7 Best Reviewed #BookToks for Summer 2024

Whether you’re reading in the AC with your cat, or under an umbrella on the beach, now’s the time to lazy summer day reading. As an avid #BookTok and #TBR (To Be Read) follower, here’s my roundup of the most talked about books of the summer.

Did You Know - #BookTok has the power to make or break a bestseller. BookTok content has earned more than 112 billion views across the platform!

#1 Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The story follows a young woman at a boarding school who discovers some nefarious secrets after her roommate disappears. All the while, she's navigating the friendships and politics of a new school. @earlgreypls, a BookTok creator with more than 46k followers, said in her TikTok review of the book that the novel is a "slower-paced mystery" that is really focused on character development. Another review says “I thought it would take me a long time to read this book, because it's a pretty good-sized Mystery, coming in at 416-pages. That wasn't the case at all though. I flew through it.”

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is the instant New York Times, International bestselling, & Award-winning author of Ace Of Spades and Where Sleeping Girls Lie.

#2 A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This book is nearly 10 years old but it’s a BookTok hit. BookTokkers are actually sobbing over this book, and I need to know why! A Little Life follows four classmates from a small college in Massachusetts who move to New York to follow their dreams and ambitions. Over the next decade, trauma and unforeseen challenges leave their mark on each character, changing their lives with bleak realities. Reviewed numerous times on TikTok, the book provokes strong reactions. Comments on this TikTok from @booksaresick describe it as “misery porn”, “depressing but beautifully written” and “This book still haunts me after two years”.

Hanya Yanagihara is an American novelist, editor, and travel writer. In addition to her books, A Little Life, To Paradise, The People in the Trees, The Bridesmaids: True Tales of Love, Envy, Loyalty . . . and Terrible Dresses; she is also the editor-in-chief of T Magazine.

#3 The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Set in the Spanish Golden Age, during a time of high‑stakes political intrigue and glittering wealth, The Familiar follows Luzia, a servant in the household of an impoverished Spanish nobleman who reveals a talent for little miracles. In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. "The Familiar feels distinct from similar tales ― including Bardugo’s own ― because it explores a brutal and shameful real-life history... Bardugo brilliantly explores the wavy line between the supernatural and the divine: Magic is forbidden, but miracles come from God." ―The Washington Post.

Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Familiar, Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series).

#4 Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Three very different and very estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death in this unforgettable story of grief, identity, and the complexities of family.

"This book was everything I never knew I needed, and it scratched an itch so deep in my brain that I could not put this down." @samfallingbooks, said in a TikTok. "This book shows sisterhood in all of its forms — in all its messiest forms, but also its purest and most beautiful."

Coco Mellors is a writer from London and New York. She received her MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she was a Goldwater fellow. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is her first novel.

#5 A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

I absolutely adore the title let’s get that out of the way first! A Tempest of Tea combines an intoxicating mix of vampires, secrets and romance. We meet Arthie Casimir, a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets in the city of White Roaring. By day she runs a tearoom, but by night this transforms into an illegal bloodhouse for the city's vampires. BookTok has likened it to a supernatural Peaky Blinders which is in itself intriguing!

Check out the BookTok reviews- the community has plenty to say!

Hafsah Faizal is the founder of IceyDesigns, where she creates websites for authors and beauteous goodies for everyone else. Hafsah Faizal already established herself as a BookTok favourite with We Hunt the Flame and its sequel We Free the Stars.

#6 Brother by Ania Ahlborn

If one serial killer isn’t enough to make your spine tingle, how about a family of them? This book isn’t brand new but it’s a TikTok sensation due to its dark twisting narrative.  Deep in the heart of Appalachia (that tells you it’s going to be creepy!) lives Michael, whose family is to blame for many of the missing girls in West Virginia. “Brother by Ania Ahlborn is one I love to recommend because it starts off with a bang and really just doesn’t let up a single time throughout the very depressing and disturbing reading experience,” says Brandon Baker, a BookTokker @baker.reads. “I recommend this book to horror lovers who enjoy reading books about the darker side of humanity.”

Ania Ahlborn is a Polish-American author known for her work in the horror and thriller genres. Born in Ciechanów, Poland, she moved to the United States when she was young. She has earned praise for her contributions to both the horror and psychological thriller genres, and her novels have resonated with readers who appreciate atmospheric, character-driven, no-holds-barred fiction.

#7 Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon

Fruit of the Dead retells the story of Persephone and Demeter, and BookTok was not disappointed. A contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter set over the course of one summer on a lush private island... what’s not to love!

"I think this is already my favourite release of 2024, even though it was the first book I read this year," Bossard said in a TikTok. "Perfect for fans of Emma Cline, Raven Leilani, Ottessa Moshfeg, and Megan Nolan.”

Rachel Lyon is the author of Self Portrait With Boy, a finalist for the Center for Fiction's 2018 First Novel Prize. Her short stories have appeared most recently in One Story and The Rumpus.

So, the question remains, which one to read first? If you loved my recent article about digital detoxing then a great book might be just what you need this summer.