Booktok, launched in 2020, was intended to be a wholesome and enriching community that would rebrand what reading meants to young adults and teens. A simple hashtag on TikTok would turn a hobby that was once deemed boring and lame to something refreshing, hip and interesting. Booktok would be  a shining star of using the internet for good, or at least that was the goal. 

 As things turned out, BookTok’s influence isn’t just about getting more people to read—it’s also shaping what kind of books they gravitate toward. No one suspected it would be about glamourized abuse. A specific novel played a key role in setting the tone for the platform’s obsession with romance: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. It Ends With Us , by Colleen Hoover follows Lily Bloom, a young woman running a flower shop, who is in a love triangle. The love interests are Ryle, a charismatic but abusive neurosurgeon, and Atlas, her childhood love who reappears in her life. The novel was intended to highlight the devastating cycle of domestic abuse. It got the attention of many users on Booktok and the book became a heavy talking point.

The book, unfortunately, had an adverse effect on Booktok users. Many readers romanticized Ryle, overlooking his abusive actions simply because he was portrayed as attractive and emotionally complex. Hoover used this to her advantage, marketing it as a steamy romance book instead of what it is, a warning. 

Many authors have started following in Hoover’s footsteps, writing books with similar themes. Instead of writing these stories to raise awareness, many have leaned into marketing the content as “steamy” instead of problematic. 

This has led to an unsettling trend where books that should serve as warnings are instead glamorized, making it dangerously easy for young readers to confuse toxic behaviors with desirable traits. Some of these books even incorporate elements of BDSM and kink, but without the emphasis on consent, boundaries, and mutual respect that define those practices in healthy relationships. Romance novels are something to be strived for, something to be desired. Wrongfully marketing topics that aren’t healthy romance is on a path to making vulnerable young people being stuck in cycles of abuse and violating their own boundaries. Why is this so important? One of the obvious reasons is the normalization and even glorification of unhealthy relationship and sexual habits, making them seem desirable rather than problematic. Young people consuming this media could lead to rash decisions. Beyond this, there’s another crucial takeaway: the need for critical engagement with the media we consume. It’s easy to get swept up in a captivating story, but it’s important to pause and reflect. Ask yourself: If I saw this dynamic play out in real life, how would I feel? Would I be okay if a friend were in this situation? Would I feel safe and respected if it happened to me? Developing this habit of questioning not only helps you define your own boundaries and expectations in relationships, but it also deepens your understanding of literature, human behavior, and societal norms. Being a thoughtful reader doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fiction, it means you can engage with it without letting it define your reality.