Okay, fine. I’ll admit it. I have a problem. I’m a repeat offender of going to local bookstores, perusing through hundreds of titles, and buying copies of new books when I already have a lengthy physical TBR waiting for me on my bookshelf. In all honesty, the more obscure or less popular titles that I choose to buy end up on the back burner, as I rarely reach for them and end up at the bottom of my TBR.
Don’t get me wrong, my negligence isn’t because these less hyped books aren’t amazing; it’s more so an effect of living in a digital age where there’s constantly a trending new read that will give me major FOMO if I fail to hop on the reading bandwagon. Putting aside my personal fault, it’s essential to show love to books that go underappreciated but deserve all the hype in the world. Read on to hear more about my five-star reads that deserve more buzz in online bookish communities.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
While scrolling through the depths of Libby’s available books, I stumbled upon this riveting novel that feels a little too real. Dystopian fiction holds a mirror up to the world we live in, and The Dream Hotel actualizes future possibilities of an AI-dominated society. Imagine if the personal content of your dreams and imagination could be tracked by large corporations and used as evidence against you; for our protagonist, Sara, this is her reality. Lalami highlights the potential weaponization of artificial intelligence and issues within our justice system, and will stay with readers long after they finish the brilliant novel.
Sara, a daughter to immigrant parents, a wife to a loving husband, a fantastic mother to newly born twins, and a well-educated history professor, is detained at an airport on her way home from a conference because her risk score is too high, indicating that data collected from her dreams suggests she has a high likelihood of committing a crime in the future. They imprison her, although the euphemism of an all-women’s “retention center” takes the place of “jail.” Sara faces an internal conflict between compliance and resistance: will she obey the power-hungry guards and ridiculous rules to improve her score and be free from the institution? Or will she start a revolution and break free on her own terms?
The Girls by Emma Cline
Trigger Warning: The Girls depicts instances of sexual assault, cult dynamics, and drug and alcohol abuse. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Internet rabbit holes about cultish groups hate to see me coming. Whether I’m reading articles, watching docuseries, or doomscrolling on TikTok, I find the information about these groups and the psychology behind members who join and lead them fascinating. If you’re looking for an underhyped read that scratches the same itch, you should check out The Girls by Emma Cline. This narrative draws inspiration from girls who fell victim to the Charles Manson cult in the 1970s, and follows a fourteen-year-old and an elderly Evie Boyd.
As she comes of age, Evie is navigating all aspects of womanhood, from her sexuality and identity to the enduring effects of her childhood on her adulthood. Cline expertly crafts this novel by breadcrumbing bits of Evie’s past as she revisits her trauma, revealing these jarring details to unexpected visitors who inquire. In a search for freedom and acceptance, Evie found herself in the opposite situation, although it was not apparent to her while she was in the thick of it. This unconventional tale of girlhood and coming of age is, without a doubt, a stellar debut from the talented Emma Cline.
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
For all of my fellow romance-loving yearners, this one is for you. I read this swoon-worthy Regency romance in an effort to make progress on my physical TBR, and I was not left disappointed. Suppose you root for the underdogs in love stories and live for a romance that burns excruciatingly slow (in a good way). In that case, you’ll fall head over heels for the dynamic between the afflicted Dora Ettings and Lord Sorcier Elias Wilder.
Dora suffers from a faerie’s curse that limits her capacity to express and feel emotions. The cure lies in the hands and brains of the brooding Elias Wilder, who is widely disliked and excluded from high society. Atwater’s voice and stylistic choices throughout this masterpiece of a debut truly transport the reader to debutante season in Regency England, right on the ballroom floor where Dora dances through her flirty facades with eligible bachelors, and where she’s shocked by actual romantic feelings beginning to bubble with the Lord Sorcier.
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
Trigger Warning: The Beauty in Breaking discusses trauma, terminal illness, child death, racism, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Healthcare workers are truly the superheroes of our society. I used to be obsessed with the hit television series Grey’s Anatomy, which was super bingeable but definitely not an accurate representation of what it’s like to be a doctor. Due to this hyperfixation, I sought media that accurately represented the lives and experiences of healthcare staff, rather than dramatized, fictional accounts. Michele Harper’s memoir was the perfect read to satisfy my search, offering a window into the life, values, and origin story of a Black woman who always knew her destiny was to help heal others and, therefore, became an emergency doctor.
Harper strings words together so beautifully, creating poetic prose that’s more than just pretty writing — she offers poignant, spot-on commentary on the systemic issues that healthcare workers and patients, especially BIPOC women, face. She addresses these disparities through the framework of anecdotes that encompass a large variety of situations; everything from her abusive father, her difficult divorce, work situations with racist colleagues, working with a dream team of colleagues, delivering devastating news to patients, and celebrating with patients is covered in this concise memoir. In this unique service role, Harper offers profound commentary on the human condition and delves deeply into the renewal and beauty that come after one breaks down.
Moderation by Elaine Castillo
Trigger Warning: Moderation includes scenes of sexual assault and sexual violence. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Living in such a technologically dependent era, escapism is incredibly easy. At your fingertips, you can lose yourself in a show, live vicariously through others on social media, or even completely augment and escape reality with a VR headset. In Moderation, Girlie Delmundo is no stranger to virtual worlds. In her job as a content moderator, Girlie specializes in flagging videos of sexual assault that are posted online and excels in her role. She’s been offered a promotion by William Cheung, the Chief Product Officer of the virtual reality company named Playground, in which she’ll start moderating content in real time using extremely advanced technology.
While Girlie sees her job as a means to an end and finds no true passion in her career, she can’t pass up the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Intending to pay off her family’s cumulative debt and offer them financial support in a world that seems inhospitable, Girlie falls for the promotion — and she also appears to be falling for her new boss, William Cheung. Castillo masterfully combines elements of romance, dystopian society, and exploration of one’s culture while maintaining a smooth narrative voice and enticing plot. This unexpected budding romance forces Girlie to connect with the present moment and her roots, rather than going about her nine-to-five and entire daily routine as an automaton. If you’re looking for a book like nothing else you’ve read before, be sure to check out Moderation and experience the uncanny parallels to our world that Castillo brings to the forefront of readers’ minds.
As I continue to curate my TBR and select new reads, I’m planning to keep an eye out for books I’ve never heard of before. An underhyped and hidden from the online buzz gem on a bookstore or library shelf could end up being your all-time favorite read. Try branching out from the best of Booktok and Bookstagram. I plan on doing so, and I hope you do too!
Looking for more underhyped book recommendations? Check out our article on books beyond the Bestseller list here.
Need help picking your next read? Head to our Bookstr Team Recommendations shelf on Bookshop here.
