In recent years with the rise of TikTok, many books have become more about sales than about quality storytelling. Authors often have books published every year and sometimes more than once a year. When authors are pushed to produce stories so quickly, there isn’t time for manuscripts to be properly edited or sent to a sensitivity reader. 

Sensitivity readers are a more recent addition to the publishing world and they help keep representation from being offensive towards the groups that books may aim to represent. There are many books that have neurodivergent characters or characters of color, but the said character is made up of stereotypes or clearly unresearched by the author. This leads to books that can hurt the people that they’re supposed to represent, while often being lauded for representation. The communities to which these characters belong are frequently ignored and talked over when it comes to what they think about their representation, and sensitivity readers give the opportunity for them to have a say and help create characters that people can see themselves in.

TikTok has become a huge marketing tool for many authors, especially up-and-coming ones. But it’s also increased the pressure to write books that can be distilled down to a handful of palatable tropes. While tropes have been a key part of media for centuries, focusing a book around tropes instead of having the tropes fit naturally into the story often leads to characters and plotlines feeling flat. Tropes like ‘enemies to lovers’ and overly possessive boyfriends are used to draw in readers, but many times the trope is either clearly played up for more interest or is flat out abusive. 

Having toxic characters or relationships in books isn’t bad, but the real issue is when these characters and relationships are painted as ideal or as something to aspire to. They end up sending an unhealthy message to readers, especially those in their teens and twenties because it gives them a twisted idea of what is acceptable from their significant other. 

Dark romance is a sizable part of the romance genre, but books like Colleen Hoover’s November 9 aren’t part of this genre. There are no trigger warnings, and the book is marketed as a typical romance. In November 9, the love interest has done terrible things, but none of his actions are acknowledged as bad. Instead, they’re explained away by his tragic backstory, which absolves him of all responsibility for his felonies and generally gross behavior. 

The issue isn’t just with books; it’s largely within the publishing and marketing industry as well. Those industries are the ones that put so much pressure on authors to sell as many books as possible so that they can increase their profits. That’s what leads to certain marketing techniques and the lack of proper attention to book quality and originality. Responsibility for marketing has been shifted onto the shoulders of authors in order to cut costs.

Fourth Wing is another example of an author having to churn out books and the quality suffering for the limited time frame. Rebecca Yarros has published two novels, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, in the span of a year that are 512 and 624 pages respectively. Fourth Wing was published in April of 2023. Just half a year later, Iron Flame was published in November, featuring many mistakes, a lack of sensitivity, an overall lack of concise editing, and numerous mistakes. These mistakes include copies of the book having the title Fourth Wing instead of Iron Flame, the title and Yarros’ name being printed upside down, and, in some cases, parts of the text printed either backwards, upside down, or both. Many copies featured large parts of the story missing, such as thirty pages being gone from the middle of the book.

However, the issues do not end with the numerous misprints and lack of editing. Fourth Wing and Iron Flame author Rebecca Yarros had made a video pronouncing words and names in her books that were part of the language Scottish Gaelic. Not only did she pronounce the ‘borrowed’ words incorrectly, but she also mixed up Scottish Gaelic (the language she used in her books) with Irish Gaelic, an entirely different language. Many people who speak Scottish Gaelic criticized Yarros’s use and pronunciation of the language, and Yarros ended up apologizing. However, the disappointment still holds amongst readers, Scottish Gaelic speakers, reviewers, other authors, and many others.

There are a lot of incredible books that have been published recently, with widely increased diversity and intriguing plots and characters. Some of our personal favorites from the last few years are Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, a local author. Siren Queen is a novel set in Hollywood during the time that sound started being integrated into the film industry, and it incorporates magical realism into the fabric of the story. It follows a girl named Luli Wei who dreams of being an actress. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to earn her fame while struggling with balancing the demands of the studio and her relationships with her friends and various girlfriends. 

Another favorite is the debut series of Marshall Scholar and author R.F. Kuang titled The Poppy War. The trilogy is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanjing, using shamanism as an allusion to  power during the wars and adds fantastical drugs to also mirror the Opium Wars. The trilogy’s protagonist, Rin, is based on Chinese revolutionary and theorist Mao Zedong. Due to Kuang’s numerous degrees in History and Chinese Studies from institutions such as Georgetown University, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford, The Poppy War trilogy is highly researched and accurate to the events and time periods that it alludes to.