Books on BookTok: Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping selected as Book of the Year
This week, BookTok creators selected their BookTok Book of the Year. Dystopias, romance, fantasy and horror came out on top in the creators’ picks. Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic), the second prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy told from the perspective of character Haymitch Abernathy, took the crown, accumulating the most mentions overall as both the most popular book on BookTok this year and as the BookTok Book of the Year.
It has “been a strong year for The Hunger Games,” said Asha (@ashaslife; 1,944 followers), who thinks the book benefited from both the stage adaptation and the upcoming film release of Sunrise on the Reaping. “It had huge pre-release hype and some of the best launch events I’ve ever seen,” said Suraka (@surakajanebooks; 17,500 followers). “People are still making content about it today… It was so emotionally impactful for me; I find myself thinking back to it daily.” The novel also “stood out” for Megan (@megschapters; 2,093 followers), who felt like it “exploded, bringing together new and old fans of the franchise”. It was “impossible to ignore the impact” both Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm (Piatkus) and Sunrise on the Reaping “had on bookish spaces”, added Charlotte (@charlottemichellreads; 8,079 followers).
A record year of horror sales is evident from the genre’s burgeoning popularity on the app, particularly in the weird-girl sub-genre. Lucy Rose’s The Lamb (Orion) flies the flag for this category after receiving several nominations for BookTok’s Book of The Year. Described by Nate (@nateblackbooks; 2,276 followers) as an “incredible debut that took BookTok by storm, with readers from a spectrum of genres singing its praises”. He added: “I’ve not seen a ‘best books of 2025’ video that doesn’t feature The Lamb and it certainly deserves this praise.” Evie (@evieschapters; 4,667 followers) concurred: “With a continuous stream of gleaming reviews and readers continuously recommending this book on my For You Page… Despite publishing at the beginning of 2025, the hype surrounding this queer, folk horror debut only continues to grow.”
In romance, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere (Cornerstone), set against the 1980s space programme, received a Book of the Year mention. “The love story between the two characters Joan and Vanessa was beautifully told,” wrote Hannah (@hannah.s.books; 11,600 followers). Layne Fargo’s The Favourites (Chatto & Windus), a reimagining of Wuthering Heights set in the world of competitive ice dancing, was an “unexpected hit”, added Hannah. “Readers were obsessed with this high-energy, cut-throat sports romance” that “blew up” on BookTok earlier this year. In an interview with The Bookseller, Fargo said: “What interested me about it was the intensity of the personalities. To be an elite athlete you have to be so driven, so disciplined, so ambitious, and I think, in a lot of cases, there’s not really room for love or relationships… So, that creates conflict right away.”
Megan touted Autumn Woods’ Nightshade (Pan Macmillan), an originally self-published “dark academia romance, tied with a murder-mystery-revenge-plot" with “two grumpy main characters who flirt through crossword clues”.
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“Unexpectedly, but much to my delight,” said Charlotte, there was a “notable uplift” in the number of people reading Robert Harris’ 2016 novel Conclave (Cornerstone) in the wake of the film release and the death of Pope Francis. “It was all over my For You Page and I must say that reading Conclave while the literal conclave was taking place was rather thrilling. It ended up being one of my favourite reads for 2025. It was my papal Eurovision!”
SenLinYu’s Alchemised (Michael Joseph) was selected by many of the creators as the most controversial book on the platform this year. SenLinYu is also the author of Harry Potter fan fiction Manacled, which they reimagined and overhauled to write Alchemised, a dark fantasy novel about a devastating war and two characters, Helena and Kaine, stranded on opposing sides. In an interview with SenLinYu, The Bookseller described the novel as “an incisive examination of the interplay between gender, war and heroism that shows the horrifying lengths we will go to protect the ones we love”.
The story was “hugely popular” on BookTok, said Hannah, but it “added to the ongoing controversy surrounding JK Rowling”. She added: “While many readers hailed it as a heartbreaking masterpiece, others criticised it as being darkly disturbing and massively overhyped.” Nate also selected Alchemised for this category: “Many readers saw this novel as a queer reclamation of the fandom space and praised the book for its dark romance and easy readability. It quickly developed a strong and dedicated fandom on BookTok.” Suraka added that this book “definitely sparked the most heated discussions in the community… There were a lot of debates around originality, transparency in the marketing, as well as the fine line between homage and appropriation”.
RF Kuang’s Katabasis (HarperVoyager) also received some votes for the most controversial book of the year. Busayo (@compulsivebookbuyers; 26,700 followers) said this was because the “reviews were very, very mixed” and belief that the book was “poorly marketed or pitched”. Charlotte agreed: “Katabasis is not controversial in plot, but definitely caused some controversy and heated discussion online with how divided the readership was. A lot of readers were left disappointed when Kuang’s newest release didn’t meet their expectations. I do think that when a release is so highly anticipated by such an accomplished author, it’s bound to cause a stir as negative and positive reviews start to roll in.”
Responses were varied when it came to BookTok’s unexpected hit. Suraka highlighted Dani Francis’ dystopian novel, Silver Elite (Del Rey). “I feel [it]… came out of nowhere. The author was unknown and anonymous, but it came at a point where people were looking for more dystopian works.” Megan’s vote went to Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men (Vintage), translated by Ros Schwartz. Although originally published in 1995, the novel “saw a huge resurgence especially after it [was released with] a revised look. I think given the current social and political anxieties dystopian books are picking up a lot of traction”.
The cowboy romance sub-genre “has really taken off this year”, said Asha. “I’ve seen so many cowboy romance books being spoken about throughout 2025 from Reckless to Done and Dusted, Holding the Reins to Wild Eyes. BookTok has been obsessed with cowboys this year.” Busayo picked up screenwriter Aisha Muharrar’s debut Loved One (HarperCollins) “after a video comparing it to Olivia Dean’s song A Couple Minutes went viral. It’s a beautiful exploration of grief and about how the way a person seems in your world view, may not be the same in someone else’s… A stunning and funny read”.
