If I’m not hooked by the first line, I don’t want it! Everyone loves those books that immediately capture your attention and hold it from start to finish. Here are some books from BookTok that do just that!
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
“Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer; how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.”
In Little Fires Everywhere, Mia Warren is a single mother who moves to Shaker Heights, a perfect suburb of Cleveland, and rents a house from the Richardson family. Mia’s unconventional past drives the matriarch, Elena Richardson, to uncover secrets from her past that could unravel the status quo of the picturesque town. Little Fires Everywhere has also been transformed into a television series!
DIARY OF AN OXYGEN THIEF
The Diary of an Oxygen Thief is a controversial book on BookTok. The story is written by an anonymous author about a young Irish man living and working in the United States. The book is supposedly an autobiography in which the narrator admits to his narcissistic behavior, such as how he enjoys emotionally abusing his significant others. This book is a sick and twisted dark horse that is unlike anything you’ve read before.
FAHRENHEIT 451
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. In the year 2049, a future American society now hires “firemen” to burn any and all books. Guy Montag is a fireman who slowly becomes embittered by his job after watching the horror that the illiterate society has caused. Guy begins to steal the same books that he once burned, but his actions have a far greater impact than ever imagined. Fahrenheit 451 was inspired by the book burnings in Nazi Germany, during Stalin’s Great Purge and the McCarthy Era United States.
THE NIGHT CIRCUS
“The circus arrives without warning.”
The Night Circus is a dark fantasy novel written by Erin Morganstern. Set in Victorian London, The Night Circus is about a traveling magical circus that only performs from sunset to sunrise before moving on to its next location. Celia and Marco are two apprentice magicians that end up falling deeply in love despite the fact that they’re meant to be bitter rivals. There’s only one problem with their love story: only one magician is going to last in this circus.
THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END
“Rufus, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-three hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death.”
Death-Cast calls Mateo and Rufus separately to inform them of the unfortunate news that no one wants to hear: today is their last day on Earth. The two meet on the Last Friend app, which gives those dying the opportunity to spend their last day with another person. The two develop feelings for each other, but how does their story really end? You’ll have to read They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera to find out!