BookTok row erupts after influencer complains the novel she’s reading has ‘so many words on every page’

A furore broke out on BookTok after an influencer complained that the novel she was reading contained “too many words.”

Yana from California reviewed Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo on TikTok. She expressed her annoyance that “every page” contained “so many words.”

BookTok is a division of TikTok that has been accused of “making reading cool again” among young people, but has also been criticised for the quality of the books it promotes.

The video, posted by @yannareadshas since been deleted, but still received 36 million views when reposted on X, formerly Twitter.

Many were quick to attack BookTok itself. Some said the platform had ‘lost the plot’, while others claimed that influencers now only see reading as a ‘status symbol’.

Yana shared that some of her followers recommended the Young Adult fantasy book Six Of Crows to her, but that she wasn’t that impressed after page 34.

She spoke to her 284,000 followers and said, “Can we talk about something real quick? Can I talk about shit for a second?

‘Why the f*** is this book? First of all, the text is so small. And why are the pages so crowded with so many words? What the f***?

“I love pages that aren’t filled with so many words. Every page! Look at this, are you crazy?”

While filming the video with her large book collection in the background, Yana said she would keep reading until page 100 and then give up.

She continued, “Convince me otherwise, because this book is so damn hard for my brain to follow.

‘It’s like I’m only two chapters in and I get it. But all those words? It’s like I have no idea what’s going on.’

Yana read a passage from the book with a bewildered look on her face. She referred to several names and locations from the fantasy world of the book, including Big Bolliger, Elzinger and Ketterdam, one of the main locations in the series.

“Am I drunk? Or is this book drunk? Because what the f*** are you all doing, how are you following all this. I’m scared,” Yana said.

After admitting that she was “completely lost,” she showed her followers three cards at the beginning of the book to explain the fantasy world.

“There are cards I have to learn, but I can’t read all the names,” she explained.

She later shared in an update that she had given up on the book, even though she had switched to her Kindle to make the font larger.

In her TikTok bio, Yana wrote, “If it’s not dirty stuff, I probably won’t read it,” referring to books with sexually explicit scenes.

Viewers took to social media en masse to express their doubts about the quality of the books promoted by TikTok.

Someone wrote on X: ‘I’m afraid Booktok has lost the plot, because why are they shocked that book pages… contain words?

“It’s worrisome when you make reading your whole personality, but you can’t read a book that doesn’t have dirty content, has a world-building, and is long. When did we get to this situation as a society?”

Others said: ‘This booktok girl just got goosebumps from her whole video. Smh I hate this for real readers’;

‘Booktok probably once existed to share all books, but its main appeal now is DEFINITELY to spread dirty books’;

‘Booktok Girls When They Realize That Reading Isn’t The Ideal Pinterest Gilmore Girls Hobby And That You Really Should Read’;

‘Maybe she can limit herself to romance’;

‘I’m sure they just see books as background decoration for their videos. A status symbol instead of something to actually enjoy’;

‘Six of crows is a book for young adults, it is not difficult at all.’

Others defended Yana, admitting that they too had struggled to read Six of Crows, writing: ‘To be honest, I have a degree in English literature and creative writing, but I couldn’t get past page 50 of this book.’

BookTok is largely responsible for the revival of reading as a popular hobby among young people, with over 32 million posts and over 167 billion views on the platform.

Nowadays, the popularity of a book on TikTok can determine the number of sales the book generates.

Popular BookTok books often contain the ‘romance’ genre – a combination of romance and fantasy – such as books by Sarah J. Maas.

Other BookTokers couldn’t believe Yana complaining that her book contained too many words.

A, @hopechulkasaid: ‘It’s a YA fantasy heist book. It will contain fantasy elements that require reading comprehension.’

Another, @jordy.pearsonposted a reaction video saying, “I want to give this girl the benefit of the doubt. She starts off by talking about how few words there are on the page and how many words there are on the page.

‘Fantasy books and reading fantasy is not for everyone. There is so much that goes into diving into a fantasy book, because the author spends so much time in the beginning creating the world that you’re in – the characters, the lore, everything.

‘I’m a real fantasy reader, but she’s probably not and that’s okay. She reads a sentence and the sentence is literally made up names of cities in the world and she thinks, “What does that mean?”

‘I still have so many questions, like why she just went on BookTok and said with all her heart and confidence that the words were too small and there were too many words on the page.

“What? I just wanted to let you know how insane it is – complaining about the fact that there are words on the page of a book!”

Earlier, the owners of Notting Hill Bookshop in London said their sales had increased by “100 percent” since the pandemic, attributing this to social media.

With over 167 billion views on TikTok, reviews and recommendations from the global BookTok community have inspired Gen Z to swap their screens for a good, old-fashioned book.

BookTok has become so popular in recent times that TikTok hosted the first UK and Ireland book awards last year, with thousands of people voting for their favourite books, authors and bookshops of 2023.

Popular creators include Ayman Chaudary and Jack Edwards – a group of creators who want to make reading cool again.