I was lying in my bed, scrolling mindlessly through TikTok - as one would - when a girl’s story made me stop scrolling. She was narrating how all the guests at her sister’s wedding got food poisoning after eating from the venue’s buffet, except herself and the groom's brother. Unfortunately, all the fees for the honeymoon were already paid for and it was nonrefundable. Since the groom and the bride were in no shape to go themselves, they asked that her and the groom’s brother go in their place. But, they hated each other!

 I was waiting for a line like “follow to see how it goes” or “like for part 2” but instead, she said, “if you want to know what happens next, read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren”. I was caught off guard. I immediately liked the video and went straight into the comment section, liking funny comments on how others didn’t see this coming either and are now invested in the story. After liking one video and a few comments, I was suddenly on the book side of TikTok, or BookTok! 

BookTok has convinced me to read multiple books including The Unhoneymooners, Malibu Rising, and Ace of Spades. 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

I started reading this book only to find out that the mass food poisoning at the beginning was among the few original ideas in the whole book. The Unhoneymooners is sometimes funny, sometimes cringe but mostly predictable. You don’t have to be a rom-com movie or book expert to see the plot twists - which were not much of a twist either - from pages away. Reading this book was like watching a low-budget romantic movie where there are no attempts to add depth to the characters or write an original scene. A movie that just patches together the successful storylines from other movies to appeal to its audience. 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising is Big Little Lies meeting This Is Us but even better. It follows Riva’s siblings over the course of one night as they throw their epic end of the summer annual party. It’s one night, one party but yet it changes the lives of Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva forever. The story takes place in 1983 with flashbacks to previous years, in which the author explains who they have been and how they have become who they are now. Malibu Rising is about family, forgiveness, loving each other and deciding to love yourself. It’s a page-turner, full of plot twists that can make you feel things, and even laugh when you’re crying. 

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

This book was widely marketed on BookTok as a fun thriller, a story where Gossip Girl meets Get Out. So, was it a good book? Absolutely! Was it a fun thriller? Absolutely not! 

Ace of Spades is about two students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, who are in their last year of high school at the Niveus Private Academy. Even though they are from different worlds, they are both good students, optimistic about getting into their dream college. Everything changes when an anonymous person, Aces, starts revealing their secrets to the entire school. As the story unfolds with one plot twist after another, the author addresses racism, classism, and homophobia while beautifully depicting queerness. 

Despite this, Ace of Spades was not a “fun” thriller to me because of its lack of trigger warnings. 

The book was eye opening, fast paced, and kept me at the edge of my seat, but at the same time, it was terrifying and made me feel anxious throughout. Lastly, to me, the book ended too fast. The character development was not fully fleshed out and it would have been nice to see.

The Unhoneymooners made me start reading again, Malibu Rising has become one of my favorite books, and Ace of Spades changed my perspective. So, should you read these books? The decision is yours.