposed against the horrors of Mama [the protagonist] and her habits. Filled to the brim with tension and tenderness, The Lamb is not a book I will easily forget.” Suraka picked Sasha Peyton-Smith’s romantasy The Rose Bargain (Electric Monkey) while Elsie Silver’s romance, Wild Side (Little, Brown) was picked by Brittany and Kobe. John-Paul (@jpreads6; 19,700 followers) selected Percival Everett’s British Book Award-shortlisted novel James (Mantle) and Lola Jaye’s The Manual For Good Wives (Pan Macmillan).
