Mia Juusola ’27

Now I’ve been a reader. I’ve been a reader since being a reader was deeply uncool. I was that kid curled up in the corner of the room reading during summer camp, the girl who spent her winter break poring over a book for 8 hours each day, the sort of teen who related a little too much to Rory Gilmore (but only in the first few seasons, I swear). I knew the world of Young Adult literature with an intimacy that most people don’t even know about their own parents. But then in 2020, BookTok appeared, and everything about this world that I had loved for so long changed.

Tropes, tropes, tropes! Amongst the shelves in Barnes and Noble, I can’t move for tropes! ‘Does this book have enemies-to-lovers in it?’ ‘Oh, I can’t read that! I only like grumpy x sunshine’, ‘Omg, I love it when they tend to each other’s wounds!’ Books, of course, have always been categorized. There are fantasy readers and romance enthusiasts, sci-fi lovers and coming-of-age connoisseurs. But within those genres, there was always great diversity, with every story being unique. Yet nowadays, people will only reach for books that include their favourite tropes. Every novel has become a copy of hundreds of others, and every protagonist has become the same person.

Do you know how sick and tired I am of reading books with the cute and petite female protagonist who can somehow take down a fully grown man with one blow? The pretty girl who doesn’t realise how pretty she is, and whose only personality trait is being a snarky badass with trust issues? They’re all the same! Fiction is no longer about self-expression or about crafting beautiful stories that mean something; it’s about money, money, money. Of course, there are exceptions, but as of recent years, so many people are only writing books to appeal to the trope-obsessed BookTok market. Quality is declining not just in terms of writing, but also in grammar, with an increasing number of spelling mistakes appearing in published books.

I think it’s wonderful that reading is becoming more popular and ‘cool’, but come on, guys! There are so many writers crafting beautiful and unique novels that will never see the light of day because they are no longer considered sellable enough. As a society, our changing attitude towards reading is amazing, but what we choose to consume still matters. Read with care, read for beauty, not just for easy entertainment. Next time you walk into a bookstore, consider walking past the BookTok section and see what you find. Popular doesn’t always mean good, and maybe the best book of your life is waiting just around the corner in its unassuming cover, praying you’ll take a chance and pick it up.

In some ways, I understand the changes to publishing. Books are now not only competing with movies, but also with short-form content such as TikToks and Instagram reels that have recently taken the world by storm. The publishing industry is fighting to capture our decreasing attention spans, and how better to do so than with action-packed, exciting (albeit shallow) books? I get it. But just because I get it doesn't mean it no longer upsets me.

I don’t want our world to lose respect for writing as an art form. When you tell someone you’re a reader now—especially as a woman—they often assume that simply means you’re reading smut. Books used to be associated with intellect; now they’re associated with porn addictions.

This is not to say that all hope is lost. I have met so many committed, passionate writers in the last few years, and I truly think that the future of the writing industry is in good hands. But it is up to all of us to keep it reputable, to stop the world of publishing from descending into badly written smut. Keep reading for beauty, keep treating writing as the respectable art form that it is, and I think the world of fiction might just end up being okay.

How BookTok Ruined the Publishing Industry