A lot of the time, BookTok feels like one giant book club. And one content creator who is especially embracing these vibes is Katie Wu (@katiewuwrites), who rounded up her six favorite reads to an audience of 89,200.
Specifically, she said she was sharing these “God-tier books […] through a writers’ lens.”
Blood ver Brighthaven
Wang began with Blood ver Brighthaven by ML Wang, which she describes as the “most gripping book” out of all of them. “I’ve never felt such momentum in the very first chapter,” she said.
“And if you’ve read this book or the first chapter, you know what that did to you. That’s why it’s true, an amazing writing accomplishment. Because it’s like, how can you make someone go through so many feelings in such a short span of time, even throughout the whole book, this momentum doesn’t let up.”
She also praised the book for moments where characters were philosophizing, and said that the book was definitely “turniness” in nature.
Vampires of el Norte
The second book was Vampires of el Norte by Isabel Canes, which Wang describes as “yearnful” and “perhaps the best example of dual POV.” The novel, she said, features “a romance that defies the stars.”
“That’s how like deep and palpable it is,” she added. “It really makes me want to write a romance where someone can feel that much yearning and tension and just like pure, unadulterated joy and hope about the world.”
The Tainted Cup
As for The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, Wang describes it as having a lot of world-building and “weird plant magic.” She notes how her friend described it as Lovecraftian meets Attack on Titan.
“Really unique world building,” she reiterated. “As a writer, I just sense the dedication to this world and the dedication to make up some really bizarre [expletive]. With the rise of AI, the more bizarre and weird and strange a book is, the more likely it will not be able to be replicated by AI.”
@katiewuwrites I LOVE THESE BOOKS AGHHH #fantasybooktok #godtierbooks #bookanalysis #fantasybookrecs #writertok #bestbooktokbooks #fivestarreads ♬ original sound – Katie Wu
Sword of Kaigan
She also highlighted Sword of Kaigan, another book by ML Wang.
“This book made me cry four times,” she said. “It is my goal as a writer to make the reader cry. It’s really easy to make readers cry when characters die, but like, she’s made me cry like in random [expletive] moments, like random lines that will just hurt so deep.” She also praised its unconventional story structure.
Book Lovers and Beach Read
Wang then presented viewers with two more books: Book Lovers and Beach Read, which are both by BookTok fave Emily Henry. She said that while she has read over rom-coms in the past, “They don’t hit like Emily Henry books do.”
“I think it’s because she’s so genuinely funny and witty,” Wang said. “And as a writer, just know that humor is so hard to pull off, and other rom coms are situationally funny, but Emily Henry proves that she’s funny in her actual wit.”
Starling House
The final book she shared was Starling House by Alix E Harrow. The main attraction of this book, she said, is the first-person POV.
“I always talk about this book because no one does first-person POV like Alex Harrow does,” she said.
“As someone who’s recently finished writing a book in first person POV, it is so cringe, it can sound extremely strange and cringe, and very awkward to deliver exposition or setting details. Alex Harrow always imbues her first-person POVs with like, a really deep sense of a voice, and being able to write a book like this that straddles the line between literary and fantasy, it’s really hard to pull that off.”
It’s fair to say that commenters were definitely on the same page when it came to Wang’s book recommendations.
“Currently reading The Vampires of El Norte and I’m looooving it,” one wrote. “I primarily read horror, but I read my first Emily Henry recently and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it,” another added.
While a third revealed: “Blood over Bright Haven is still the best book I’ve read this year but the way I [expletive] SOBBED and GASPED reading Sword of Kaigen. I couldn’t stop crying for the rest of the day after reading a certain chapter.”
The Mary Sue reached out to the creator via email and TikTok comment.
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