BooksTikTok

'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

"I got halfway through and returned it to the library."
Amy Glover
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.
Universal Pictures / Focus Features, United International Pictures / Bac Films / Nickelodeon
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?
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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:
@lonesomeliv

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 Hoax
Side 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!
"I’ll say it… I'LL SAY IT… 'A Court of Thorns and Roses.'"
Bloomsbury Publishing

tattoosbychels

"I felt like I was losing brain cells."

longgirl112

"I'm a victim of 'Haunting Adeline.'"
Hailey Carlton

kayleefraz

"I couldn't help but cringe every time I tried to read it."

⋆˚࿔ syira 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

"Haunting Adeline was physically painful to read. I cringed every time it was a 'Z' chapter."

gia

"'Fourth Wing.' There, I said it."
Piatkus

Hannah Lynne

"'The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo.'"
Simon & Schuster UK

"I got halfway through that one and returned it to the library. "

🌙

"'The Inheritance Games' was actually just a Wattpad book."
Penguin

Phee ✮

"It was hundreds of pages of NOTHING."

🤪

"The hatred I hold for that book isn’t even funny."

MYSANIME



"'Twisted Love'…"
Piatkus

Mia

"I was JUST about to comment this. I couldn’t even get halfway."

elise | relatable mom life

"'It Ends With Us.'"
Simon & Schuster UK

Genoa

"FACTS. I want my money back."

ᎮᏋᏝᎥᏗ

"'Throne of Glass.' Don’t come for me! I know how you girls like to tussle."
Bloomsbury Publishing

"But it legitimately read like Wattpad. I barely got through it and can’t make myself read another one."

✨Cath✨

"'The Silent Patient.'"
Orion

cheese

"THAT SH*T WAS SO ASS OMFG."

liv

"'Shatter Me' was not for me. I read better 'bad books' in Wattpad."
Electric Monkey

cleo h.

"'Atlas Six.' There, I said it. Hated it."
Tor

AtlanticBanana

"THANK YOU OH MY GOD. I feel like it had so much potential but tried way too hard to be more than it was??"

liv

"'Reminders of Him' made me realise there can indeed be an unbearable book."
Montlake

Dilara

"I’ve never hated a book as viscerally as I hate Reminders of Him."

Lealealea 📚

"'Powerless' is one of the worst books I’ve read. I had to hate-finish it."
Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Jaz

"I feel like the author could improve — it’s her first book and she started writing it when she was like 17."

🍉idontknow🍉

"For everyone on here who told me to read 'Girl in Pieces,' we have a personal problem."
Rock the Boat

Mel

"'The Fine Print!' I was honestly so disappointed."
Piatkus

Faith_win

"They made me buy 'Birthday Girl' and I'm mad I wasted $19 on that."
Penguin Publishing Group

..

"Dare I say 'Icebreaker'..."
Simon & Schuster UK

maxine

"'Diary of an Oxygen Thief' literally put me to sleep."
Corsair

gothgiirlll

"'Den Of Vipers.' Absolutely terribly-written."
Dark Knight Publishing

Ficthund

"DEN OF VIPERS AND CREDENCE WERE ABOMINATIONS LIKE WHAT?"

Lava

"'Dance of Thieves.' I was so excited and then let so far down."
Hodderscape

chasity

"This is me with 'Cleopatra and Frankenstein.'"
Fourth Estate

Freya

"'Archer’s Voice' was a painful read."
Forever

athena

"I nearly didn't finish it."

wendyrichards456

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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