On every social media platform, you’re bound to find a corner dedicated to reading and books. From BookTok to BookTube, Bookstagram to Book Twitter, there’s no shortage of people coming together to talk about their favourite books, characters, or authors. In these spaces, you’ll often find hyped books—books that everyone is talking about, and that it seems like everyone has read and loved. If you’re lucky, you’ll love them too, and can join the hype.
I see lots of these hyped books on my own feeds. Some I’ve read and loved, while others I’ve read and did not. Here’s what I think about some of these popular books:
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover’s books dominate the hype; several of her books are very popular and are constantly being recommended. I recently read Verity, just to see what all the hype was about. This is a mystery/thriller type of book following the truth about Verity, a very popular author. A writer, Lowen, is hired to ghostwrite the rest of Verity’s series. She moves into Verity’s house, along with Verity’s husband, Jeremy, and their son. What follows is a rollercoaster of emotions, and you won’t know who or what to trust. I couldn’t put it down, and I managed to finish the book in a day. This book is definitely worth the hype.
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
The dark academia aesthetic is very popular and is often tied to “dark academia” books. This aesthetic features classical books, secret societies, preppy characters, and knowledge seeking. The Atlas Six fits this aesthetic perfectly, and the vibes of the book are what first drew me toward it. After reading the synopsis, I couldn’t resist, and I put it on hold at the library immediately. But when I read it, I was disappointed. Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to the hype at all. While the idea is phenomenal, the execution fell flat for me. I disliked almost all of the characters, and I had trouble figuring out what the point of it was—there didn’t seem to be a plot. For me, this book isn’t worth the hype at all.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
I don’t think you can scroll through bookish feeds for even five minutes without this book being mentioned. The Love Hypothesis captured the hearts of so many readers with its lovable characters and entertaining plot. For biology lovers, this book incorporates research and academia, since it follows a Stanford Ph.D. candidate. The setting is what interested me at first—it’s not often you see science-centred romance books, and especially not ones as popular as this one. Once I read it, I fell in love with the characters and was looking forward to every moment I could read a little bit more. It includes fake dating and plenty of hilarious situations. This book is worth the hype!
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
When I first picked this book up, I didn’t expect to love it. I thought it would be an average read; I was very wrong. This book turned out to be incredibly unique and entertaining. There’s lots of mystery involved, and it kept me interested and guessing right until the last page. I even liked most of the characters, and I didn’t mind the love triangle as much as I usually do. The sequel is even better, and I’m eagerly anticipating the conclusion. This is worth the hype, so definitely read it!
With the way social media presents hyped books, it’s really easy to be sucked into thinking that those books have to be as amazing as everyone says they are. Especially when you stumble across the swoon-worthy quotes—those are my weak spots. Even if you’ve struck out with several books and plan to never jump on the bandwagon again, the temptation can be great. There’s no easy formula to figure out definitively whether you’ll love a certain book, but one thing is for sure: with all the hyped books there circling in online book communities, I’m never lacking in book recommendations!