Did anyone else fall into a BookTok black hole and walked away with an ever flowing TBR? If yes, then you probably picked up or saw books that everyone is chatting about. Blue aliens on romance covers? Chemistry academic romances? Deadly magical competitions? Do these three ring a bell? Well I read some of the most hyped BookTok books and have some things you should know before you read them.
Ice Planet Barbarians
Give me a good SF romance any day. And there is plenty of very steamy scenes in this book (and series). I grew up reading adult urban paranormal romances as a teen so Ice Planet Barbarians immediately gave me nostalgia. But what is important to know is that the forced mating trope is very prevalent. I knew it was there, but I underestimated how prevalent it would be in the story line. If you didn’t know, when I saw the forced mating trope, I mean that in the story in order for them not to die on this alien planet, they have to be implanted with this little parasite and that this parasite gives them a biological and physiological desire to find a mate.
Pushy Parasites Anyone?
And while I understand that in Ice Planet Barbarians it is, “accept this parasite or die on this planet”, I never quite got over how much it is out of their control. How intensely and how much this parasite seems to be screaming in their ear, and body, “MUST FIND A MATE”. And not just any mate, but it also kind of creates this soul mate bond so the parasite is very specific.
All I’m saying is that if you don’t like the sound of that, you should probably stay away. While I really don’t like that trope, I ended up liking the book, just not being as obsessed as BookTok. And you can totally blame this on me just underestimating how much of a big deal it would be when it’s in the very synopsis. But yeah for me I guess I thought I’d kind of get over it or that the parasite wouldn’t be as powerful. That being said, I enjoyed the sequel more, Barbarian Alien, specifically because the heroine was as mad about this parasite as I’d be.
The Atlas Six
I went into this one not having really even read the summary. All I knew was that this was going to be a magical competition for entry into this illusive secret society of knowledge and probably power. Because where there’s knowledge there’s bound to be power right? Doesn’t that sound like you’re going to be dropped into this high action world full of spells swishing past your ears? Well The Atlas Six is intensely character driven. In fact I think I have a note in my phone that marks when I felt like the action began, which was at around 30% of the book. And for a book that is 470 pages in, that can feel like a lot!
Not only that, but The Atlas Six is multiple perspective and not just one or two, but six. Which makes sense because there are six competitors, but it just means that we spend a lot of pages getting to see each of their perspectives and histories, but in terms of reading time it feels like the pacing is slow. So while I was expecting to be dropped headfirst into this magical melee, what happened was the very opposite.
However…
I ended up being totally smitten by the end. You will have to re-adjust your expectations hard for this one. Or at least I did because while I saw everyone like loving the heck out of this book online, I never saw someone really tell me any of this. And maybe that’s just me and how late I was to the love for this book. But it’s certainly worth mentioning, because I was buddy reading this and we were both having a problem with the pace at the beginning.
There’s nothing wrong with slower intensely character driven books. I love so many that fit into this. I just think it’s important to know what you’re getting into so that instead of thinking, “When is the action going to start, OMG just attack someone!” you are prepared and instead think, “Wow it’s so fascinating that this character is motivated by this complex relationship of self-image and competition”. You get what I’m saying?
The Love Hypothesis
And finally, The Love Hypothesis. This was only described to me as Kylo Ren fanfic (which I have still not watched the last two movies so I’m not sure what this truly means). So with no preparation really except that this might be related to Star Wars and I know Adam Driver is in Star Wars and the main love interest’s name is Adam and he kind of looks similar, I began to read. And oh my god the entire book I could not stop thinking or hearing Adam Driver’s voice or image in my head. It’s your opinion if that’s a plus or a consequence, but it’s a true testament to how someone’s framing of a book that drastically impact your reading experience.
So what am I trying to say?
For me, this comparison actually worked. If you like grumpy sunshine romances, this has to be for you. There’s also a whole host of other fun tropes like fake dating and even discussions of abuse. So what should you know before picking this one up? If you don’t like the Kylo-Ren fanfic description, but like romances and fake dating? Pick it up anyway. I think it is worth not only realizing that some of the derision from the description of ‘fanfic’ is that some people think fan fiction isn’t written as well as normal fiction.
I don’t believe this at all as someone who spent many hours as a teen not only enjoying fanfic, but also seeing it as freeing. To see characters I love have stories beyond what I saw on TV or in books or movies. So if you’re one of those people who might let a comparison to fanfic scare you off, first of all The Love Hypothesis is not fan fiction in the sense that this is not meant to be Kylo Ren or Ben Solo and secondly, consider re-thinking your quality assessments of fan fiction.
Discusison
What other books has BookTok made you buy? Do you want to see this as a series?