Have you noticed a new section of your local bookstore? One piled high with novels with abstract covers, and bright glossy embossed titles? One with a sign hanging confidentially above it? A sign that reads #booktok.
Well, let us introduce you to what the heck that means, and the controversy that has since followed.
#booktok is a corner of TikTok devoted to bookworms – a space where big readers can share the novels they loved, they hated and the ones they plan to read. It was initially classified as a 'niche' content stream for the social media giant – a little spot away from the dancing teenagers where book lovers could nerd out over their latest read – but the hashtag now amassed over 102.5 billion views and is now referred to as the 'biggest book club on the planet'.
If you take a scroll through #booktok there's one author you're bound to see pop up almost immediately: Colleen Hoover.
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Hoover is a 43-year-old American romance author from Texas. She had self-published a few novels, building up moderate success, but her 'big break' came from her novel It Ends With Us. The book, which Hoover herself describes as "the hardest book I've ever written", follows the fictional life of Lily Bloom, who witnesses domestic violence at a young age – with her father abusing her mother – before growing up and falling into a violent relationship herself.
It Ends With Us became the book everyone wanted to talk about on TikTok.
Fans were filming themselves reading the book, sharing footage of them crying in response to certain chapters and posting their gushing reviews of the novel – and the momentum has grown ever since. Readers wanted to post their own reviews and respond to others' thoughts on the novels and fantasies about why Hoover had chosen certain arcs and characters.
Hoover, in response, did what every other author would do if given the chance: She joined the mayhem.
The author began posting her own content to TikTok, feeding the frenzy by answering fan questions, giving insights into her writing and, to seriously up the ante, she started to tease a sequel.
Hoover expanded her It Ends With Us universe with a second story: It Starts With Us – a novel that Simon & Schuster report as their "most pre-ordered title to date".
Given the mass appeal of the book, millions and millions of readers had an idea of what the characters would look like in real life. And it appears they didn't see Lively as the right fit for the main role – all because of the fact she's a few years older than the book's character and she doesn't have the same hair as described in the book.
So all pretty minor details.
But the other reason some Lively fans are a little upset is that Lively chose to align herself with Hoover, despite the recent colouring book backlash. Although in movie world, no casting decision is made within a few mere weeks – meaning Lively was likely signed on before the backlash emerged.
What's for certain though is that #booktok is having a major moment for Hoover. But as for whether it will begin to skew only in a negative direction – time will tell.
This article was originally published on January 13 and has been updated with new information.
Image: Getty/Instagram @charlsbookshelves @kevintnorman @colleenhoover.
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