'I Want My Money Back' — People Are Sharing The Worst Books That Went Viral On TikTok, And I'm Glad We're Finally Questioning The 'Enemies To Lovers' Industrial Complex
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We've written before about the viral TikTok recipes people, respectfully, would rather drink their own sweat than try again. But you know what else TikTok has made viral? Books. Lots of books.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
NPD Books told The New York Times that "no other form of social media has ever had this kind of impact on sales." Many bookstores have a table displaying copies that have gone viral on #booktok (the hashtag book lovers use to discuss titles on the app). But are they... good?
@lonesomelivi’ve read a lot of great books bc of tiktok but as a general rule of thumb if its revered by a majority of ppl on here its gonna be one of the worst book you’ll ever read #booktok#books#reading
♬ Big Foot x SCREAM - Saint Hoax ">Well, according to TikToker and book enthusiast @lonesomeliv, not always. "Me after being tricked by BookTok into reading the most heinous, badly-written book to exist on the face of the Earth after being told it was a literary masterpiece," a video she posted this February read. Her comments were filled with people naming and shaming their worst reads — here are just a few:
i’ve read a lot of great books bc of tiktok but as a general rule of thumb if its revered by a majority of ppl on here its gonna be one of the worst book you’ll ever read #booktok#books#reading
♬ Big Foot x SCREAM - Saint HoaxSide note — taste is subjective, and just because someone on TikTok doesn't like a book doesn't mean it's bad. Most of these titles have sold hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of copies — none of these opinions take away from the fact that many, many people love 'em. TL;DR — enjoy whatever you like!
Bloomsbury Publishing
"I’ll say it… I'LL SAY IT… 'A Court of Thorns and Roses.'"
"I felt like I was losing brain cells."
Hailey Carlton
"I'm a victim of 'Haunting Adeline.'"
"I couldn't help but cringe every time I tried to read it."
"Haunting Adeline was physically painful to read. I cringed every time it was a 'Z' chapter."
Piatkus
"'Fourth Wing.' There, I said it."
Simon & Schuster UK
"'The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo.'"
"I got halfway through that one and returned it to the library. "
Penguin
"'The Inheritance Games' was actually just a Wattpad book."
"It was hundreds of pages of NOTHING."
"The hatred I hold for that book isn’t even funny."
Piatkus
"'Twisted Love'…"
"I was JUST about to comment this. I couldn’t even get halfway."
Simon & Schuster UK
"'It Ends With Us.'"
"FACTS. I want my money back."
Bloomsbury Publishing
"'Throne of Glass.' Don’t come for me! I know how you girls like to tussle."
"But it legitimately read like Wattpad. I barely got through it and can’t make myself read another one."
Orion
"'The Silent Patient.'"
"THAT SH*T WAS SO ASS OMFG."
Electric Monkey
"'Shatter Me' was not for me. I read better 'bad books' in Wattpad."
Tor
"'Atlas Six.' There, I said it. Hated it."
"THANK YOU OH MY GOD. I feel like it had so much potential but tried way too hard to be more than it was??"
Montlake
"'Reminders of Him' made me realise there can indeed be an unbearable book."
"I’ve never hated a book as viscerally as I hate Reminders of Him."
Simon & Schuster Children's UK
"'Powerless' is one of the worst books I’ve read. I had to hate-finish it."
"I feel like the author could improve — it’s her first book and she started writing it when she was like 17."
Rock the Boat
"For everyone on here who told me to read 'Girl in Pieces,' we have a personal problem."
Piatkus
"'The Fine Print!' I was honestly so disappointed."
Penguin Publishing Group
"They made me buy 'Birthday Girl' and I'm mad I wasted $19 on that."
Simon & Schuster UK
"Dare I say 'Icebreaker'..."
Corsair
"'Diary of an Oxygen Thief' literally put me to sleep."
Dark Knight Publishing
"'Den Of Vipers.' Absolutely terribly-written."
"DEN OF VIPERS AND CREDENCE WERE ABOMINATIONS LIKE WHAT?"
Hodderscape
"'Dance of Thieves.' I was so excited and then let so far down."
Fourth Estate
"This is me with 'Cleopatra and Frankenstein.'"
Forever
"'Archer’s Voice' was a painful read."
"I nearly didn't finish it."
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
